In 2020, Instagram hashtags are more important than ever, and today we will discuss why. Small bit of trivia: Did you know an Instagram post with at least one hashtag averages 12.6% more engagement than a post with no hashtags?

Hashtags are powerful when used properly. They can help your posts reach a target audience, attract followers in your niche, increase engagement, and develop a more positive and recognizable brand image.

Why are hashtags so important?

Hashtags are essentially Instagram's sorting system. With roughly 95 million photos posted on Instagram every day, it's difficult for Instagram to efficiently deliver the right content to the right people. Hashtags help your post get discovered by viewers most interested in seeing it.

Think of it this way: hashtags are like a funnel. For instance, #marketing is incredibly broad and attracts all types of posts. We've found #digitalmarketer or #marketingmotivation gives us a more specific, targeted reach. The audience searching for these hashtags are also trying to narrow their search to what we offer related to marketing itself, so it actually helps reach more of the right people.

Fundamentally, hashtags are a better way to categorize your posts. They help you reach a target audience, and more importantly, they help your target audience find you. These users are more likely to engage with your post because your post is exactly what they wanted.

A few key hashtag takeaways

Below are a few simple ideas to keep in mind when implementing hashtags for your Instagram marketing campaign. These are general tips that have worked in the past and are still applicable in 2020.

Keep your hashtags organized.

To create an efficient hashtag system, utilize an Excel or an Instagram analytics tool. If you choose an Excel sheet, you'll need to manually keep track of which hashtags you use, how often, and which ones correlate to your most popular posts. Over time, you'll see relationships between certain hashtags and your most popular posts, and this can help you distinguish which hashtags work best for your brand.

For smaller businesses with limited budgets, keep it simple with an excel sheet is the best way to start. Once you get more advanced it is highly recommend using a tool to track the data. A manual system can get overwhelming when you are posting four times a day and using about 20+ hashtags per post.

However, if you are a bigger company or have an advanced social media team, you might want to consider a tool like Iconosquare, which automatically stores top hashtags and provides reports on which hashtags reach the most people.

Figure out your 'magic' number.

91% of top brands use seven or fewer hashtags per post, so it's easy to assume that's the magic number for everyone, right? That's not always the case. Some companies require 20 or more to gauge adequate return.

The point is: test, test, test! You cannot know how many hashtags work best for you until you test it. For my own company, it took several months of trial and error to find a number that worked best. Be flexible with your numbers!

Narrow down your hashtags.

There are two big reasons more specific, smaller-volume hashtags are better for your brand: first, you can compete in a smaller pool. Many marketing companies, for example, doesn't typically use the hashtag #marketing because it's way too broad. If you search #marketing, you'll find pictures of restaurants, inspirational quotes, before-and-after hair style pictures, and memes. You get the idea.

The randomness of #marketing leads me to the second reason specific hashtags are a good idea: as a user, I'm more likely to find what I need if I search for something specific, and when your business comes up for my specific search request, I'm more likely to be happy with what I found.

Keeping a hashtag close to the interests of your brand is the most beneficial practice. Try to use hashtags tailored for a specific topic and then narrow it down further. For instance, use #SEOTips if your marketing post is mostly about SEO. To read more on SEO, please read a previous post where we cover the subject.

Think of it this way: #dogs is more popular, but it has a wide demographic. If I search #goldenretrieverpuppies and I find your post, I'm more likely to engage with it because it's exactly what I wanted.

Research what other companies or people are hashtagging.

An easy way to generate hashtag ideas is to make a list of your followers or competitors and research what they're hashtagging on their own photos. It can also be particularly helpful to research what influencers in your industry are hashtagging. By definition, influencers are people with a large social media following, so they must be doing something right.

Experiment with related hashtags.

When you type a hashtag into Instagram's search bar, Instagram shows you related hashtags in the scroll-down menu. Instagram also delivers related hashtags on the next page after you click on a hashtag. This is a simple way to create a longer list of hashtags to try out.

Follow your own hashtag.

Another way to use Instagram hashtags for your marketing purposes is to follow your own hashtag. On Instagram if you follow your own hashtag you can leverage that by finding anyone who talks about your brand or company and connect with them. As long as your account isn't private, people will be able to find you via the hashtag.

Following your own hashtag is an effective way to engage with other people talking about your brand and develop better relationships with them.

Start a brand campaign hashtag.

Many businesses have successfully attracted followers by creating their own campaign hashtag. A campaign hashtag needs to be funny, clever, or at least memorable in order to work.

Campaign hashtags are particularly useful for promoting a new product or upcoming event, or even just inspiring people. Red Bull, for example, encouraged followers to post Red Bull pictures with a #putacanonit hashtag. Another comapny, LuLuLemon, rather than running a more traditional ad campaign, developed a positive atmosphere for their brand by asking followers to post real, active pictures of themselves with a #sweatlife hashtag.

Top 50 Instagram hashtags of 2020

At Neo Typewriter we don't recommend spamming tags across the board, but hopefully this list can give readers some inspiration. According to Later.com, the 50 most popular hashtags of 2020 are as follows:

#gym
#summer
#workout
#autumn
#model
#instapic
#happiness
#motivation
#life
#cool
#hot
#music
#hair
#instamood
#beauty
#landscape
#repost
#ootd
#photography
#inspiration
#design
#beautiful
#bestoftheday
#makeup
#instagram
#fit
#l4l
#goals
#style
#swag
#health
#nyc
#funny
#healthy
#friends
#blogger
#photo
#food
#fun
#happy
#artist
#pink
#instagood
#me
#f4f
#fitfam
#cute
#followforfollow
#pretty
#art

Thanks for reading! If you need help with your own social media marketing campaign, please reach out in the contact form or via email and we can discuss a collaboration.

originally posted at neotypewriter.com