Instagram hashtags are still an effective way to get more eyes (and engagement!) On your Instagram posts in 2021.
A post with at least one Instagram hashtag average 12.6% more engagement as posts without a hashtag. So it really pays to create a hashtag strategy for your brand if you want to grow your account!
This ultimate guide to Instagram hashtags will help you understand everything you need to know about using hashtags Get more followers, improve your engagement rate and build a community around your business.
Ready to learn how to strategically use Instagram hashtags? We bet it is you!
content
- Why Instagram hashtags are important
- The top 50 Instagram hashtags of 2021 (LATEST)
- The top 50 Instagram hashtags of all time
- The different types of Instagram hashtags
- Here's how to find the best Instagram hashtags for your account
- How to organize your Instagram hashtags
- 8 ways to optimize your Instagram hashtags
- Instagram hashtag best practices in 2021
Why Instagram hashtags are important
Instagram has seen many changes since 2010, but one thing has remained constant throughout: the importance of Instagram hashtags.
Even in 2021, you can still use relevant, targeted hashtags on your posts and stories One of the best ways to get discovered by new audiences on Instagram. This can lead to more engagement, more followers, and more customers for your business.
Instagram hashtags organize and categorize photos and videos.
If you have a public Instagram account and you add a hashtag to a post, that post will appear on the relevant hashtag page (basically, it's a directory of all the photos and videos that have been hashtagged).
Since hashtags are used to discover content, With the right hashtags, you can put yourself in front of your target group, even if they have not yet established a connection with you.
For example, a food blogger could post a picture of a beautiful smoothie bowl and then use the hashtags #superfoods, #cleaneating, and #vegansofig when uploaded to Instagram.
These three hashtags are used to catalog the image so that other Instagram users who enjoy healthy foods can find it easily.
A couple of things to consider:
- When people with private profiles tag posts, they won't appear publicly on hashtag pages
- Numbers are allowed in hashtags. However, spaces and special characters such as $ or% do not work.
- You can only add hashtags to your own posts. You cannot tag other people's photos / videos.
- You can use up to 30 hashtags for a post and 10 for Instagram Stories.
Ready to start? Check out the video below for everything you need to know about Instagram hashtags in 2021:
The top 50 Instagram hashtags of 2021
While using hugely popular hashtags isn't always the best strategy for getting more engagement on your posts and stories (we'll explain this below). Here is a current list of the top 50 Instagram hashtags of 2021::
- #Beach
- # l4l
- #blogger
- #instadaily
- #lol
- #Blue
- #Model
- #Nature
- #hot
- #Follow me
- #Pink
- #the best of the day
- #Night
- #Black and white
- #no filter
- #Food
- # f4f
- #Family
- #foodporn
- # Fashion blogger
- #black
- #me
- #Gym
- #At home
- #form
- #Photography
- #Girl
- #quite
- #fitfam
- #Lifestyle
- #Job
- #Sky
- #Love
- #amazing
- #beautiful
- #Sun
- #Luxury
- #vsco
- #Landscape
- #sweet
- # llike4like
- #Hair
- #Girl
- #London
- #tbt
- #Life
- #Image of the day
- #Beauty
- #Smile
The top 50 Instagram hashtags of all time
- #Love
- #instagood
- #Picture of the Day
- #Fashion
- #beautiful
- # like4like
- #Image of the day
- #Art
- #happy
- #Photography
- #Follow me
- #Style
- #Consequences
- #instadaily
- #Travel
- #Life
- #sweet
- #Fitness
- #Nature
- #Beauty
- #Girl
- #Fun
- #Photo
- #amazing
- #likeforlike
- #instalike
- #selfie
- #Smile
- #me
- #Lifestyle
- #Model
- # follow4follow
- #Music
- #Friends
- #Motivation
- #to like
- #Food
- #Inspiration
- #Publish again
- #Summer
- #Design
- #form
- #TBT
- #followforfollow
- #ootd
- #Family
- # l4l
- #cool
- #igers
The different types of Instagram hashtags
Understanding the different types of hashtags and their respective audiences is key to developing an effective Instagram hashtag strategy:
# 1: Community hashtags
Community hashtags are hashtags that connect like-minded users on a specific topic. They are a great way to connect with others, improve the searchability of your posts, and gain followers Build your own community.
