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Hashtags on Instagram remain one of the best free tools to get immediate eyes on your post. And when used correctly for your content can increase viewers on your post by 30-80%. Even as a hashtag beginner you can get your content in front of an audience who are already actively looking for posts like yours. Inside this article, I share my 3 Part Instagram Hashtag Formula for Beginners to help you get more eyes on your posts.
How to use Instagram Hashtags
Now I already know what you are thinking – that hashtags are dead and won’t grow your following on Instagram the way Reels or Live Video will.
But my suggestion to you is to approach hashtags with a strategy like you would any other marketing plan. Learn how they work, incorporate them into your content plan, stay dedicated to them, track your analytics, and make tweaks as needed.
Hashtag Strategy
Hashtags on Instagram remain one of the best free tools to get immediate eyes on your post. And when used correctly for your content can increase viewers on your post by 30-80%.
While some confuse hashtags as solely a key Instagram feature to identify content and the creator of a piece of content, hashtags are actually an Instagram search tool. When your target niche uses them to find valuable content – you’re able to reach potential clients who are more likely to turn into followers.
This means that if you use the right hashtags, you can get your content in front of an audience who are already actively looking for posts like yours. It’s much easier to convert people already looking for your content.
Instagram hashtags algorithm
By using hashtags in your posts, you can reach untapped audiences on Instagram who may be interested in your content, product, or services. Thus, reaching new audiences will enable you to grow your Instagram with more of your target audiences.
Think of an Instagram hashtag as a folder on your computer. Folders allow you to find exactly what you need quickly and efficiently. At their most basic level, hashtags are simply Instagram’s version of folders.
You can use hashtags on feed posts, story posts, and within your Instagram bio.
For example: if you are in the fitness niche and use fitness-related products and community hashtags – Instagram will show your content to others interested in fitness content. This is why you must use the proper hashtags consistently, so Instagram understands the type of content you publish.
3 Part Instagram Hashtag Formula for Beginners
So if you are a beginner to Hashtags, here is the 3 Part Instagram Hashtag Formula for Beginners to help you get more eyes on your posts.
Size + Relevancy + Content
So let’s dive into each of these, so you get a better understanding of how to use this formula.
1 – Size of your hashtags
Size is to make sure the hashtags you are using are the correct size for your Instagram Account.
For this reason, you must pay attention to the size of your hashtags and how competitive they are in relation to your account and performance. The size simply means the average likes a particular hashtag gets and the total number of posts that have been made with that hashtag.
This will help you understand and predict what hashtags may work for you and which may not.
For instance, if your Instagram account averages 20 likes per post and you use hashtags that average over 5,000 likes per post – those aren’t the hashtags you need to be using. You want to use hashtags that resemble your current account and just above.
You also don’t want to use overly saturated hashtags with 1,000’s of posts per day. Your goal with a hashtag strategy is to rank as high as possible on the top posts feed. Generally, the higher you rank, the more impressions your posts will gain.
2 – Relevancy of Hashtags
Relevancy is making sure that your hashtags match your content and target audience.
Instagram’s machine learning technology favors well-labeled content, and if you do this using hashtags, your posts will be shown to a broader audience. The more relevant your hashtags are to your post, the better the results you’ll get – Instagram wants to provide the best user experience for its audiences, which means delivering hyper-targeted content.
The more accurately you label your content, the more relevant of an audience Instagram can show your posts to, and in turn, increase your reach!
So if you are posting about skincare and you start using hashtags that rank high in size for time freedom and travel – your account will not be reaching the right audience or most likely any audience at all. Instagram will hide your account inside those non-relevant hashtags based on your unrelated content.
3 – Content on Instagram
Content is still king when it comes to gaining followers and expanding your audience on Instagram. Hashtags can help great content reach more people, but that can’t save content that isn’t high quality.
So when preparing posts, be sure to serve your ideal client with content they will find attention-grabbing and valuable. This goes back to defining your niche audience and how you can best serve them.
Ep 90: How To Define Your Ideal Client
Formula: how to use hashtags
Like any brand strategy, you must stay consistent and spend extra hours analyzing your data. I’ve found that using a specific hashtag platform (such as FLICK) to manage my hashtag strategy only takes me about 30 minutes a week to analyze my hashtags, find common and better-sized hashtags for my account, and create new collections that I can easily schedule with my content.
Hashtags can help increase your visibility by over 30%, no matter what your account size is. With this data using hashtags on Instagram continue to be a strategy that I put effort into every week.
FLICK is my preferred hashtag platform! CLICK HERE for a free trial!
Recap: Hashtags for Beginners
In the end, even though hashtags are typically known for increasing the reach of your posts and casting your net out to a broader audience, there’s a lot more to it than you may first think. Hashtag success requires time and strategy. Rather than just using random hashtags, there should be a method to the madness.
It will take a bit of time to get the hang of things, but when you do, it’ll be worth it! Using this mentioned 3 Part Instagram Hashtag Formula for Beginners, you’ll start to master the algorithm and be in good standing with the platform’s machine learning technology.
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