Hashtags can be an incredibly important tool in achieving a broader social media reach, but could be inefficient if they are not used properly. Have you ever wondered when to use hashtags? What hashtags should you use? Have no fear! I can help.
The magical world of hashtags
Hashtags really are like a magical world where similar content lives. For example, if you write #cupcakerecipe and a stranger who has had absolutely no interaction with you before is looking for a cupcake recipe, your post will show up. If it’s great content and it gets a lot of interaction right away, this is how posts can go viral. Hashtags are a tool to broaden your reach on social media.
When should I use a hashtag?
Hashtags are best used on Instagram and Twitter. Use hashtags any time you want to expand your reach on social media. I recommend using 2-5 hashtags on Twitter, but beware of the character limit. On Instagram, use at least 10 hashtags and post them in the first comment. You can post hashtags in the photo caption, but it doesn’t look as clean. The maximum amount of hashtags you can use on Instagram is 30 total.
Hashtags CAN be used within Instagram stories! Do not use more than 10 hashtags in a story. I recommend making hashtags small and hiding them within the story. Need more info? Send me a message!
When NOT to use a hashtag
- If your social media page is set to private, hashtags are useless.
- In my opinion, Facebook is not a great place to use a hashtag. It is less common to search hashtags on Facebook and you can search for keywords in the search bar without a hashtag symbol.
- Don’t use hashtags that are too long. For example, instead of #thisisthebestweekendever, say #bestweekendever or #greatweekend.
- Don’t hashtag something that people aren’t going to be searching for. For example, if I posted about my husband David, I wouldn’t use #David. I would use #husband.
ALWAYS use hashtags that are relevant keywords for your target audience. This takes a bit of research. For example, if your target audience is women living in Florida, you wouldn’t want to use a hashtag like #CaliforniaGirls.
What hashtags should I use?
There is no clear-cut answer for this. You are the only person who can determine which hashtags you should use, and it will require some research and testing. Using hashtags with millions of posts will make your content get lost in the shuffle, so it’s not ideal.
Research Tools
- Go into the Instagram app, manually type in hashtag ideas, and take notes of the type of content that appears and how popular the hashtag is.
- PLANN app allows you to create custom hashtag sets and makes the research process a bit easier.
- There are other apps that have similar capabilities, but because I haven’t used any other app than PLANN, I don’t want to give incorrect information here!
If you have further questions or just want to talk through some hashtag strategy, I can help.