Let’s talk about hashtags! #️⃣ Are you being intentional with your hashtag strategy? This is the best & easiest way to increase your reach on Instagram & get your posts seen. But how do you know the right ones to use? Research! Full stop here: Don’t just slap a bunch of hashtags in your caption and call it a day. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, so use them wisely.
I spend considerable time researching hashtags for the best performance. It’s easy but soooo time-consuming! Using a spreadsheet for each client, and a sheet for each batch of hashtags, I can easily find out what is performing, or not.
Here’s how I do it: that’s one of the spreadsheets that I use - in this case, I’m sharing @skyeretriever account.
There are 3 columns - hashtag, position, and notes. I list the hashtag, and then search on Instagram for its’ position, which is the number of posts attributed to that hashtag; too low and it’s too narrow & not getting noticed. Likewise, too high (over 1,000,000) and it’s likely getting lost in the feed quickly.
This is also a great way to find new hashtags to use, related hashtags will appear at the top of the hashtag you are viewing. Be sure to click on those hashtags, if they’re relevant, and see what their position is before you add them.
Sort the hashtags by position so you can see where they fall in popularity & if you want to continue using them. Highlighted hashtags are usually new ones that I test, and there are always tags that get retired because they’re too popular.
By the way, this is an ongoing process! You just don’t do the research and call it done. This is something that has to be done every few weeks or at least once a month. As I said, it’s time-consuming!
This brings me to another point: are hashtags relevant on Facebook? Not so much. Hashtag use on Facebook could be detrimental to your brand. A study by BuzzSumo determined that tagged posts performed worse than untagged posts. I know, mind blown.
People don’t use the search bar on Facebook the same way they use it on Instagram. This doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use them. They can be used successfully to promote an event or a campaign, and a branded hashtag may turn up in a Google search. If you’re going to use hashtags on Facebook though, I would recommend only using one or two and not populating your post with a slew of hashtags, it takes away from the message.
