Using Instagram hashtags is one of the easiest ways to attract interested people to your account. According to Simply Measured’s study, Instagram posts containing at least one hashtag receive 12.6% more engagement on average than posts without hashtags. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds — impressive results require diligent work, and throwing random hashtags to your posts won’t do much difference. The following strategy and tips will come in handy to aspiring young businesses’ SEOs who want to grow their audience fast and for good.
5 important rules for working with Instagram hashtags:
1. Place no more than 15–20 hashtags per post. You can use up to 30, but only in extreme cases.
2. Use 4–5 super-popular hashtags. These are hashtags that issue millions of publications related to your field.
3. Add 5–7 medium popularity hashtags. They should be related to your topic, but be a little more focused and specific.
4. Include in the post 2–5 niche hashtag. These are the target keywords that your audience usually searches for. They come with a small amount of content in the Instagram search galleries.
5. Be sure to include a couple of branded hashtags that are suitable only for the content of your business. Branded hashtags may also be used on your product’s packaging and on your own merchandise (such as t-shirts, shopping bags, hats, key fobs, etc.) to start turning your brand into a household name.
The principle of the strategy
After placing a post according to the above rules you will first notice a burst of activity that comes from popular hashtags. After this the hashtags of average popularity will start to work. Such hashtags will keep engagement the tagged content high for hours or even days, retaining the activity level in the long term. Your Instagram account will gain lots of new, real followers. Under such conditions, the search algorithm of Instagram will place your content in the “Overview” tab for the target audience you want, and your posts will be in the top of the target queries for several days and weeks.