While Instagram has changed a lot since its inception, hashtags are still as important as ever. The right set of targeted hashtags in your posts and Stories 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 photo and video content for users to discover. When you add hashtags to a post or Story, your content can appear in a directory dedicated to that hashtag—making it easier for people searching those terms to find you.
Types of Instagram hashtags
1) Community hashtags
Community hashtags connect like-minded users around a topic. They can improve discoverability, support follower growth, and help you build community on Instagram.
When researching community hashtags, consider:
- Hashtags that indicate a service or product
- Hashtags that promote a niche industry
- Hashtags geared toward Instagram communities
- Daily hashtags (for example: themed daily prompts)
- Similar hashtags that are already popular within your audience
2) Branded hashtags
Branded hashtags are unique to a company. Many brands create a branded hashtag using their company name, tagline, or a specific campaign or product name.
3) Campaign hashtags
Campaign hashtags are typically short-term and tied to a specific promotion—like partnerships, special events, or a new product launch. They’re designed to help you track engagement and organize user-generated content around that campaign.
Tools to generate hashtags
Hashtags are most effective when they’re relevant, but researching them can be time-consuming—especially since trends shift. Hashtag generators and analytics tools can speed up the process and help you find better matches.
Here are five tools to help you find strong hashtags for Instagram:
1) Kicksta
Kicksta is an organic Instagram growth service for brands and social media marketers. Using artificial intelligence, Kicksta uses target accounts, locations, and hashtags to connect clients with their desired audiences.
How it works
Kicksta’s free hashtag generator lets you enter a relevant keyword. It then suggests 30 related hashtags and categorizes them into top, random, and best match groups.
2) Influencer Marketing Hub
Influencer Marketing Hub is a resource for influencer marketing and includes tools designed to support campaign planning and execution.
How it works
Their hashtag generator creates hashtags from uploaded photos. After uploading an image, the tool generates a draft post template and suggests keywords. You choose five keywords, and the tool generates 20 hashtags along with metrics showing how many Instagram users include each hashtag. You can then copy your selected hashtags.
3) Ingramer
Ingramer is an Instagram tool that uses AI to generate hashtags. It supports inputs like a link, keyword, or photo and analyzes your content to recommend related hashtag options.
How it works
After analyzing your submission, the tool generates frequent, average, and rare hashtags. The free version provides a limited number of results per category, while premium membership expands access to a larger hashtag database.
4) Keyhole
Keyhole is a hashtag analytics company focused on social media tracking for marketers, agencies, executives, and journalists. It can be helpful for campaign monitoring, brand tracking, influencer marketing, market research, and event analysis.
How it works
Keyhole focuses on performance and forecasting. After signing up (free trial or paid plan), you can enter a hashtag or campaign keyword and create a tracker. The tracker analyzes content across social platforms and reports on reach, impressions, posts, and the number of users engaging with that hashtag.
5) RiteTag
RiteTag is RiteKit’s hashtag suggestion tool. RiteKit is a social media toolkit designed to support content optimization, and RiteTag offers hashtag recommendations based on real-time engagement data.
How it works
RiteTag provides instant hashtag suggestions based on text or images you upload from desktop or mobile. Suggestions are driven by current engagement, and you can access the tool by signing up for a free trial.
Generating hashtags for Instagram
Hashtags are still a powerful way to connect with new audiences on Instagram and attract followers who are genuinely interested in your content. Use the tools above to refine your hashtag research and strengthen your Instagram campaigns over time.
Written by Rafaella Aguiar, Kicksta
