Instagram has become a busy platform in the past few years. Many users and businesses exist on this platform to build their brands and compete for customers’ attention.
With new and exciting content always on the rise, it’s hard to stay on top of trends. Let’s discover two methods to elevate your posts and garner more attention from different audiences.
How To Best Use Hashtags And Location Tagging On Instagram
Hashtags
With the introduction of Instagram in 2010, hashtags quickly became a norm in our everyday lives. They’ve even become part of our daily conversations.
Today, using Instagram’s power to reach and connect with larger audiences through hashtags (#) is immense.
Hashtags are like markers that are added into a collective of similar posts. For example, if I post a photo of a plate of food, and use #Foodie, my photo will be added to a massive collection of other posts using the same hashtag.
Instagram has a neat way of organizing these posts. When you click on a hashtag in Instagram, it will take you to a new page that shows all of the posts using that same hashtag. In here, you can view 2 tabs: Top and Recent.
TOP
In the Top Section, you can scroll through the most popular posts using that hashtag. And under Recent, you’ll see the most recent posts.
RECENT
What many don’t consider is the popularity of the hashtags they use. The broader and simpler your tag is, the more popular it tends to be. For example, #Foodie has been tagged over 100 million times on Instagram. Thinking even more broadly, #Love has been tagged close to 1.6 billion times. BILLION.
Now on the other side of the hashtag popularity spectrum, there are more niche hashtags – like a lesser known dish, or a specific trend of a city. For instance, #ILoveOrlando has been tagged just over 18,000 times.
The more detailed and specific your hashtag is, the less posts are tagged using it. Meaning there will be way less posts to look through in that hashtag’s page on Instagram.
Why am I focusing on tagged post count? Because when adding hashtags to your posts, it’s better to compete in a smaller pool of posts than in a larger one.
Using hashtags that have an average number above 100,000 and lower than 500,000 will likely produce higher engagement. This works for two reasons:
You’re competing with a smaller number of total posts
Hashtag pages with smaller counts are usually more active\
Ultimately, this is important because of the amount of engagement/interaction your post could get in a hashtag search. If you post with a hashtag that’s been tagged around 150,000 times, the users in this search are more likely to not only view your post but to like, comment, and possibly share your post.
This is especially true for specific industries. For example, if you are fitness-based, you will have better engagement by interacting with other fitness accounts.
Using hashtags like #FitnessLife, #FitnessFun, and #OrlandoFitness can grab certain audiences to look at your post and engage with it too.
Hashtags are more than simple add-ons. They’re very effective tools that can boost your engagement rate. Take the time to pick the right hashtags for your posts to attract the right audiences. And remember to interact with other accounts who use similar hashtags to access relative audiences on Instagram. This will ensure that you’re maximizing the potential of engagement for each post.
Locations
Tagging isn’t exclusive to hashtags. You can also tag locations on your posts to enhance them! Similar to hashtags, tagging a location on your post can showcase that post to newer audiences. For example, the location you use in a post can add your post to that location’s page on Instagram.
Why is this important? Well, the name of the game is how visible your content can be. By using a location, your post can be more relevant to the audience that is in that location and cares about it.
For example, if my business is in Thornton Park Orlando, I can use nearby locations to attract new audiences that are close by. So in this case, I can test locations beyond Thornton Park, such as Lake Eola, Mills 50, or Winter Park to attract new audiences within the area.
In contrast to hashtags, location tagging is a very short term strategy. Many of the posts quickly disappear because of constant activity in these locations. The goal with location tagging should be posting consistently and often. By posting at the same time everyday, users who view this location will start to recognize your profile. This should lead to more customers engaging with your business both on Instagram and in your business.
Outro
Instagram is all about staying active and reaching new audiences! Using Hashtags and Locations Tags will add more engagement to your posts and introduce your brand to newer audiences. If you want to attract new visitors and higher engagement on your posts, try using hashtags and locations next time.
Your Turn
Did you find these tips useful? What tags are you currently using? Have you tried optimizing your hashtags and location tags before? Let us know in the comments below!
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