Instagram Hashtags the ultimate guide!

When you think Instagram, you might think that it's just an app that you can use to share pictures and videos with your friends. But, as an entrepreneur, it's a powerful platform that offers a huge opportunity to help you grow your e-commerce business. If your business already has an Instagram account, but it's not driving sales, it's time to revisit that strategy. And today, we're going to show you how to utilize a secret weapon, carefully curated hashtags. Hey guys, it's Jessica Guzik here with Oberlo, and today I'm going to be talking about Instagram hashtags, what they are, and how you can find the best hashtags for your content. Are you ready? Let's go. What is an Instagram hashtag? Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of using Instagram hashtags to grow your brand's reach, let's quickly cover what they actually are. A hashtag is a singular word or phrase with a hash symbol in front of it. If you're a frequent social media user, you've likely already seen them in action. But if you aren't, they usually look something like this. So, what's the point in using a hashtag? Well, if you post a picture or video on Instagram without a hashtag, you're only talking to your existing audience. But you probably want your posts to reach the largest audience possible, and that's why you need to add relevant hashtags to every single Instagram post. Hashtags will open up your content and your brand to tons of new engaged users to like your content, follow your account, and potentially even purchase something from your store. If you don't add any hashtags to your content, you'll be relying on your existing following to engage with your new post. This isn't as much of an issue if you already have a huge following, but if you're just getting started on Instagram, it's likely that your content won't have a large reach. And you might struggle to achieve any decent results. So, how do you find the best Instagram hashtags? Now that I've explained how Instagram hashtags can help you generate more likes, more followers, and ultimately more sales, I'll show you how you can find the best hashtags for your brand. It's super important to understand that the hashtags you use have to be relevant. If you sell backpacks, hashtags about unicorns and candy canes aren't going to bring you the right kind of attention. Thankfully, there are a couple of online tools which you can use to curate a list of hashtags that are perfect for your business. My favorites are Tag Blender, Instagram Tags, and Seek Metrics. Each of these tools is free, easy to use, and they're great for finding lists of hashtags. We've left links to each tool in the description below, so check them out and let us know what you think in the comments. The Instagram hashtag limit. Okay, so now that you're convinced that hashtags are important, and you've even found a few to test out, there's one thing to keep in mind. Don't overdo it. A lot of people get carried away with hashtags and want to put hundreds, even thousands of hashtags on each Instagram post. Sorry guys, there's a limit of 30 hashtags per post. Instagram doesn't just put this rule in place to be jerks. They want to ensure that hashtags aren't taken advantage of, and the content on Instagram is relevant to its users. At first, 30 hashtags might seem like a lot, and you might feel like you won't need that many hashtags. However, I do recommend that you take full advantage of the full 30 hashtags that you're allowed to use. Remember, every hashtag that you add gives you the opportunity to draw more engaged users into your content. Measuring your progress. As with all marketing activities, it's important that you can measure the success of the hashtags you use. If you analyze the performance of the hashtags, you'll be able to validate your choices with data, and it's always a good idea to be data informed. You'll also be able to identify any hashtags which aren't performing well, which can help you to improve your future content by removing the poor performers. There are tons of tools which you can use to analyze the performance of your Instagram content. Try Some All, Simple Measured, and Iconosquare. They're all great places to start, and they're free. These tools will analyze the average number of likes and comments which you receive using different Instagram hashtags. I put links in the description below, so check them out if you're interested. Instagram Top Tips. Before we finish up, I'm going to share with you some of my favorite Instagram marketing tips. Combine these tips with your carefully curated hashtags, and it's only a matter of time until your following skyrockets. Tip one, engage with your followers. This is a great way to solidify your relationship with existing followers and build trust for your brand. Whether it's by answering a comment on your post, or liking a follower's photo, it doesn't take a lot of time, and it can mean the world to your audience. After all, it's called social media for a reason, so socialize. Look after your followers, and they'll look after you. Tip two, remember to post frequently. Building a following on Instagram is tough, and it's even tougher if you don't post very often. Try to post at least a couple of times every week, ideally once or twice a day. That's what's going to keep your following engaged. Tip three, check out the competition. Take a look through your competitors' feeds and note down everything you like, and think about what you could do better. Take the good ideas and leave the bad. Learn from your competitors. As Pablo Picasso once said, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." That's it. That's our guide to using Instagram hashtags for your business. And here's our question of the week. What do you think about Instagram marketing? Do you think it's a sustainable way to grow your business? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. And if you like this video, be sure to hit that subscribe button and turn on the notification bell. We'll be adding new videos each week where we'll be sharing some of our best secrets on running a successful drop shipping store. And until next time, learn often, market better, sell more.