How to use hashtags!

How to Use Hashtags and 100 best Hashtags to use!

Using hashtags to help you promote your posts and draw attention to your business is a no-brainer for most marketers. However, many may not know that there are various best practices for different hashtag-friendly platforms.

• On Instagram get more impressions with a healthy mix of hashtags. The best way to achieve a hashtag optimized and tidy post is to use the “5 dot method”. This is where there you put 5 full stops, each on a different line after your caption, before your hashtags. This forces Instagram to ‘collapse’ your post, so your hashtags are not immediately visible, but you still gain the post engagement from them!

• On Twitter, one or two hashtags should be your tweet’s max. Knowing the importance of hashtags and how to use them still doesn’t save you from the burden of researching the best hashtags to use when promoting your posts.

• Studies have shown that the more hashtags you use on a Facebook post, the less engagement it will receive. We would recommend not using any more than 2 hashtags on a Facebook post. Because it is better to use limited numbers of hashtags on your post, it is important to use hashtags that are extremely relevant to the content of the post. Using brand-specific hashtags can also be beneficial, since users will quickly recognize that the content is about your business, it may become ‘normal language’ and be used by others, as well as users being able to easily see all your content if they search for your hashtag. Just remember that your brand-specific hashtag may not catch on for several years.

• Using hashtags on LinkedIn is extremely beneficial in increasing post visibility, assisting with engagement and building your network. For LinkedIn it is recommended that you use exactly 3 hashtags on a post.

Make sure you carefully check if a hashtag is available before using it (just search for it on every platform) and test it to see if it is read in the right way by everyone (no embarrassing interpretations!).

Hashtags work to help you reach your target audience.  By using hashtags, that are relevant to the content of your post, the more people will see your content.

You can use pretty much any word or phrase for a hashtag, but the main types include:

• descriptive hashtags (product, service, task, what people call themselves…)

• location hashtags

• brand hashtags (#helpingbusinessbloom), campaign hashtags

• event hashtags

• community/interest hashtags

Hashtags were invented to help bring order to the social media user experience. Hashtags group together similar conversations to help people find content that matters to them. Once a hashtag is published, it becomes a clickable, searchable link.

Take advantage of trending hashtags to attract more attention to your posts.

Using popular hashtags is also a great way to come up with creative ideas for new content. Plus, it helps your brand become part of a larger community and join the conversation.

Just because a hashtag is popular doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for your brand. For example, there are hashtag holidays almost every day (days like #NationalHotdogDay or #SiblingsDay).

Before using a new hashtag, determine your goal (example: increased engagement).

After you have an endgame in mind, start digging into hashtag research.

Knowing the importance of hashtags and how to use them still doesn’t save you from the burden of researching the best hashtags to use when promoting your posts.

I’ve included the 100 best hashtags below plus the best hashtags to use for contests! 

1. #love
2. #instagood
3. #photooftheday
4. #fashion
5. #beautiful
6. #happy
7. #cute
8. #tbt
9. #like4like
10. #followme
11. #picoftheday
12. #follow
13. #me
14. #selfie
15. #summer
16. #art
17. #instadaily
18. #friends
19. #repost
20. #nature
21. #girl
22. #fun
23. #style
24. #smileRequire a #smile to bring smiles with this versatile hashtag. Think babies and happy kids, dentist offices, new homeowners, even photography studios. There’re many businesses that the #smile hashtag can link happy warm fuzzies to.
25. #food
26. #instalike
27. #likeforlike
28. #family
29. #travel
30. #fitness
31. #igers
32. #tagsforlikes
33. #follow4follow
34. #nofilter
35. #life
36. #beauty
37. #amazing
38. #instamood
39. #instagram
40. #photography
41. #vscocam
42. #sun
43. #photo
44. #music
45. #beach
46. #followforfollow
47. #bestoftheday
48. #sky
49. #ootd
50. #sunset
51. #dogYou can’t go wrong basing your post, contest or promotion on pets. Dog owners and dog lovers gush over adorable pup photos, helping your contest’s shareability.

 

1. #vsco
2. #l4l
3. #makeup
4. #f4f
5. #foodporn
6. #hair
7. #pretty
8. #swag
9. #cat
10. #model
11. #motivation
12. #girl
13. #baby
14. #party
15. #cool
16. #lol
17. #gym
18. #design
19. #instapic
20. #funny
21. #healthy
22. #night
23. #tflers
24. #yummy
25. #flowers
26. #lifestyle
27. #hot
28. #instafood
29. #wedding
30. #fit
31. #handmade
32. #black
33. #pink
34. #일상
35. #blue
36. #work
37. #workout
38. #blackandwhite
39. #drawing
40. #inspiration
41. #home
42. #holiday
43. #christmas
44. #nyc
45. #london
46. #sea
47. #instacool
48. #goodmorning
49. #iphoneonly

 Best Hashtags for Contests and
Promotions

1. #contest
2. #[yourbrand]contest
3. #contests
4. #contestalert
5. #contestentry
6. #sweepstakes
7. #[yourbrand]sweepstakes
8. #giveaway
9. #[yourbrand]giveaway
10. #giveaways
11. #winitwednesday
12. #competition
13. #win

14. #[yourbrand]win

Contributor: ShortStack

Debra Lee | Biz & Life Coach | Author | Keynote Speaker

DL Biz Services