Here are 9 different types of community hashtags You can use for your company:
- Hashtags that your product or service, like #sweater or #coffeeshop
- Hashtags that your Niche in your industry, like #weddingphotographer or #travelphotographer
- Hashtags for Instagram communities in your industry, like #bakersofinstagram or #foodiesofinstagram
- Hashtags for special events or seasons, like #whiteday or #nationaldonutday
- Hashtags with Locations, like #pastrynyc, #madeintoronto or #sydneysweets
- Daily hashtags, like #mondaymotivation, #tuesdaytip or #wellnesswednesday
- Hashtags with Sentences relevant to what you do like #becreative or #bakerylove
- Hashtags with Acronyms, like #qotd (quote of the day) or #ootd (outfit of the day)
- Hashtags with Emojis, like # 👟 or # 🌞
We recommend using a variety of hashtags for your posts and stories so that your posts can reach different communities. For example, if you have a grocery account, you can use #cleaneats to reach users looking for healthy recipes or #sweettooth to grab the attention of dessert lovers.
A brand hashtag is A hashtag that is unique to your business if you are using Instagram for business purposes.
This can be as simple as your company name, your slogan, or the name of one of your products or campaigns. Or it can be a hashtag that has nothing to do with your brand name, everything to do with your brand identity!
# 2: branded hashtags
A brand hashtag is A hashtag that is unique to your business if you are using Instagram for business purposes.
This can be as simple as your company name, your slogan, or the name of one of your products or campaigns. Or it can be a hashtag that has nothing to do with your brand name, everything to do with your brand identity!
While community hashtags are meant to increase the reach of your message, branded hashtags are used to connect topics for you and your audience. They can be used to promote a campaign or to collect user generated content (UGC).
For example the "natural" sneaker company Allbirds uses the hashtag #weareallbirds to increase their brand awareness by giving their followers a place to share relevant content.
Get your Instagram followers Using your branded hashtag in their posts and stories is key to being discovered by new audiences on Instagram.
After creating your hashtag, remind customers that they can use your company's hashtag by posting it on your stories or viewing it in your captions. That way, your followers can tap the hashtag and see other posts related to your business.
That's a good idea too Follow your branded hashtag to keep track of new content that is being shared!
# 3: campaign hashtags
While brand and community hashtags are supposed to have a long lifespan, campaign hashtags are usually short-term and only run for a few days, a season, or a year.
The reason campaign hashtags are short-term is because they are usually tied to specific campaigns, e.g. B. New product launches, special events or partnerships. So they are ideal for building a lot of engagement in a short period of time!
For example, Tezza app recently used the hashtag # 12daysoftezzaapp to promote a holiday campaign.
Here's how to find the best Instagram hashtags for your account
When used correctly, Instagram hashtags can help you expand your reach, get more engagement, and attract more followers.
However, to be successful with hashtags, you need to be strategic about which hashtags to use and when to use them.
While the most popular hashtags on Instagram have been used a million times, that doesn't mean you will get a ton of likes and comments simply by adding #love, #happy, or #dog to your posts.
Instead of using the most popular Instagram hashtagsIt's better to find and use hashtags that are smaller, more niche, and have engaged audiences that are relevant to your industry.
How can you find these cool, creative, and community-oriented hashtags?
The best thing to do is to see what Instagram hashtags your audience, competitors, and industry leaders are already using.
@ later.com So easy, you can do it while watching Tiger King watching ## fyp ## foryou ## instagramtips ## socialmediatips
♬ Vibe (if I support it) – Cookiee Kawaii
We found that the more niche the topic is, the more conversations users have. So it pays to really get into a topic or topic. And you'll be amazed at how niche hashtags can get!
