If you’re still unsure about the use of hashtags, we’ve highlighted below some of the main reasons, in our opinion, why hashtags are so important on Instagram. If you have other reasons why hashtags are important
- Outplay your competitors
As with any business, it’s important to figure out who your competition is, what they offer, how they advertise, so you know what makes your business the better choice. Instagram is extremely helpful because you can search the other business’ names and any hashtags that you know they use. Learning this information can help you gauge audience’s responses to your competitors’ post, giving you the knowledge of what works best and what doesn’t for your own social media marketing.
- Awareness and brand recognition
Branding and visibility are essentially the most effective uses of hashtags on Instagram. If you’re a new business, you can utilize hashtags to expand your audience and increase brand awareness. When users search your brand, they’ll see the relevant hashtags you’re using; or when they search specific hashtags, they’ll see your branded posts in the results. This usually results in gaining new followers and potential customers.
- Promotion
One of the main reasons hashtags have gained such a reputation on social media is because of their ability to help marketers and businesses create targeted campaigns. According to Tweet angels, “when it comes to promotion, think of hashtags as the ‘word-of-mouth’ method.” In other words, when you post about a promotion, then your followers will use that same hashtag, then their followers will use it, and so on. Hashtags create great visibility for a campaign, and help you reach your target audience by using relevant hashtags that you know your audience is already following.
- Activism
With the entire world at our fingertips, searching about breaking news instantaneously is easy. Because of this, many political movements create a hashtag for their cause. This works basically the same as event promotion. People use the hashtag to say they’re running a fundraiser event and users share their posts before, during, and after.