So you want to be a viral hit on social media. We all do! Trying to cut through to be seen at the top is hard. With the constantly changing algorithms, and the shifting content priorities, such as from photos to video, keeping up can be challenging. Here are some ways you can optimize your social media hashtag strategy in 2022.
When your audience is most active, post!
You can learn a lot about your social media audiences from the metrics each platform provides, such as when they are most active, who is viewing your content, and how people engage with your content.
Reviewing this data can help you create better content and identify when to post. Why put up a post at 12 PM if your users who interact with your content the most are active at 9 PM? You can optimize engagement, by posting when your audience is most active.
Don’t have an audience yet? Start by observing other users in your field as well as your competitors. See what they are doing, when they are posting, and what hashtags they use. Then consider how you can engage and earn more followers and customers!
Use the optimal amount of hashtags
The number of hashtags you use in a post matters. On Instagram, you can include up to 30 hashtags per post and up to 10 per story. You can place them in the post itself or in a comment on your post. But you don’t have to use that many. Including 5-10 hashtags per Instagram post seems to be the sweet spot.
When selecting hashtags, make sure to research them and be consistent with your posts.
Engage with other users
It’s not enough to post on social media with great hashtags. You need to engage with other users and encourage other users to engage with you. Engagement is a factor in many social media algorithms, including Instagram. The more interactions, views, likes, and comments a post has, the more likely Instagram is to push it up towards the top of a hashtag feed so other users can see the engaging content.
Categories to consider
There are so many many hashtags to choose from. Here are a few categories to think about using:
-
Location: Where you live or where you are targeting. Examples: #yourcity #yourstate
-
Industry: Type of work you do, who you are targeting. Examples: #newbornphotography #seniorphotos
-
Branded content: Your brand, events, or concepts you like. Examples: #inthistogether #smallbusinesssaturday
-
Content-specific: Related to the content in your posts, such as describing the image or video. Examples: #sleepybaby #beautifulbride #photographerlife
Keep a running list of hashtags you use
As you research, select, and use hashtags make sure to save them. Start a document to keep a running list and save it somewhere you can easily access from your computer and on the go, such as a Google Doc or a notes app. This can save you time as plan out your posts.