For example, let's say you post a photo of a French Bulldog. Instead of just tagging #dogstagram (over 95 million posts), you can also tag #pupsofinsta and #frenchiegram to reach a more targeted audience of people who really love French Bulldogs. This is the best way to target and edit your posts!
Here are 5 ways to find the best Instagram hashtags for your account:
# 1: Use Later's hashtag suggestion feature
Need help finding unique or industry-specific hashtags? Then you might want to check back laterHashtag suggestions Feature.
Hashtag suggestions will automatically identify relevant hashtags for your posts based on other hashtags you've used. Just give us a hashtag that you've been successful with and we'll show you 30 more related hashtags for you to experiment with.
You can choose which of these hashtags to add to your post. All you have to do is click "Insert Hashtags". These will be added at the end of your label.
Or you can use Later Planning the first comment to automatically post your hashtags in the first comment. This is a great way to make your caption the star of the show without sacrificing the engagement you can get with hashtags!
Hashtag suggestions are available to everyone Later business plans – Upgrade now to get access!
# 2: research your audience
Throwing random hashtags at the bottom of your Instagram posts won't grow your audience. Instead, find out which hashtags your target audience is using and see which ones match the content you are posting.
Your hashtags should be relevant and contain keywords that your target audience is actually looking for.
# 3: Research your competitors
A great way to get valuable hashtag inspiration is to look at what successful brands are doing on your network.
Look at brands with similar content, products, or audiences – and carefully evaluate their content strategy.
In particular, familiarize yourself with the top performing posts and mark the hashtags that may be applicable to your brand for future posts.
# 4: Leader in Research
One of the best ways to find relevant hashtags is by following them Instagram influencer who have the same (or a similar) target group as you.
Every industry has its respective most important influencing factors. Find out who these people are in your niche and use their posts as inspiration. These people are already well established with your target audience. So why not learn from the best?
# 5: find related hashtags
Scouring the landscape of trends relevant to your own hashtag is an easy and effective way to grow your community.
Simply enter your hashtag into the app's search bar, then select "Tags" from the drop-down menu. You can then view all of the top hashtags that are closely related to your own hashtag and point out additional ways to reach, monitor and engage your community.
You can also search through posts that contain a hashtag that you've already had success with. Are you seeing a trend towards other popular hashtags that may appear in future posts? If so, write them down.
How to organize your Instagram hashtags
It used to be best to organize your hashtags with a table. You would create an Excel spreadsheet with headings like "Hashtags", "Category", "Number of Posts", etc. and then actively fill in those once you found new effective hashtags.
Fortunately, there is a much better way.
By using Later Saved subtitles This feature allows you to create multiple hashtag lists based on your frequently used hashtag categories Later account.
For example, if you run a travel brand, you can use saved captions to keep all of your travel-related hashtags organized so you can add them quickly when planning your future.
When planning a photo of a beach in San Diego, you can insert relevant hashtags for Beaches, California, Travel, and San Diego with just one click, as you have already saved hashtags for different categories.
After you've written your caption, simply click on "Saved Captions" and then on the appropriate hashtag list to add those hashtags to your caption immediately.
Saved captions are available for all future plans – including our free plan!
8 ways to optimize your Instagram hashtags
Hashtags on Instagram can really be an effective way to increase your following and engagement, but best practices are constantly changing.
A great Instagram hashtag strategy not only reaches more people, it reaches them too Law People for your business. Here are 8 tips for optimizing your Instagram hashtags to reach your target market and increase your engagement:
Tip 1: check your Instagram hashtag analytics
Looking at the performance of the hashtags you've used in the past can be a great way to decide which hashtags to use again in the future.
Instagram's native analytics tool provides some of this data, but the insights are pretty limited.
Instead, we recommend using it Subsequent hashtag analysis to track key insights about the hashtags you used, including a breakdown of the hashtags that get the most likes, comments, impressions, saves and reach on your Instagram posts.
