Whether for brand awareness or for increasing followers on Instagram, hashtags play a crucial role. In 2017, some of the most popular hashtags on Instagram are #love, #instagood, #photooftheday, #tbt, #followme, #picoftheday, #summer, #tagforlikes, #food, #art, #family, #nofilter, #style, #life, #fitness, #OOTD, #music, #travel, #foodporn, #makeup, #iphoneonly, #wedding, and so on. These hashtags, among others, seem to show up on your tablets, smartphones, TV screens– all to promote some sort of running conversation.

Keep in mind that most social media networks particularly Instagram, Facebook and Twitter rely heavily on hashtags to connect to a targeted market. While it is essential to go with the flow on your maiden voyage with Instagram, the need to create your own unique brand-specific hashtags must be also taken into mind. To give you an idea, here are 4 secrets to building your own arsenal of power hashtags on Instagram.

Bottom line is: Hashtags are part and parcel of Instagram campaigns. Wise play of hashtags will make your product, service or brand gain extra mileage earning added followers, traffic and sales potential to your business. Next time, try to create a hashtag contest to seek out your audience’s participation. Give it a try. It’s going to be fun!

When it comes to hashtag use, experts strongly standby its efficacy in growing an Instagram account. However, this comes with a caveat– using the “right” ones. It’s not just forming two or three words. It is more like showcasing your interest, relevance of your brand, your company core values and that of your potential followers. When done accordingly, it can initiate exposure of your brand, product or service to your targeted markets or niche audience.

Hashtags amplify your chances of acquiring new followers. It also increases awareness to your brand and marketing campaign. It also helps increase your traffic engagement which may result to more conversion. You see, hashtags are used to organize/categorize both photos and video content materials. This process helps enhance optimization of your account’s content.

Now, here comes another challenge– finding the right hashtags for your brand. Like ice cream is for summer and hot cocoa for winter, so does framing of your hashtags correspond effectively to the audiences you wish to capture. There are two main types of Instagram hashtags– branded and community-based. Knowing how to use both will help greatly in expanding your account’s point of interest vis-a-vis that of your targeted niche.

Branded hashtags are those uniquely made for your business. This could be the name of your company, products or services. It could be a slogan or tagline used. It could be a representation of your brand’s identity or the core values of the business. These hashtags have one solid design– to connect themes between you and your target audience. It appeals largely on a more personal level.

Community hashtags, on the other hand, is like a string that binds the rest of flower petals to create a beautiful lei. It is designed to connect people on their common interest or around specific subjects. These hashtags are used to penetrate deep into the very lair where people thrive together allowing you access to them thereby gaining more followers and growing alongside them in the said community.

Without a doubt, Instagram hashtags is one of the best way to grow your clout in this powerful social media platform. But finding or creating the best hashtags can be a bit tricky. To be effective, you need to do some in-depth research through your audience, industry leaders, and last but not least, competitors. Find out what relevant ones are being used by followers and influencers and shape up your hashtags to follow their lead. Look for loopholes on your competitors and use such weakness to work in your own hashtag creative process’ favor. Piggybacking on top influencers is great but do make sure to do your own when connections have been established. All in all, identifying and learning how to properly manage hashtags will help your business greatly.

Need help creating powerful Instagram campaign? Schedule a consultation with Allison Todd now!