Our guest blogger Becka tells us how to use hashtags.
Hi Everyone,
I’m Becka from Clear Round Media thank you so much to Laura for letting me guest post on her blog! I am going to discuss how to use hashtags.
Clear Round Media is my marketing consultancy, and my specialism is Social Media. When done right it can be an amazing tool, but there are a few tricks to make the most of it!
One way to boost the reach of your posts on Instagram is to use hashtags. Most of us know what these are by now, but in case you’re new to Instagram – think of them like a directory to find similar content. For instance, under #dog – you should find a lot of photos of dogs. #Lincolnshire should bring up photos from or of Lincolnshire.
There are some tips to follow though on how to use hashtags successfully on Instagram.
You’re allowed up to 30 on each post, but it’s widely thought that any more than 27 is seen as spam by Instagram, so try and avoid using all 30 on every single post.
Relevance is key
They also need to be relevant, #dog might be a popular hashtag, but if your photo is of a cat – or something else entirely – then those searching under #dog aren’t likely to be interested in your post, and again, Instagram will count you as spam.
When you search for hashtags, you’ll be able to see how many posts have that hashtag. It might seem tempting to only use super popular ones – but if the feed updates too quickly then your photo will get lost and it defeats the object. Too few, however, and no-one will see it at all. There’s a debate about starting your own hashtag, and whilst it’s good to see all of your posts in one place, there’s not much chance of someone searching for it and so it’s kind of wasted. Also, if someone wants to see all your posts – they can just look at your feed!
Generally, it is a good idea to have a mixture of popularity amongst your hashtags. I try not to go much more than 1million, and don’t have too many even close to this figure. Around 100k is ideal, with a good amount from 10k upwards.
When deciding which hashtags to use, and how to use hashtags, think about what is in the photo and the caption beneath. I have some hashtags that I use on pretty much every post as they are core to my business – so #lincolnshire and #lincolnshirebusiness are suitable for everything I post. However, if the image itself is of my horse, and the caption is about progress – I’ll put hashtags relevant to both of these.
To find new hashtags, I start by searching for one that I know is relevant and being used, Instagram will then suggest other similar ones. I also take a scroll down who is using my chosen hashtag and see what else they’re using – all the while ensuring that they’re relevant to my business.
Don’t overuse
There are some great ones out there for business use. Try not to overuse the same hashtag unless it’s really relevant (such as my examples above) and try to mix them up.
I have a bank of loads of hashtags that I keep to hand, and I pick them according to what I’m posting. You could write # and anything, but there’s no point if no-one else is using it – so look at what you’re posting first.
Also look to make sure that the hashtag is popular for what you want it to be. For example, #exracer could be about a dog or a horse, so if you’re specifically looking for horses, you may want to narrow it down a bit more. I can think of far worse things to end up being associated with too, so just double check that it means what you think it does!
So, there’s some tips on how to use hashtags and get the best out of them. Essentially, keep it relevant and keep it searchable!
Thank you again for having me, please do reach out if you’d like any further help!
Becka
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