While Instagram has changed since its inception, Instagram hashtags are just as important as ever. The right set of targeted hashtags in your stories and posts can help brands, social media managers, and influencers attract the right audiences on Instagram.
What Are Hashtags?
Instagram hashtags are keywords that categorize and organize video and photo content for users to discover. When using hashtags in your content, posts and stories will be sent to a directory dedicated to that specific hashtag. Here, anyone searching for these specific hashtags will be able to find them.
Types of Hashtags
1. Community hashtags
Community hashtags are those that help to connect like-minded users with a certain subject. These types of hashtags improve the searchability of posts and stories, boost follower count, and improve one\’s overall community on Instagram.
Brands or marketers searching for community hashtags should consider the following:
- Hashtags that indicate a service or product
- Hashtags that promote a niche industry
- Hashtags geared towards Instagram communities
- Daily hashtags
- Similar hashtags already popular with specific communities
2. Branded Hashtags
Branded hashtags are those that are unique to a company. For example, some brands create their own branded hashtag using their tagline, company name, or a campaign or product name.
3. Campaign Hashtags
Campaign hashtags for Instagram are typically designed for short-term use as they’re often tied to specific social media campaigns. These campaign hashtags are used for partnerships, special events, and new product launches.
Tools to Generate Hashtags
Hashtags for Instagram are most effective when they’re relevant. As popular hashtags are constantly changing, it can be particularly time-consuming to research the right Instagram hashtags to use. This is where hashtag generators and hashtag analytics tools come in. Consider the following five tools to help you find the best hashtags:
1. Kicksta
Kicksta is an organic Instagram growth service for brands and social media marketers. Using artificial intelligence, Kicksta uses target accounts, target locations, and target hashtags to connect its clients with their desired audience.
In addition to using Kicksta for organic growth, anyone can use Kicksta’s free hashtag generator to find the best hashtags for Instagram.
How It Works
Use Kicksta’s free hashtag generator by entering a relevant keyword. The generator then suggests 30 relevant and related Instagram hashtags, categorizing them into top, random, and best match hashtags.
2. Influencer Marketing Hub
Influencer Marketing Hub is the leading resource for influencer marketing. This hub provides influencers with all the pertinent tools needed to run their most successful campaigns.
How It Works
Influencer Marketing Hub’s hashtag generator tool is an all-in-one tool that generates hashtags from uploaded photos.
After the photo is uploaded, Influencer Marketing Hub\’s hashtag generator creates a template of your post and suggests relevant keywords to choose from. Users then choose 5 keywords to find the most popular and relevant hashtags.
This tool generates 20 hashtags, complete with metrics of how many Instagrammers use each one. Select which hashtags you’d like to use and then choose “copy selected hashtags”.
3. Ingramer
Ingramer is an Instagram bot designed to grow Instagram campaigns. Ingramer’s hashtag generator uses the power of artificial intelligence to automatically generate Instagram hashtags.
How It Works
This tool lets users generate relevant hashtags after uploading a link, keyword, or photo and uses artificial intelligence to analyze your submission. The tool generates frequent, average, and rare similar hashtags.
Users can scroll down to reveal frequent, average, and rare related organic hashtags. These are the hashtags that Instagram suggests and are typically written in the same posts.
With the free version of Ingramer, you’ll receive six results for each category of the hashtag. With Premium Membership, you’ll gain access to their database of thousands of hashtags.
4. Keyhole
Keyhole is a hashtag analytics company focusing on automating social media analytics for marketers, executives, journalists, and agencies. Designed for digital agencies, Keyhole is ideal for campaign monitoring, brand monitoring, influencer marketing, market research, and event monitoring.
How It works
Keyhole focuses on the other side of hashtag research. With Keyhole, marketing agencies can determine the effectiveness of their current campaigns and predict their hashtags’ future. Use this tool by signing up for a free trial or purchasing a membership.
After signing up, enter your hashtag or campaign keyword and create a tracker based on the keyword. This tracker analyzes content across various social platforms, showing the reach, number of users, impressions, posts, and reach of this specific hashtag.
5. RiteTag
RiteTag is RiteKit’s hashtag suggestion tool. RiteKit is a social media toolkit builder for anyone working in social media. RiteTag began as a way to bring the most-searched-for hashtags to the forefront of social media. Though it started as a hashtag recommendation engine, RiteKit quickly transformed into an all-inclusive tool for social media optimization.
RiteTag is RiteKit’s hashtag suggestion tool. RiteKit is a social media toolkit builder for anyone working in social media. RiteTag began as a way to bring the most-searched-for hashtags to the forefront of social media. Though it started as a hashtag recommendation engine, RiteKit quickly transformed into an all-inclusive tool for social media optimization.
How It Works
RiteTag offers instant hashtag suggestions based on texts and images uploaded from a desktop or mobile device. These hashtag selections are based on real-time engagement. Use this site by signing up to start your free trial.
Generating Hashtags For Instagram
Hashtags are still an effective way to connect with new and interested users on Instagram, and discover followers that want to share relevant content with you. Keep these tools in mind as you refine the hashtag research for all your Instagram campaign needs.
written by Rafaella Aguiar, Kicksta
