Unlock the power of hashtags
Here are some tips for optimising the hashtags on your Instagram posts:
1. Use hashtags that your target audience are searching for:

One of the most important parts of a winning hashtag strategy is research. Research the hashtags that your competitors and other businesses in your niche are using. Use hashtags that your target audience is likely to search for. For example, I use hashtags like #irishbusinesses #smallirishbusinesses #socialmediadublin #instagramtipsandtricks. Don't choose random hashtags - have a strategy behind it.
2. Use 30 hashtags in each post
The hashtag limit on a post is 30 hashtags. Every hashtag is an opportunity to reach more people in your target audience - use all 30! I always add these to the first comment of an Instagram post for aesthetic reasons (doing this doesn't affect the reach of the hashtags)
3. Avoid hashtags that have more than 500,000 posts
If you have an Instagram page with a small following and reach you will not rank in the high-density hashtags that have 500,000 posts or more. Focus on hashtags that have between 50,000 and 500,000 posts.
4. Look at your hashtag analytics
Go to your last Instagram post and select 'View Insights'. Scroll down to the impressions section and look at the number beside 'From hashtags'. For example, I recently had 1,200 impressions on one of my posts and I can see that 877 of these were from hashtags. Now I know that these hashtags worked well and I will use them again for a post on a similar topic.


5. Include location-based hashtags
I recommend including about 5 location-based hashtags in your posts. For example, I use hashtags like #irishbusinesses #smallirishbusinesses #socialmediadublin #socialmediamanagerdublin #dublinbusinesses.
6. Make sure your hashtags are relevant to the image and caption
If you post a photo of a beach and use the hashtag '#socialmediamanager', Instagram won't push this because the hashtag isn't related to the photo. Use travel-related hashtags instead. You should also make sure you are including travel-related keywords in the caption of the post. So in a nutshell your image, caption, and hashtags should all revolve around specific keywords. Ranking in hashtags on Instagram is the same concept as SEO on Google - it's all about keywords.
Enjoying my blogs? I teach all of my top tips in my Social Media Training Calls.
Hope you have a great week,
Karissa.
Comments