Listen up, social media lovers: it’s time we discussed the best hashtag for Instagram.
Every marketer, business owner, or creator has loudly wondered, ‘are hashtags still relevant on social media?’. While on some platforms, they’re kinda obsolete (hey, Facebook), on Instagram, hashtags still work. In fact, they’re an easy way to get your content in front of the right eyes and amplify your reach.
A hashtag is a clickable tag on social media. It starts with a pound sign (#) followed by a word or phrase.
People who may not be skilled at social media use hashtags. You can find them on popular social media platforms such as TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, where they shine. When someone clicks on a hashtag, they see a page with all the posts using that hashtag. This allows them to easily explore content related to that specific topic.
Even though Instagram’s algorithm has improved since 2010, using hashtags is still important for success on the platform. To grow your business’s social media presence, use popular hashtags on Instagram. This will help increase the visibility of your posts.
Why are hashtags important on Instagram in 2024?
Choosing the correct hashtags for your Instagram posts can improve the success of your content. It can also assist you in reaching your social media goals in 2024. A misconception is that hashtags are solely about getting more eyes on your posts – but they can also help you spice up your content strategy.
- Easily connect with your target audience on Instagram by using popular hashtags that resonate with them. The algorithm will then help boost your content to reach more people. Use hashtags that relate to your brand and target audience. This will help search engines display your content in search results and categorize it for your audience to see in Explore.
- Keep an eye on popular hashtags and viral trends on Instagram. This will help your business quickly join in on conversations during the early stages of a trend.
- Use branded hashtags to collect user-generated content. Branded hashtags are unique to your business, like your brand name. They are a simple and free way to listen to social media and discover user-generated content.
- Improve how easily people find your content: Organic content still matters, and hashtags play a role in that! Using hashtags on Instagram helps people find your content more easily. This is because hashtags tell Instagram what your content is about. When users search on Instagram or on search engines, using hashtags can help your content be discovered.
Content creators and brands use trending Instagram hashtags for a few key reasons, including to amplify post reach, collate UGC, tap into viral moments, and boost their likelihood of appearing in search.
The most popular Instagram hashtags in 2024
Trending hashtags on Instagram differ completely from what’s trending on other platforms: where #fyp is relevant on TikTok, a hashtag like #instagood (remember that one?!) really only makes sense on Instagram. Each platform’s algorithm, history, and content style are unique, so it’s a given that the best hashtags to use are, too.
To start you off, here are 20 of the top hashtags on Instagram in 2024.
- #love
- #instagood
- #photooftheday
- #fashion
- #trending
- #explorepage
- #viral
- #tbt
- #picoftheday
- #summer
- #art
- #instadaily
- #friends
- #repost
- #nature
- #trendingnow
- #fun
- #style
- #smile
- #food
While these are the most popular hashtags, that doesn’t mean they’re the best Instagram hashtags for reaching your business’s target audience, because they’re also extremely oversaturated! With 1.8 billion posts under #instagood, the chances of you cutting through the noise are low, if not practically nonexistent. For a better shot at reaching the right people, pair a few popular hashtags with lesser-used, highly relevant hashtags within your niche – a little more on this later.
While #instagood is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram, it’s not always the best choice if you want your business’s content to be seen – because you’ll be competing with 1.8 billion other posts!
Expert tips for finding the best hashtags on Instagram
Ready to accelerate the reach of your Instagram content with hashtags? Let’s explore a few of our best practice tips for finding the best Instagram hashtags.
Tip 1. Find hashtags relevant to your target audience and industry
In any business, knowing your niche is crucial, and this advice is particularly important for your social media strategy! Get your content in front of the right eyes by selecting hashtags that are relevant to your particular target audience and industry.
Budding food brand Seed + Mill uses hashtags in their niche to elevate their posts, switching things up based on each unique piece of content. They use popular hashtags like #nycfoodie and #nyceats to attract their target audience and increase their visibility. They are located in NYC, which helps them stand out among other businesses. By using these hashtags, they have a better chance of getting noticed by potential customers.
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To find the best hashtags for Instagram in your niche, search on Instagram. Enter terms in the search bar to see related results. Begin by searching for a general keyword like ‘architecture’ or ‘fashion’. Look for more specific hashtags like #architecturephotography and #modestfashion that appear in the search results.
