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The other day I was having a conversation with my kids, and I mentioned the pound sign. I immediately go blank stares as if I were speaking a foreign language. I had to explain to them that, back in the day, that’s what we called (and sometimes still do) a hashtag. Most of us good folks on Instagram use hashtags, but not all are using them effectively. If you want to increase your reach and get in front of your ideal client, it’s essential to know how to use hashtags properly.
The search feature on Instagram allows us to search for accounts, tags, and places. If you post about a particular topic, then you need to make sure you use hashtags specific to that topic for others to find your content.
Your hashtags need to be specific, and you need to research which hashtags to use. For example, I post about #socialmedia. The problem with using that particular hashtag is that there are 16.5 million pieces of content with that hashtag. So, the chances of me getting seen using such a broad hashtag are minimal.
If I get a bit more specific and use a hashtag like #socialmediatipsandtricks, I’m able to get in front of a particular audience since that hashtag only has 12.6K posts associated with it.
When your researching hashtags, you’ll want to find those that aren’t overly used, but you’ll also want to avoid those that have a low number as well. It’s best to stay within the 20K – 500K and try to mix them up.
Instagram allows each post to have 30 hashtags. There are varying opinions about how many hashtags you should use in your post. My personal opinion is to use anywhere from 15-30. Try experimenting and find what works best for you.
When thinking about hashtags you want to use, consider what the post is about and the audience that you want to attract. Avoid using hashtags that do not relate to your post; otherwise, it looks spammy.
So, to recap:
1) Only use hashtags that are relevant to your post and the audience you want to attract
2) Use hashtags between the 20K-500K
3) Use 15-30 hashtags in each post.
Before you go, let me save you a little time by offering you a FREE interior design hashtag bank. Using these hashtags will help you get your content in front of more people on Instagram.
