Include The Right Instagram Hashtags For Marketing

Hashtags have been important to include on most of the major social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram with specific keywords depending on the image or topic. One of the key ingredients to marketing success is to know how to use these to attract new followers and shares.
But is this still relevant today as organic reach has declined? Let’s take a look at a brief history of where this all began before diving into our Instagram hashtag strategy.
Hashtags began with popular keywords by users then later adopted by Twitter as an official feature. According to Hashtags.org the actual person who tweeted out the first hashtag was social technology expert, Chris Messina, in 2007:

?how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]??

The rest of social media followed suit and have become mainstream for use in content and brand visibility ever since. In 2009 we began to see hyperlinks on hashtags on Twitter and in 2010 trending topics emerged — officially making them part of the social conversation.
Hashtags not only make your content easier to find on social media, but they also separate you from the ‘spam,’ and attract the right readers to communicate with. Brands and businesses can take advantage of spreading the word on their company, like #Nike and #Starbucks.
Since it’s inception, and before Facebook purchased Instagram users have been including specific hashtags for their photos and videos in order to draw an audience. But this all seemed to be on the decline over the past couple of years as the focus became more ad-centric.
The good news is that Facebook has added a new feature that allows you to find an individual or brand by following specific hashtags. Before that point users had to click on the link of the hashtag in the actual post or find them in their Explore section. The purpose of this latest change is to present the topics that interest people the most.
Including the right keywords in your Instagram posts will help increase your audience interactions and following. They key is to keep them relevant and to stay ahead of the game with trends for your niche.
Here are a few ways your business can stand out with the right strategy:

1 – Narrow your focus

If your hashtag is too broad in scope and is being used by a large number of users then chances are it could get lost in the feeds and not make it into the discovery section. For example, if you are a video professional then using #videographer could result in around 1,706,000 posts, but #videoedits yields a lower result of about 513,800 posts, which will increase your chances of being seen.

2 – Keep it simple

Avoid including too many words into one string — you want your keywords to be as precise and short as possible. This is especially important if you are including this as part of a branding campaign that you want your audience to remember and share.

3 – Limit the number of Instagram hashtags

There’s been much debate over this topic of how many hashtag words to include in your posts. Generally it’s good practice to leave these for your comments box just after a post is made or include just a few in your description. Instagram allows for up to 30 to be included; however, around 15 to 20 is a good number to follow if you don’t want to appear too spammy. Be careful to comply with the rules in order to avoid having your account “shadowbanned,” which can make your posts nearly invisible even to your own network.

4 – Proofread before posting

Make sure your content is correct when scheduling it or posting it directly. The more times you edit your captions the less visible your posts will become. This can also occur if you delete then repost the same content — somehow the algorithm picks up this type of activity and demotes the post accordingly.

5 – Include the right words for your content

Take the time to do some research and find out what the best Instagram hashtags are for your posts, and do not include spam keywords that are banned such as #likeforlike, #instamood, #killingit, ect. Check out what other posts are including that are from top accounts and influencers and how their hashtags match the descriptions.

6 – Follow industry related hashtags

In order to truly know which keywords are going to bring in the most followers and interactions it’s good practice to start taking advantage of the new follow feature. This will provide endless ideas for content suggestions and also alerts Instragram’s algorithm that your brand is using their new feature. Send out a message to your followers as well to follow your specific hashtags for even more exposure.

7 – Create a list of Instagram hashtags for posts

In order to continue to avoid the appearance of being a spam account you will want to put together in your notes a list of hashtags commonly used for your posts, and mix these up for each one. Including the same ones over and over will put your profile at risk of being banned and not seen.
As mobile marketing and trends change, you will want to adapt your own strategy accordingly in order to reap the most benefits from the latest updates. By choosing relevant, focused Instagram hashtags, your brand will be seen as an authentic account, which increases your chances of being seen in the featured sections of Instagram.