#Hashtag the crap out of your Instagram Posts

How many hashtags should you use on Instagram?

How many hashtags should you use on Instagram? Answer: a lot. But the number changes. Keep up to date with the trends by participating.

Hashtags. I know. I have a bad reputation for my love-hate relationship with hashtag use.

So many people get it wrong (wrong being the wrong word because there are no rights or wrongs, right?).

Maybe ineffective use is a better way to describe many people’s Instagram accounts.

I know a lot of Facebookers (who cross-post their Instagram photos) just don’t realize that when they post a hashtag on a private (friends-only) post, they’re defeating the purpose of the hashtag (to be found in search). But I surrender.

Really.

I promise.

No, I’m serious this time.

My personal strategy on Instagram is to post more landscapes, arty shots, and selfies. People bore easily of selfies on Facebook. But on Instagram, it’s almost expected.

Bears in Grants Pass, Oregon

On my first visit to Grants Pass, Oregon, I noticed bear sculptures all around town. So of course, I decided to take photos, put them on Instagram, and use the hashtag #BearsOfGrantsPass.

Two things:

1. I was surprised I was the only one using this hashtag. These bears aren’t new.

2. I realized you can now click on a hashtag from your desktop.

Boom. This is when I realized the power of hashtags on Instagram has left the boundaries of mobile.

 

Try it on this post. Click on one of the hashtags.

View this post on Instagram

Bear #ProHDRx #BearsOfGrantsPass #Oregon

A post shared by Bridget Willard (@bridgetmwillard) on

 

Translating to Business

Will this change how much you use Instagram?

Will this change what hashtags you use?

When I was working for Riggins, I started an experiment.  I used 13 hashtags and starting doing a weekly project. We got a lot of traction and results.

We had a project in Irvine and since Irvine won’t allow signs during construction, I thought a geo-location series of photos on Instagram with a boat-load of hashtags would be a fun substitute.

How many hashtags should you use on Instagram?

How many hashtags should your business use on Instagram? The answer varies. Culture evolves. Culture on social media evolves quickly. Personal accounts can have long, drawn-out hashtags that involve sarcasm. Instagram should be more generic (think SEO keywords).

“Interactions are highest on Instagram posts with 11+ hashtags.” Buffer 2014

Do your own research. Experiment yourself. Buy a subscription to Union Metrics or use their free Instagram check tool. Trust your gut. What do you click on.

Bonus:

Here’s an interview video with Amy Dononhue from March of 2015. (This post was written originally posted June 25, 2015).

Instagram for Business:

 

Double bonus:

Here are some Instagramers I appreciate because of the way they display their content.

There will be a lot of scrolling.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Lace | Sabine Hill #concretetile #pattern

A post shared by filmore clark (@filmoreclark) on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are 21 comments What do you think? I'd love to read your thoughts.

What do you think? I'd love to read your thoughts.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  
Please enter an e-mail address

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
https://bridgetwillard.com/hashtag-the-crap-out-of-instagram/
bridgetwillard.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2019-35
136031
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:RPBWLDHH4V5TA7IIOZB5PKNNKNGQGDZU
<urn:uuid:0ef5f9d2-eb31-49bd-ab3e-29df4b117630>
2019-08-25T07:23:20Z
209.15.20.238
text/html
sha1:Q4BTGZGNOY2FC5BQQI6HWCUNQSJ2U2BZ
<urn:uuid:cd1c510a-5534-4f00-be9c-eafdb63bbc22>
https://bridgetwillard.com/hashtag-the-crap-out-of-instagram/
response
<urn:uuid:e184e31c-2285-43a0-bf6a-5c9235c5298a>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-35
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-85.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/