The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags for the ECP
The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags for the ECP
There’s no denying that Instagram is here to stay. The social media platform took the world by storm a few years ago and has continued to grow in popularity ever since. Ensuring your company has a well-known presence on Instagram is crucial for keeping up with competition and gaining new customers. One of the best ways to appeal to a larger audience is with the use of hashtags… did you know that a post with at least one Instagram hashtag has an average of 12.6% more engagement than posts without a hashtag? That’s huge! Zyloware is here to help you understand everything you need to know in order to gain followers and increase likes – all with the use of properly implemented Instagram hashtags.
Why You Should Use Hashtags on Instagram
Instagram hashtags are one of the easiest ways to grow your account. Using the right hashtag (or combination of hashtags) can help you expose your brand to large and targeted audiences. In fact, your chances of attracting new followers, getting more likes and increasing engagement are vastly increased by the use of hashtags!
How Instagram Hashtags Work
When you post to Instagram, you are given the option to include a caption along with hashtags. These hashtags help organize and categorize your content which helps it get discovered by other users.
Check out the example below to see how Zyloware uses hashtags that directly correlate to the content that we are posting:
The purpose of this post is to show how Leon Max Eyewear makes the perfect gift for Mother’s Day. #LeonMax and #LeonMaxEyewear represent the brand of eyewear being featured while the hashtag #MothersDay signifies the holiday we were posting about. By using these hashtags the post is cataloged so other Instagram users interested in these topics can find it. Check out this in-depth Instagram hashtag strategy guide for me tips.
Types of Hashtags
A branded hashtag is a hashtag that’s unique to your business. It can be as simple as your company name, tagline or the name of one of your products or campaigns. Or it can be a hashtag that has nothing to do with your brand name but everything to do with your brand identity.
Example: The #WeAreZyloware is a branded hashtag that represents a value system we live and work by. We use it on everything!
While community hashtags are meant to increase the reach of your message, branded hashtags are designed to connect themes for you and your audience, such as promoting a campaign or a line of products.
Community hashtags are hashtags that connect users in search of content that falls under a specific subject – for example, #Fashion will bring up results with fashion-oriented content. Community hashtags work best when they return a more narrow search result, such as the hashtag also used above – #FramesForMom. The more specific the hashtag, the more engaged users are.
The Best Hashtags For Your Account
Determining the best Instagram hashtags to use on your account can be tricky – the “most popular” hashtags (simple tags such as #happy or #fun) will get you a few more likes, but it won’t do much for your growth in the long run. Finding hashtags that have an engaging community behind them and are specific to your audience is best way to take advantage of Instagram hashtags.
Do Your Research
It is important to look at what your audience, competitors and other industry leaders are using. See what your audience uses in their posts – if these hashtags apply to your content, use them to connect to new users with the same interests. Research your competitors. See what hashtags are used on posts that have a high amount of engagement. While it may not be your intention to compete on those hashtags, you could still end up figuring out what your potential customers are talking about and which hashtags they’re using. Finally, recognize the key influencers within your industry. These social media influencers are Instagrammers that perform exceptionally well – find out what hashtags they are using and how you can incorporate them into your next post.
Finding Related Hashtags
Taking a look at the trends that are relevant to your own hashtag is an easy and effective way to grow your community. Type your hashtag into the app’s search bar, and then select “tags” from the dropdown menu. You’ll then be able to see all of the top hashtags that are closely related to your own hashtag, revealing additional ways to reach, monitor and engage with your community. Read more on how to identify hashtags within your field here.
Learn more about growing your social media on Zyloware’s blog: wearezyloware.com