Plus, as you keep adding new hashtags, you'll be able to see exactly how they are performing for your content.
Instagram hashtag analytics are available to everyone Later business plans.
Tip 2: try to get the best results on a hashtag
If you've ever searched for a hashtag on Instagram, you've probably noticed that "Top Posts" are at the top of the results page.
Getting into the top posts for a hashtag is a great way to be discovered by new users. To like featured on the Explore pageThis can create a huge network effect that will essentially make your post on Instagram go viral.
How do you get into the top posts for a hashtag?
Based on our experience, the two factors that play the biggest role in deciding whether a post will make it into the top posts for a hashtag are as follows How much commitment does the contribution get and how quickly does it get this commitment.
Top posts typically take their position within the first 24 hours of posting. Hence, you need these likes and comments to arrive quickly after posting. If you can generate a lot of engagement on your Instagram post soon after posting it, it signals Instagram that your post is high quality and engaging content.
Tip 3: Include your branded hashtag on your Instagram profile
Thanks a current updateNow you can add clickable hashtags (and usernames) to your Instagram bio, which makes creating a hashtag a lot easier Instagram Bio That Converts to website visits!
The special thing about this function is that your biography becomes even more functional. You can use hashtags for everything from promoting your Instagram community to highlighting your branded content to announcing your Instagram campaigns.
All you have to do is put a "#" before a word in your bio. It automatically becomes a clickable link that directs visitors to that hashtag.
Tip 4: Post your hashtags in the first comment
While Adding hashtags to your posts is one of the best ways to Increase Your Engagement Getting your posts out in front of your target audience can make too many hashtags look messy (or worse, spam!) In your subtitles.
Instead, posting your hashtags in the first comment is a great way to make your caption the star of the show without detracting from the engagement you can get with hashtags.
To schedule a first comment on Instagram with "Later":
- Open the Post Scheduler under Later. You can do this from anywhere – later on the desktop, iOS or Android.
- You will see a text field named "First Comment". Enter your hashtags or any text you'd prefer in the first comment.
- Schedule your post as usual (including adding your post) Linkin.bio Link!) And the first comment is planned.
- You're done!
You can now create, schedule and automatically publish the first comment on your Instagram posts – available to everyone Later Paid Plans!
Tip 5: add hashtags to your Instagram stories
Did you know you can also add hashtags to your Instagram stories?
Adding hashtags to your story is a great way to give your content an extra chance to be discovered by new audiences.
If users search for a hashtag on Instagram and it's popular enough, they can use the search results page to display a collection of tagged stories – including yours!
You can add up to 10 hashtags to any Instagram story including 1 clickable hashtag sticker.
And if you're worried about how hashtags affect a carefully crafted aesthetics, There are a few Hashtags hacks so that they fit seamlessly into your post or are completely hidden.
For example, you can make your text-based hashtags smaller (just "pinch" the text) and hide them under a GIF or sticker.
TIP: Don't make your hashtag text too small. If it becomes illegible, Instagram won't pick it up and your post is unlikely to show up in a hashtag search.
Tip 6: Entice your followers to follow your branded hashtag
In a major update from 2018, Instagram added the ability to "follow" hashtags. This means that you can now stay up to date on different topics (or communities) by following a hashtag that matches your interests.
Following a hashtag works the same way as following a user profile. When you find a hashtag that you want to follow, just open the hashtag page and tap the "Follow" button.
For brands and businesses, this is a great way to be a regular on a follower's feed. For example, if you have a branded hashtag for your business, you can invite your followers to follow your unique hashtag as well.
This means your content can appear twice in a follower's feed – once if they follow your profile and once if they follow the hashtag. It doubles your chances of getting involved!
Tip 7: run hashtag-based campaigns and promotions
Competitions that revolve around user generated content (UGC) are all the rage, and for good reason: they're fun, popular, and great for driving engagement and reaching new audiences.
The easiest way to do this is to encourage your audience to brand relevant content with a hashtag. They're like a filing system that anyone in your community can use to collect UGC.
