Top Marketing Hashtags in Instagram to Use for Your Business

It is undeniable that Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms available to the public today. There are many reasons why small, medium, and even large-scale businesses are using Instagram to promote their brands. With over 1 billion active users, both B2C and B2B companies can benefit from using the said platform to promote their brands.

Why You Should Create an Instagram Business Profile and How Hashtags Can Help it Grow

Instagram gives business owners a chance to turn their profiles into business pages. This helps them attract the right audience as business profiles have access to features and tools to help them build a name and presence on Instagram.

One way to get people to notice your posts is by adding hashtags to it. Users usually type hashtags or keywords into the search bar when they are searching for a post, IGTV video, or story. Users can usually add up to 30 hashtags for posts and IGTV videos – anything more than that would not show up in the search. However, for stories, only 3 hashtags can be added per post.

According to Social Bakers, having even just one hashtag can increase your engagement by up to 12.6%.

How to Use Instagram Hashtags for Your Business

Adding hashtags to your posts, stories, and IGTV videos might be easy, but you still have to be strategic about it. You have to choose the right ones to use and how to use it. To learn how to properly use Instagram hashtags for your business, make sure to apply the tips that we will discuss below.

Be Specific

If you want to target the right audience, then you have to be specific with your hashtags. You can’t just take the most popular hashtags and add them to your post, stories, or IGTV videos, as you would not attract the right people.

You have to make sure that your posts would not get lost in a sea of hashtags that is not related to it. You should speak your customers’ language so they would be encouraged to follow you and engage with you and your customers.

Instagram has a useful recommendation engine that can help you find the right hashtags to use for your e-commerce or online business. Additionally, you can also try using these Instagram analytics tools to determine which hashtags to use for your posts.

Create Unique Hashtags

You want your brand to stand out from the rest, and one way to do that is by creating unique hashtags and consistently adding them to every story, post, and IGTV video. You can also encourage your audience to use these hashtags if they are posting about your company or brand.

You can ask help from your writers and marketing team to create these specific and unique hashtags.

Be Wary of the Number of Hashtags That You Are Using

Like we have mentioned earlier, there is a limit to the hashtags that you should use when it comes to posts, stories, and videos on IGTV. You can use a max of 30 hashtags for posts and IGTV videos and 3 hashtags max for stories.

However, using too many hashtags can look “spammy” or that you are using a bot for your content. It would be smart to use just about eleven hashtags per post, as this is shown to help increase engagement.

Use the Hashtags on the Comments Section Instead

If you don’t want your main post to look spammy, then consider putting the hashtags on the comments section instead. You can add this as soon as you post your content so it would be the first thing that people will see in your comments.

Make Sure That Your Hashtags Match Your Photos

You shouldn’t just take all of the most popular hashtags and put those under your caption. You should always make sure that your hashtags match the photos or content that you are posting so people can find you and, you can, once again, attract the right audience.

To make sure your hashtags are relevant to the photo and caption that you are using; try searching for hashtags similar to what you are about to post. There’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from other posts and photos, as long as you don’t completely copy the exact caption and hashtags.

Join the Bandwagon

Sometimes, it’s also good to jump on the Instagram hashtag bandwagon. Try searching for trending topics and hashtags and see if any of them are relevant to the content that you are going to post.

You have to be patient though as you will not always see trending topics that apply to your content. Make sure to check out the hashtags regularly to see if you can use any with your content.

It doesn’t have to be specific though – as long as it is related to your industry, then you are good to go.

Change it Up

If you have been using the same hashtags for months and your engagement and numbers are not going up, then it might be time to switch it up. Do your research and try experimenting with new hashtags.

Using new hashtags will also give you the chance to reach new people and gain a new audience. Track your Instagram performance to see which tags are working best and getting people’s attention.

Take a Look at Your Competition

Visit your competitor’s Instagram page and see which hashtags they are using. Try analyzing your competitor’s campaigns to see which of their posts and hashtags are bringing in the numbers.

