Hashtag Guide for 2020: Why You Need To Use Hashtags on Instagram

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Hashtag Guide for 2020: Why You Need To Use Hashtags on Instagram

Hashtag –  a word we hear so often in the media world.  But what is a hashtag?  Besides the basic understanding of the symbol (#), hashtagging is a way to be found by your ideal target audience.

Think about the last thing you used a hashtag?  Have you ever searched on Instagram #vancouverhotels for instance to find hotels around Vancouver?  Or maybe something more like #kidstoys to find some new kids’ toys ideas?  Maybe not those exact hashtags… but you get the idea right?

Why You Need To Be Using Hashtags

As a content creator and blogger, hashtags are the best way to be found by others.  It gives you the capability to expand your target audience (aka your following) and find other like-minded ones that are in your niche.  Hashtags are going to expand your reach.

The thing is, you need to strategically choose hashtags for you to further your reach to the best of your ability.  I have done so much trial and error with how to use hashtags and the proof is in the pudding.

How Should You Use Hashtags?

There are a couple of “rules” with hashtagging and honestly, I have seen success in both…  Basically what you want to be aware of is that you aren’t shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to what hashtags your using.

For instance, using #love is next to impossible to land on the explore page with.  Why?  Because over 8 MILLION users are trying to use that hashtag.  This means it is WAY too saturated and most likely not going to land on the explore page.  So why even waste a hashtag on that?

The 5×5 hashtag rule:

Now there is a hashtag rule I choose to use on every post.  I like to refer to it as the 5×5 rule!  You want to aim to find 5 hashtags within the:

0-50K range

50K-200K range

200K-500K range,

500K – 1M Range

5 hashtags that are completely NICHE oriented (I aim to keep these under 200K)

5 hashtags that are extremely relevant to your post.

Hashtag Relevance

To be super successful with hashtags, you also need to keep your hashtags relevant to your post.  For instance, don’t find hashtags that have been super successful for others that have absolutely nothing to do with your post.

If someone used #marketing on their business post and there reach was 30,000K and they have thousands of likes, don’t try and use that on your post of you and your baby.  You might think this will work, but I am telling you it does the complete opposite and Instagram actually will see that as spammy, therefore damaging your reach.

Change Up Your Hashtag

Yes, another key to hashtag success is to constantly change your hashtags.  DO NOT find 30 of the best hashtags that worked well on your last post and use them again, and again and again…

Instagram will ALSO flag this as spam and these hashtags will not continue to bring you success and therefore hinder your potential reach…

This isn’t to say you can’t use that group of 30 hashtag again, just don’t use them back to back.  I wouldn’t even use it in the same week.

Above is an example of not caring about hashtags and just quickly using the same ones I always used.  Look how poor my reach is and only a 2 follower gain.

Now compare it to this…

The above was using hashtags with a lot of thought and effort and research.  And although my reach could have been even better, I was simply doing this as a test.  My reach was almost 6x the amount of just using whatever hashtags and the same old same.  I got 22 followers instead of 2 just out of that one post and people found me through hashtags almost 5,000 times.

Use All Your Hashtag Allowance

Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags!  This means if you want the best chance to further your reach, use ALL the hashtags.

If you don’t like the look of 30 hashtags in your post then my suggestion is to do what I ALWAYS do.  Put the hashtags in your first comment.  It works the same way, but as comments start coming in, the hashtags get hidden and lost in the comments that it gives off a nice clean appearance on your page.

Keep #organized

Take your time doing some hashtag research!  Scroll through some of your favourite bloggers in the same niche as you that seem to be successful.  Look through what hashtags they are using and jot them down!

But then do your research on the hashtags you have found.

Categorize the hashtags in my 5×5 rule and keep a nice clean excel spreadsheet of them.  Finally, group some of your favourites together into super relevant groups that you can use over and over again (but not in the same week).  I have an excel spreadsheet of TONS of hashtags in all 5 of those groups, but then on my notes in my phone I have them all properly grouped out so they are ready to be copy and pasted at any point.

For instance, have a “girl mom” group, have a “Travel mom” group, have a “DIY” group, have a “DIY mom” group, etc…

This way when you’re inspired to post something that perfectly fits one of these group names, your hashtags are ready to roll.  If you find you post these kinds of groups often, make a couple of these groups using different hashtags so you don’t get flagged by Instagram.   For instance “DIY Mom group 2.”

Hashtag Guide for 2020

Using Hashtags is SO effective in your overall growth with Instagram.  You can get hundreds of followers a day if you use it right.  But that is the key, using it right!  Yes, if you are doing it right, it will take time and hard work.  That hard work will pay off though and you will see the results!

Just remember, you got this babe!  If you have any other hashtag tips that you have seen to be beneficial, drop them below!  I typically try and share a few tips a week on my Instagram Stories as well so be sure to follow along here.

Do you have a blog and want to take it to the next level?  Check out these super helpful tools:

Tailwind – Pinterest and Instagram scheduler

Grammarly  – The Worlds BEST grammar checker

Canva – Create stunning designs

Flodesk – The best email marketing platform

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XO, Asia