Until a little over a decade ago, the # sign simply meant “numeral”, and at least we used it only to write the address of our house. But today it has been changed and used widely on social media platforms.
Let us learn more about Instagram Hashtags.
What are hashtags and how do they work?
Hashtags or tags consist of words or phrases preceded by the # sign, without spaces or special characters. They work as hyperlinks and their main objective is to categorize the contents.
So, for example, if you use the hashtag #Happy in several posts, whenever you click on this you will see those same posts plus other public accounts that have used the same hashtag.
Why is it important to use hashtags on Instagram?
These are the three main advantages of properly using hashtags in this social network:
- Hashtags allow users to find your posts quickly and help them to go viral.
- By increasing visibility, you increase the reach of your message and increase the number of followers of your brand.
- In Instagram, there is a direct relationship between the use of hashtags and engagement. The more you use hashtags, the more visible your post will be and the more likely it is that someone will interact with it.
What types of hashtags are there?
Basically, hashtags work with the same logic as keywords, since they make it easier for people to find content. These keywords are practically endless and it is difficult to classify them into well-defined categories. But if we were to do it in a very general way, it would be something like this:
Brand: You can use brand hashtags (#CocaCola) or product (#CocaColaZero).
Of events: They serve to unite all the posts related to any event, be it a conference, fair, celebration, etc. An example is # NYC2019, related to this year’s Basketball league.
From special dates: For example #911.
Location: you can use hashtags related to your city or country, such as #NewYork #Paris and #London
Inspirers: like #Selfinspiration #Motivation and #BePositive
Fun: you can also play with hashtags by creating fun phrases, as you will see in these examples.
Popular: like #LOL #ROFL and #PicOfTheDay
How many hashtags to use?
Instagram has a limit of 30 hashtags, but it does not mean that this is the optimal amount. While it is true that using very few hashtags affects the performance of the post and using too many makes the brand look a bit “desperate”. So use them carefully.