While this works a charm, it can be a bit of a manual and time-consuming process – so if you want to speed things up, an easy alternative is using a handy tool like Plann’s Hashtag Manager. Within Hashtag Manager, we’ve curated tons of hashtag lists and grouped them by niche, ready for you to use to amplify your content – no lengthy research required.
Tip 2. Use trending Instagram hashtags to boost reach
If reach is a key metric for your brand, or you want to give your latest post a bit of a lift, consider employing a handful of popular hashtags on Instagram to do all the hard work for you. Bonus points if they’ve got great search volumes and are in your niche!
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Clothing resale app Vinted uses well-loved hashtags like #secondhandfashion and #springfashion (or whichever season we’re in) across most of their posts, presumably to give their content a little push. With over 500k followers and consistent engagement throughout their beautiful feed, it’s clearly working.
A few ways to find trending hashtags on Instagram exist. You might decide to use a hashtag tracker to measure the relevance of a particular phrase over time, or keep your eye on influential creators and high-performing posts to see which hashtags they’re loving. Or, you could just remove all the guesswork from the game and give our Hashtag Manager a try, with the ability to create and save hashtag sets ready for future use.
Tip 3. Strike the right balance between popular and niche hashtags
All the Insta experts know that ultra-popular hashtags will get you nowhere, so it’s critical to include niche hashtags in your set to improve your reach.
However, niche hashtags can’t be so specific that no one’s searching for them; it’s a delicate balance. We recommend pairing a few popular hashtags (1 million+ posts) with curated, niche hashtags (anywhere between 10,000 and 1 million posts) that speak to your audience. Aim for a 30/70 split, with the larger chunk representing the defined ‘target audience hashtags’, to reach a broad spectrum of people.
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Take a leaf out of makeup brand Polite Society’s book. For this super cute Reel promoting their loose powder, they’ve combined popular hashtags like #cleanbeauty and #crueltyfree (which also promote their brand ethos) with broader, less saturated hashtags including #aestheticedit and #macrophotography. They’ve also thrown in a few of their own branded hashtags to optimize Instagram search results.
If you’re unsure whether a hashtag is too broad or too niche, head to the search bar on Instagram and take a glance at how popular it is – it’s as easy as that!
Instagram Hashtags FAQs: Answered
Do hashtags still work on Instagram?
Hashtags absolutely still work on Instagram! While they’ve become a much less prominent feature over time, the Instagram algorithm still uses hashtag data to categorize your posts and serve them to users who may be interested. They’re a significant factor in why the Explore feed has become such a personalized experience.
How many hashtags should you use on Instagram?
There’s been lots of chatter around the perfect number of hashtags, but we’re gonna tell it to you straight: there is no perfect number. While Instagram suggests 3 to 5 hashtags is plenty, other studies tell us that posts that use 11+ hashtags get the most engagement. As long as you keep them under Instagram’s limit of 30 hashtags per post, the best way to figure out the ‘right’ number of hashtags for your business is to try out different volumes and combinations until something sticks.
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Should you add hashtags to your caption or first comment?
While some creators like to incorporate their hashtags into their caption copy seamlessly, others prefer to add bulk tags at the end of their posts or in the comments section. So, which one is the correct approach?
Well, just like there’s no magic number of hashtags to include, the jury’s out on this one – so just put them where you think they look best. If you prefer putting hashtags in your post comments, be sure to use a scheduling tool that has an Instagram first comment feature (like Plann!) so you don’t have to do this manually.
Where’s the best spot to place your hashtags for Instagram? Long story short, it’s up to you – there’s no difference in performance between caption or first comment. Use Plann’s Instagram first comment feature to automatically add hashtags as your post is published.
How to save time when selecting the best hashtags on Instagram?
Hashtag research can be finicky, especially if you DIY it by scrolling and searching in the app. To save you some time, the fastest, easiest way to find bulk hashtags for your business is by using a dedicated tool like the Plann Hashtag Manager. Explore our carefully curated hashtag lists by niche, create your own hashtag sets, and easily add your chosen faves to your caption or first comment on Instagram.
Level up your Instagram game with Plann
If you find it hard to keep up with social media or want more time for your business, Plann can help!
Plann can help with AI captions, cross-posting, analytics, hashtags, and more. This will assist you in maintaining a consistent posting schedule. Also, it will allow you to concentrate on expanding your business. We even auto-post your Instagram Reels to take the hassle out of growing organically on the platform!
Go on, and redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