This way, you can compete with a significantly lower number of businesses instead of thousands or even millions of brands.

Different Types of Instagram Hashtags

There are eight different types of Instagram hashtags:

1. Community or Industry Hashtags – Yes, there are specific communities on Instagram, and joining those that relate to your industry will help you gain more audience and followers. Know which one/s you belong to and use the same hashtags that they are using.
2. Service or Product Hashtags – These are the hashtags that you can use for your specific products and services. For example, you own an e-commerce store that sells makeup – you can go ahead and use the hashtag #makeup, #lipstick, #eyeshadow, and other hashtags that are related to your products.
3. Seasonal Hashtags – These are the hashtags that you can use during holidays and special occasions.
4. Niche Hashtags – These hashtags are used to describe what niche your business or brand belongs to.
5. Phrase Hashtags – These hashtags are used to describe your post or photo. It should not be long though, two or three words in one hashtag are enough. It should also be relevant to what you are posting.
6. Location Hashtags – You can automatically tag the location on your post, as Instagram offers that option. However, it would also be a good idea to include the location in your hashtags.
7. Acronym Hashtags – Acronym hashtags include the terms #TBT, #OOTD, #YOLO, #FBF, and more.

Daily Hashtags – These hashtags are used to represent the days of the week. It is usually accompanied by something that describes the day and the post itself.

Examples of the Most Popular Instagram Hashtags for Marketing Different Businesses

Now that we have discussed the different ways to use hashtags on Instagram, it is now time to discuss which hashtags you can try to use for your business.

General Hashtags

1. #love – 1,919,664,801
2. #instagood – 1,213,783,228
3. #photooftheday – 839,259,606
4. #fashion – 859,542,212
5. #beautiful – 688,659,766
6. #happy – 597,642,909
7. #cute – 589,431,636
8. #tbt – 549,703,301
9. #like4like – 522,791,739
10. #followme – 544,098,289

Digital Marketing

1. #digitalmarketing – 13,199,450 posts
2. #marketing – 45,660,210 posts
3. #socialmediamarketing – 12,143,783 posts
4. #business – 70,756,062 posts
5. #onlinemarketing – 5,2014,111 posts
6. #digitalmarketingagency – 979,262 posts
7. #digitalmarketingtips – 716,817 posts
8. #digitalmarketingservices – 187,081 posts
9. #digitalmarketinglife – 109,872 posts
10. #digitalmarketingtools – 103,766 posts

Fashion

1. #fashion – 859,544,585
2. #fashionblogger – 127,831,247
3. #fashionista – 109,562,358
4. #fashionable – 36,412,874
5. #fashionstyle – 49,541,699
6. #fashionblog -27,474,111
7. #fashiongram – 32,579,194
8. #fashionaddict – 23,950,609
9. #fashionweek – 24,132,173
10. #fashiondiaries – 26,627,054

Travel

1. #travel – 520,718,190
2. #travelgram – 131,089,145
3. #traveling – 76,611,016
4. #travelphotography – 130,668,002
5. #travelling – 67,672,061
6. #travelblogger – 59,832,657
7. #traveler – 42,941,462
8. #travelersnotebook – 4,032,348
9. #travelingram – 26,826,521
10. #traveltheworld – 29,964,880

Business

1. #business – 70,799,262
2. #businessman – 8,033,827
3. #businesswoman – 11,213,810
4. #businessowner – 11,444,586
5. #businessowners – 2,218,710
6. #businesscoach – 3,077,113
7. #businesswomen – 2,683,548
8. #businesslife – 2,259,984
9. #businesstips – 2,592,768
10. #businessminded – 1,590,554

Conclusion

Hashtags can definitely increase your followers and your engagement on Instagram. However, you have to make sure that you are using them properly. Knowing when, how, and which hashtags to use will maximize your content and its performance. Make a list or compilation of your best performing hashtags and use them to their full potential.