Struggling to find the perfect Instagram Hashtag Strategy? Maybe you don’t even know what a hashtag is or how to use it. No matter the stage you are at in your social media career. This article will explain what an Instagram Hashtag and an Instagram Hashtag Strategy for Growth are. You will also find Instagram hashtag strategies for 2022 in this article.

It’s only the second month in 2022, but the world has become so fast-paced that you must stay updated and keep up with the trends.

Instagram marketing has been no different. One prominent Instagram feature that will always remain relevant on the social media platform is the hashtag. Hashtags give your posts more visibility and reach. They are great marketing tools when used appropriately. Like everything else in the social media space, repeated hashtags lose relevance over time.

Instagram’s social nebulous lies a fundamental core characteristic that all accounts strive to achieve. That is discoverability and reach. No matter how much value you provide without being seen, you might as well be doing it on paper and leaving it on your desk.

In the good old days of social media, it used to be if you had stellar content, your account would grow and prosper. However, due to the ever-increasing number of social users, it’s becoming harder to carve out a piece of social real estate to start your brand or business.

That is until you create a strong Instagram hashtag strategy for growth! Let’s dive into how to do that down below.

Table of Contents

What is an Instagram Hashtag?

Instagram Hashtags act as the organizational library for social content on Instagram. When accounts use hashtags, their content is uploaded to these subcategories for all eyes to see.

For example, if you took a breathtaking image of a serene lake, a hashtag like #lake #wildlife #nature would be viable hashtags to implement in your post. The hashtag will allow people interested in these topics to find your and other similar content.

It’s like being in a library and going down your favorite section to find books you like. Hashtags allow individuals to surf through all the glorious content the world offers. Allowing for a definite breakdown of content makes it easier for Instagram users.

Instagram Hashtags Create Communities

Instagram gave users the ability to follow Hashtags. An entire community of actual users can be built around a specific hashtag. It has also allowed for a massive overhaul in the user-generated content section.

As more and more users start to create specific hashtags for their communities. Their fans & friends create content and utilize the hashtag to join the community. This community bond has brought new life to hashtags and has increased the user-generated content for these hashtags.

How Are Marketers Using Hashtags In 2022?

According to a survey by the HubSpot blog, marketing professionals are incorporating hashtags into their Instagram marketing strategies. Over 80% of them have a structured and documented Instagram hashtag strategy. About 45% also stated that the most effective hashtag strategy for Instagram is placing some hashtags in the captions for feed posts and some in the comment section.

Further results from the survey have shown that over 60% of marketers use Instagram’s hashtag recommendations in choosing hashtags they use. Some also look to competitors or accounts with similar content to find hashtags. Find hashtags from competitors by scraping Instagram for valuable audience data such as hashtags, followers, & more.

Best Instagram Hashtag Strategy to Grow?

When creating a proper Instagram Hashtag Strategy, you can follow fundamental rules to get the best results for your account. The process you can utilize is called the “Stair-Stepping Method.” This process is similar to the “Skyscraper” blogging method.

The blog content is constantly being updated to have the most value. Typically, it is seen in content that displays the number in the title. For example, an article might start as “How to Increase Instagram Story Views by 80% in 24Hrs” but might switch to 90% in 12hrs.

The Stair-Stepping Method for Instagram Hashtags consists of utilizing a variety of hashtags of different sizes. The method’s goal is to rank for low competition hashtags and slowly walk up the levels of hashtags. Your content continues to rank higher as time goes on.

You start from small and go big because high-level influencers & viral content dominate the high-competition hashtags. To get your content to rank for those Hashtags, you need to build momentum from the smaller hashtags.

Let’s think back to our lake post from earlier. If you were to use #nature, our content would have to outrank over 288 million other pieces of content! No matter how new your content may be, that is an almost impossible venture for anyone.

But if you look deeper, #wildlifeaddicts has only 274,000 posts, which is only 10% of the competition level of #nature.

Instagram Hashtag Rotation Strategy

Instagram allows every user to use 30 hashtags per post. You have to make sure to take advantage of each one. When creating your list of 30 Hashtags, you mustn’t overuse specific hashtags.

Since Instagram’s Algorithm Update, they have been cracking down on botted and spammer accounts. Due to this, even hyperactive accounts are getting hit in the crossfire. It is causing many users to lose access to their accounts, in some cases indefinitely.

To avoid any unwarranted attention, you must rotate your hashtags regularly. It will keep your list up to date with trending hashtags and keep them relevant to the content. But most of all, it reduces your chances of getting hit accidentally for spamming.

As a rule of thumb, we suggest having 10-20 fixed hashtags, with the remaining amount rotated for every post. The fixed hashtags should describe your account in its entirety, as well as some of the hashtags you wish to rank for.

Try Branding an Instagram Hashtags

Trying to build a name for your company or business? Then it would help if you created a branded hashtag that allows users to interact with your account or product. For example, #supreme is a huge clothing company that collaborates with high-level fashion players.

When you search this hashtag, you see nothing but their brand’s clothing line and accessories. Some content uploaded to this is customers or clients showing off their latest and most significant article of clothing.

This interaction between client and business is enormous for creating personal connections on Instagram. Branded hashtags allow for user-generated content, which acts as testimonials.

Nothing helps your account gain more exposure and followers like going viral. What better way than to take advantage of a currently viral hashtag? One of the easiest ways to generate attention on your account is to look for trending hashtags.

These hashtags typically have many users creating content to tag the hashtag on their posts. It allows some viral attention to trickle down to these accounts. Which in turn creates more follows and leads for your business.

Typically, you can search for Trending Hashtags by focusing on what the big influencers in your niche are doing. Alternatively, you can focus on the explore page to see if any content is gaining traction.

Check to see the hashtags they use to get an idea of what they could be ranking for. Then create your content with the hashtag.

The top trending hashtag for the year 2022 include:

#love, #instagood, #fashion, #photooftheday, #art, #photography, #instagram, #beautiful, #picoftheday, #nature

Trending hashtags in 2022 include:

#brandpartnerships, #tiktokcreator, #reelstrends, #2022trends, #viraltrends, #genzmarketing, #2022goals

Conclusion

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned Instagram veteran. A strong Hashtags strategy can pay huge dividends to your overall growth in following and influence. Utilizing the stair-stepping method will give your content the best chances of going viral by utilizing lower-tier hashtags to gain momentum for your content. Lastly, focus on creating branded hashtags and taking advantage of trending ones to build your community and gain extra exposure.

Want to achieve even more with Instagram hashtags?
Check out our article on the Top 100+ Instagram Reel Hashtags to Help You Go Viral In 2022

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Instagram Hashtag Strategy for Explosive Growth | #1 Hashtag Guide (2022 Update)