By Jan Orsula
[Link]
Let's talk about #HASHTAGS
Engagement is highest on Instagram
posts with 11+ hashtags
It’s estimated that posts that include at
least one hashtag gain 12.6% more
engagement.
Hashtags make your content easier to
nd
More tags = More likes and comments
I found a positive correlation between
the number of tags used on an image and
likes and comments
7 out of 10 Instagram hashtags are
branded hashtags.
The most used hashtags are #love,
#instagood, #me, #cute and #follow.
The mistake people make is that they use very
competitive hashtags that are very hard to
rank on.
Hashtag Basics
TWO pages for user hashtags
There are two sections under each hashtag. Section of recent images
and section of popular images.
A popular section is a place where you want to get your images.
That's the place where you can attract your target market to your
page.
So how do you do that?
Read this guide to the end and you will nd out ;)
Hashtag Basics
Different types of hashtags
Understanding the different types of hashtags and their
corresponding audiences is key when developing your Instagram
strategy.
There are three different types of hashtags.
Branded Hashtags
Community Hashtags
Campaign Hashtags
I'm going to show you how to use all of them in the next chapters.
Hashtag Basics
Community Hashtags
Community tags connect people around speci c topics, such as
#healthydiet, #seo, or #football.
These are the most popular, and you should focus on community
tags a lot. They help to improve the SEO of your posts, reach, gain
followers, and connect with the community of like-minded people.
Go through pages of your competitors to see what hashtags they're
using. So you will get something to start with.
Hashtag Basics
Branded Hashtags
A branded hashtag represents your business. It can be your
company name, tagline, name of the product, course, service, etc...
The branded hashtag has a different purpose than community tags.
They don't increase the reach of your posts.
They are designed to connect themes for you and your audience.
They are mostly used to aggregate user-generated content (UGC).
Hashtag Basics
Campaign hashtags
Campaign tags are used only for a season or special event. In other
words, in the short-term. They can be tied to product launches or
special events.
As a result, in uencers and businesses promote these hashtags
heavily to gain as much traction as possible and then they stop
promoting it.
A couple of examples:
#christmas, #newyear
#nhlplayoff
#blackfriday
#teslalaunch
Hashtag Basics
Posting rules
#1 Number of Hashtags
There's a hashtag limit on Instagram. You can use up to 30 hashtags
per post. I recommend using all of them!
#2 Character count
There's no limit on how many characters you can include in the
hashtag. But... Try to keep them short. No one is searching for
hashtag #whatarethehashtagspostingrules
#3 Types of characters
As you probably know, hashtags don't support spaces. If you're using
two words, just skip the space. Hashtags also can't include special
characters, like !,@,&,$,...
#4 Banned hashtags
Instagram's terms state that users "may not post violent, nude,
partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful,
pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content." The
same is true for hashtags!
Hashtag Basics
Instagram Algorithm
Instagram uses its intelligent photo recognition software
(Instagram will run your image through a database of tens of millions
of images and compare it with your hashtags to make sure the
hashtags are relevant.
IT knows exactly what is in your images if they have been posted
before snd what the font says.
For example, if you had a picture of your cat Instagram would
recognize that it’s a photo of your pet. So it would be smart to use
different types of hashtags that are relevant to house cats.
Step 1
Find 10 Niche Hashtags
Ultra speci c to the niche that your content is aimed at. Pick tags
that are small enough that you can dominate, but not too small you
don’t get any traf c.
I recommend to use hashtags that have between 10-100K images.
And remember, the words 'ultra speci c' are extremely important
here...
Let me give you an example... Let's say that your teach people how
to start training yoga from home. Check the image below to see
what hashtags you should use... Hope you see the pattern here.
Step 2
Find 10 Medium Hashtags
These hashtags should be between the range of 100,000 - 300,000
images per hashtags. They should include keywords relevant to your
niche.
If you get stuck nding those hashtags, you can:
Find out what hashtags your audience is using
Find out what hashtags your competitors are using (Start here!)
Find out what 'in uencers' in your niche are using (if they use
tag 'diet' - you can brainstorm long-tail keywords, that means,
for example, #dietforpregnantwoman, #90daydiet,
#effectivediet, etc... always check how many pictures are in
those hashtags and if the number ts in niche, medium or
popular group, use them
Use Instagram's search function
Step 3
Find 10 Popular Hashtags
These tags should get a lot of activity. The average popular hashtags
have between 300,000 and 3M images. They still need to be relevant
to your niche and business.
NOTE: Remember, I don't know how many followers you have. If
you're just starting out, focus more on 300k tags than on 3M.
This strategy is really helpful because it increases your chances of
appearing in big hashtags.
It works this way: When your post is live the Instagram algorithm
will start showing it to your followers. If they engage with your post
during the rst two hours, the algorithm will start showing your
post in your chosen hashtags with a similar engagement.
Once you start getting more and more engagement your post will
start appearing in bigger hashtags. If your post goes viral, you will
easily rank in your chosen 10 big hashtags and if it doesn’t happen,
you will still rank in the smaller hashtags.
Step 4
Full bag of hashtags
I know, I know... You already researched a looot of hashtags.
But guess what... I need you to nd even more!
Even though you followed this cheatsheet correctly (great job!), the
reality is - some of them won't work... some of them won't bring
results. But that's ok. You will learn how to track the results of each
hashtag in a minute. But rst...
Instagram doesn't like it if you're using the same hashtags over and
over. That's why it is crucial to have more groups of hashtags you
can use, test, and analyze.
So what should you do?
Instead of ten tags for each group, try to nd 20-30 and rotate them.
Sounds like a lot of work? Remember, you nd them once and use
them for months, sometimes even for years. It's worth it.
In step #7, I'm going to show you how to nd out which of those
hashtags are bringing you results and which not so that you can
replace them.
Step 5
If you get stuck, do this:
What you should do if you get stuck when researching your set of
hashtags?
Use the related hashtags tab to nd ones that may also be relevant
for your business & topic.
Do it over and over again until you've got a few sets of tags.
Remember, Instagram doesn't give you as much reach if you use the
same tags every time!
Step 6
Caption vs Comments
Using too many tags in your caption looks spammy, don't do that!
Use 2-3 at max. Post the rest of them in the rst comment under the
post.
Tip: If you're keen on hiding your tags, you can burying them
beneath dots and line breaks.
Step 7
Instagram hashtag tracking app
I'm glad you are still here! That means that you are ready for the
most crucial step!
We've already spent a lot of time researching the right hashtags for
your page. But want to know which of those tags are bringing the
best results for your page. These insights are essential.
If the hashtag work for you, you're using it. If not, you delete it.
Simple as that.
So, ho do you track the results of each tag? Using hashtag tracking
apps that show you exactly which tags work for you and which don't.
Two of my favorite are:
Smarthashapp
[Link]
Bonus Step
Instagram Stories & hashtags
It's still a new feature. Only a few are using it. But it's worth it. But
there's one big difference against feed posts. Use only ONE hashtag
on your stories.
Like regular posts, when you add a tag to an IG story, it
becomes searchable from the explore page.
And unlike feed posts, Instagram shows you exactly how many
impressions the tag got.