For example, Sezane is running a weekly giveaway and encouraging their community to share photos with #SezaneLovers to participate.
Create a contest where your followers upload photos to Instagram and tag their posts with your branded hashtag.
Tip 8: avoid using banned hashtags on Instagram
Last but not least, our last tip is too Avoid using banned hashtags on your Instagram posts.
Forbidden hashtags have been marked and deactivated by Instagram for violating community guidelines, making them completely unusable for your brand awareness.
In addition, even seemingly innocent hashtags are on the blacklist, e.g. B. #humpday and #elevator. So it's definitely worth checking out your tags briefly!
You can view a list of Instagram hashtags forbidden here.
Instagram hashtag best practices in 2021
Instagram hashtags, when used correctly, can be a powerful tool for discovery. However, if used incorrectly, they can also look spammy and spoil your brand perception.
Here are some rules to get more out of your Instagram hashtags in 2021:
# 1: when should I use Instagram hashtags?
The short answer? As often as possible! Whenever you share content on Instagram, whether it's a post or an Instagram story, you want as many people as possible to see it need Use Instagram hashtags.
However, there may be times when the use of hashtags is not required, e.g. B. if you share a particularly sensitive topic or story.
At the end of the day, it's best to weigh the tone or topic of your post along with what you're trying to achieve, and then decide whether it makes sense to use hashtags.
# 2: how many hashtags should I use?
Unfortunately, there isn't a hard and fast rule for deciding how many hashtags to use. While some experts like Alex Tooby recommend using the maximum number of hashtags allowed as it gives you more opportunities to explore, others recommend using only 5-10.
We've seen all sorts of strategies and ideas on how many hashtags will make the difference, but at the end of the day it's really up to you. If you can find 30 overly relevant hashtags to add to any post, this is definitely the one to go for.
However, if you don't feel comfortable using so many, you can use less. It's okay to experiment with the number of hashtags you use in your posts – it's all about finding your hashtag sweet spot!
# 3: which hashtags should I use?
The most important thing to consider when deciding which hashtags to use is that they are intentional – As in, use hashtags that your target audience is actually looking for and following!
It is important that you swap your Instagram hashtags in each post to avoid "spam". It's also a good idea to avoid tricky hashtags like #likeforlike and hashtags that have been used over 1 million times. These hashtags might get you a few extra likes, but they won't help you build a highly engaged, targeted following.
Instead, try looking for ultra-niche community hashtags that are specifically relevant to the content you are posting. It is a good idea to use them Saved subtitles Create multiple lists of hashtags organized by subject or category.
For example, if you are a company that caters to small business owners in the fashion industry, you may have multiple hashtags that you use for different topics.
Some may be specifically for small businesses, while others are in fashion and e-commerce. The key is to collect and categorize them so that when you use them in a post, you can easily see which people are most involved in your post.
And don't forget to use a branded hashtag whenever it makes sense! The first step in getting other users to share your branded hashtag is to use it yourself.
# 4: should my hashtags be visible?
According to Instagramyou can add hashtags to either the caption or the comments.
However, if you have hashtagged subtitles, you get the extra commitment the moment you hit publish instead of waiting for your comment to be written and published.
If you prefer a clearer caption, you can also add line breaks between the body of your caption and the hashtags. Here's how to keep your hashtags neatly tucked away so you can maintain a nice, streamlined aesthetic:
If you're a future user, you can easily add line breaks to your labels with the Later app. All you have to do is press Enter while writing your caption, and you'll get beautiful, spatial captions for your Instagram posts!
Using Instagram hashtags strategically is a great way to connect with customers, find content created about you by your followers, and build long-term relationships with influential partners!
Are you ready to implement your Instagram marketing strategy? Later on, you can easily plan, manage, and schedule your Instagram posts!
Written by
Benjamin Chacon
Benjamin is a content marketing strategist at Later and recently performed a transplant from Toronto. You can follow his everyday life on Instagram @benjaminchacs.