Boost your social media engagement by weaving hashtags into your social media posts. It’s a way to gain shares, comments, and new followers. They’ll also make you and your company easier to find.
Ensure your account is public. If your account is set to private, using hashtags won’t allow others to find or see your content. Set your account to public if you’re using hashtags to drive more traffic or leads.
Don’t rely only on popular hashtags. Your messages will get buried if you just use the most common hashtags. Certainly, pay attention to popular ones—like #FlashBackFriday or #TuesdayTip—to participate in a wider social media conversation, but don’t make this your main outreach strategy. Consider using hashtags related to your location, niche, product or service, special event, or any relevant phrases that complement your post.
Gather suggestions. Several programs offer recommendations for hashtags that are relevant to your brand: hashtagify.me, RiteTag, or Later. RiteTag allows you to upload a social media photo and caption and then provides appropriate hashtags. Hootsuite’s search streams also offer up hashtag suggestions based on what’s most effective on certain social networks. On Instagram, related hashtags appear just above the “Top” and “Recent” tabs when you use the Explore section.
Use them strategically. You don’t want to make your post look spammy by using too many. Social media experts recommend using one or two hashtags on sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. On Instagram, you may want to use more. Instagram will allow up to 30 hashtags on a post, but about 11 is generally recommended. Hashtags help to make photos more easily searchable. But consider putting those hashtags in the Instagram comment section to avoid overloading your caption with distractions.
Build on past successes. Look back at some of your high-traffic posts. Which hashtags did you use? With an Instagram Business account, you can access Instagram Insights to see how many impressions a post generated just from hashtags.
Sources: Hootsuite, Digital Marketing Institute
