Keepin’ the #Hashtag Alive

For many of us on social media, we know what hashtags are.

Whether you’re cool with or annoyed at it, there’s no way to avoid hashtags. Unless if you want to live under a rock like Patrick Star. But the #FOMO struggle is real!

#Hashtag: The What, Why, and How

Simply put, a hashtag is a word or phrase that’s preceded by hash mark #. Yes, the symbol is still called the pound sign or the number sign…don’t you worry.

A hashtag is a social media tool that helps your post get discovered by people on social media, Instagram in particular. Hashtags often help improve your engagement and naturally grow your followers and consumers.

Instagram hashtags arrange photo and video content for maximum exposure.

For example, a fitness guru might post a teaser video of a new workout. The instructor can use #MondayMotivation, #Fitspiration, or #FitnessFriday when uploading the video on Instagram. The video is compiled with other videos or images so Instagrammers can simply discover the content.

Types of Instagram #Hashtags

To use Instagram hashtags to its fullest, it is best to understand the different kinds of hashtags. Knowing the different hashtags helps when developing a hashtag strategy.

Branded Hashtags

A branded hashtag is your company’s unique hashtag. This can either be your tagline, campaigns, company name, or random word or phrase that represents your brand.

Take, for example, Cotopaxi, one of our favorite brands, uses the hashtag #GearForGood to raise their awareness by letting their thousands of followers share relevant content. When you search their branded hashtag, you’ll discover thousands of posts related to their company.

Community Hashtags

Community hashtags are a great way for a brand to connect with like-minded social media users.

The perfect hashtag example is #BallIsLife. With over 6 million posts, this community hashtag is filled with basketball posts from professional athletes, sports channels, influencers, shoe brands, meme accounts, and basketball fans.

Campaign Hashtags

Unlike branded and community hashtags, campaign hashtags are short-lived and temporary. As the name suggests, the hashtag is set to raise awareness for specific campaigns.

If you’re into hiking or know someone who loves to hike, you’ve probably seen the hashtag #52HikeChallenge. This campaign hashtag is raising awareness and encouraging people to go outside and experience nature through hiking.

Best practices

When it comes to growing your followers and improving your engagement, hashtags are a potent tool to raise your brand awareness.

• Post content as often as possible and always use hashtags
• While some experts say 5-10 hashtags are good, you can use up to 30 hashtags
• Avoid spammy hashtags such as #LikeForLike, unless if you’re trying to be funny
• Use niche community hashtags that are relevant to your content
• Don’t forget your branded hashtag or campaign hashtag (if you have one)
• For better readability, capitalize the first letter of each word on the hashtag

Using hashtags can be super fun, especially when you start engaging with Instagram users who liked, commented, and followed your brand on the Gram.

What’s your hashtag?

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