Hashtag Hacks for 2021!

Did you know that a post with at least ONE hashtag will average 12.6% more engagement than posts without? “Not only do hashtags help social media users organize and categorize content, but they’re also one of the driving forces behind some of today’s best marketing campaigns,” says Maddy Osman of Sprout Social.

As we enter 2021, using relevant hashtags when sharing your posts and stories is still one of the best ways to get discovered by new people on Instagram. If you are looking to build your brand on IG by attracting more engagement, followers, and customers, then it is worth taking the time to create an effective hashtag strategy. Using the right hashtags can put you in front of your target audience.

Here are a few hashtag tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Insta posts!

1) Separate your hashtags from your captions.

You can spend a lot of time and energy crafting clever Instagram captions. Without any kind of break in between, combining captions and hashtags can be an absolute eyesore. An easy way to split up your written content is to use a text editor, like Notes, on your phone. Once you are finished coming up with that perfect caption, open your text editor and type a dot, then press Enter/Return. Do this 5 times in a row and below your 5th dot, write in your list of hashtags. Head back to the Gram and paste this underneath your caption. This will keep your content and your hashtags separated.

It should look like this:

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#wavefarmsocial #socialmediamanagement #socialmediamanager #contentcreator #ridethewave #wethinkyougetthepicture

Another simple trick for hiding your hashtags, is to simply add them in as the first comment on your post, rather than including them in the body of your caption. If you aren’t using a social planner, which may allow you to schedule this ahead of time, head to your post as soon as it goes live and enter your hashtags in as the first comment.

2) Hide hashtags on your IG Stories too!

That's right, you can also hide hashtags on Instagram Stories as well. To do this simply pinch your hashtag text and shrink it down. You can actually make them SUPER small, so this alone might do the trick for you. If you want to completely hide them, you can also add an emoji, sticker, or GIF to your story and place it over top of the tags!

3) Do your research and hashtag with a purpose.

There is more to the art of hashtagging than tossing a pound sign in front of random words. To use hashtags effectively, you will want to put together a list of meaningful words that can help your content reach new users and community members. Use free websites like Ingramer or All-Hashtag to generate collections of the most viewed tags relative to your products, services, or keywords. Remember, using those ultra popular hashtags like #love or #photooftheday might get you a few extra likes on a post, but they won’t help you reach your real target audience. As a business, genuine engagement is always best. Use tags that best describe your business, your brand, and the audience you’re trying to connect with. It’s not always about getting seen by more people, it’s about getting seen by the right people.

4) Use hashtags to create an online community.

Hashtags can be a great way of building a community around your business. Jeep is a great example of this. There is an entire community built around this brand on social media thanks to hashtags like #jeepnation or #jeepfamily. Keep this in mind when thinking about your own hashtags. Is there an opportunity to boost engagement and build excitement by creating a sense of community around your business or industry?

5) Keep count!

You can include up to 30 hashtags in a regular post caption, and up to 10 hashtags on a story. If you try to squeeze in more, your comment will not load properly, and viewers will not be able to discover your content when searching for those tags. 30 hashtags might sound like a lot to work with, but it won’t be long before you find yourself removing some of the less effective tags in order to accommodate your new inspirations. Hopefully, you paid attention to tip #3 above! With a proper hashtag strategy in place, you shouldn’t be running into this problem too often.

6) Scope out the competition.

Now, let’s make one thing clear, we DO NOT mean that you should head to your competitors account after reading this and completely mirror their strategy... Come on now, you’re better than that! With that being said, It can be very beneficial to see which hashtags similar businesses and members of your community have been using. This will give you a better look at what else might be working (or not working) for others. You better believe those accounts will come snooping around yours once in a while, especially as you continue to grow your business and have an impressive social presence to show off.

We hope these hashtag hacks can help you build a better brand and reach more awesome customers through your Instagram platform! Stick to these six tips and you’ll do just fine, but we are always here to offer help, anytime you need it! #wegotyourback