Instagram is supposed to be organic, spontaneous and innovative for normal users. But people who use it to promote their business need to carefully build a strategy so that you can reach your business goals quickly. Before you start to build your hashtag strategy, make sure that you take the time to craft overall Instagram goals, such as what you are going to post about and how often you plan to post. Once you have a good idea of how to represent your brand on the platform, the tips given below will help you build an excellent hashtag formula.
Basic hashtag practice
When using hashtags, remember that you are aiming towards not only making your brand more visible, but also promoting the right message across to your target audience. So using the most popular hashtags even if they are not relevant to your business may make it visible to a lot more people, but it quickly damages your brand image. Also, some businesses use all 30 hashtags in every single post, just because Instagram allows the use of so many hashtags. Carefully use hashtags by keeping your target audience in mind, and you can gradually develop your brand image.
Use hashtags that have your brand name
Instead of simply using the existing hashtags, it is a great idea to create a unique one for your business or brand. Try to come up with a way to covey not just the brand name, but also the key product or service your business offers. Having a hashtag that is unique to your brand will make it very easy for your fans to find you on the social media platform. If your business offers a range of services, you can create hashtags that incorporate specific services and then organize your posts accordingly.
Find out industry specific hashtags
Every industry will have a specific set of hashtags that are associated with it, and that are used only by people who are interested in the field. You will be able to find out these hashtags by browsing the posts of your competitors or other leaders in the field to see what they are using. This kind of strategy is great for targeting the audience of a niche industry, and also for keeping track of current events in the field. However, instead of simply using all tags related to your industry, find the ones that work best for your business or brand and stick to those.
Mix the popular with the not-so-common
The instinct of a social media marketer is to only use the hashtags that are most popular so that the posts become visible to a larger audience. Although this approach shows quick results, remember that many other Instagram users will be creating content with the same hashtags, gradually pushing your post into obscurity. On the other hand, if you incorporate some of the less common hashtags, you also face lesser competition from other content, which means that your post will feature in search results for a much longer time. Combine the use of the most popular hashtags with some that are not so common so that you can leverage the advantages of both.
Once you have come up with a hashtag strategy for your business, it is best to keep a copy of your most used hashtags so that you can simply copy and paste them while posting instead of typing each one out. You can also create multiple lists of keywords if you plan to post a variety of content on Instagram. As you learn how to use hashtags more efficiently, your Instagram audience can grow organically and it will convert to improved brand awareness and sales.