Jenn Herman
We asked Instagram expert Jenn Herman:
Do you still need to use hashtags on Instagram?
Absolutely. You definitely need them.
They are essentially the secret sauce to success, even though they are evolving and we may not always see great results with every single post that we use hashtags on.
Be consistent in using strategic hashtags on your Instagram posts and reels, and use the same hashtag strategy on both. Use as many as possible, up to the maximum of 30âthe more you use, the more youâre telling Instagram what your content is about and where to be found, and itâs more searchability if someoneâs looking for that specific hashtag.
Combine a variety of popularity. Go look at any hashtag on Instagram and it will tell you how many posts are associated with it. I typically donât recommend using hashtags that have over 1 million posts associated with them, though some industriesâbeauty, food, photography, fashionâare so popular on Instagram that you may have to go slightly over that 1 million mark.
I recommend using:
- 4-5 âpopularâ hashtags (500,000 to 1 million)
- 4-5 âmoderately popularâ hashtags (low tens of thousands upwards to that 500,000 mark)
- 4-5 super-specific niche hashtags targeted specifically for the industry you serve or what your audience is looking for
Your audience sees your existing content when you post it and they interact with it. Hashtags get non-followers to see your content. By mixing up this popularity, youâll get an initial burst from the more popular ones, the moderately popular ones keep your content active longerâyou donât get buried in the archives as quicklyâand for the niche-specific hashtags, Instagram says, âGreatâfollowers are liking it, non-followers are liking it, itâs staying activeâthis is high quality content!â so you end up ranking as maybe one of the top posts for that niche-specific hashtag, and you can stay there for months. That means if someoneâs looking for that hashtag, they find your content, they go read your caption, see your call to action, theyâre on your profile, and theyâre following you. This is how you generate long-term success using hashtags.
Theyâre also super important now for categorizing your content in terms of keyword search, which Instagram is beefing up and making a more robust function. They are specifically looking at hashtags for categorizing.
Another tip: make sure youâre putting hashtags for where your audience is, not where you want to be found. Itâs really easy to say, âI sell car insurance; let me use the hashtag #CarInsurance.â But nobodyâs going to Instagram looking for car insurance. They are looking for things like new cars, their favorite car brands, or maybe dream cars. So if youâre using hashtags where they hang out, youâre more likely to get found by that target audience.
Jenn Herman @jenn
Social Media Advisory Board Member
Jenn Herman is a social media consultant, speaker, and globally recognized Instagram expert. She is the forefront blogger on Instagram marketing and author of âInstagram for Dummiesâ.