How to get the most out of Instagram hashtags

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instagram is one of the hottest social media platforms going right now, with over 50 million users already and rapidly growing. But how can it help your business? Well, it’s a fun, easy way to add a visual element to your Twitter, facebook or Tumblr accounts, since Instagram photos can be seamlessly shared to those platforms. There’s a reason Facebook bought Instagram for a billion dollars, after all.

In no other social media platform is the use of the hashtag more ubiquitous. Sure, twitter has its trending tags, but Instagrammers (or igers) hashtag profusely, often times foregoing any description of the photo at all.

Using hashtags on Instagram can be pretty gratifying—by that, I mean it can be instantaneously gratifying. If you hashtag something, it will immediately garner you likes from the far reaching parts of the globe or from the person Instagramming pictures of their bagel right next to you.

A list of trending hashtags looks like this. Many of them are Instagram-coined words themselves, like #instamood.

The use of the hashtag on Instagram shows how Instagram has become a global social media subculture, with its own words that have no meaning outside of the application. For instance, what the heck does “iphoneisa” mean? This Instagrammer knows.

Many users copy and paste the most commonly used Instagram tags onto every single photo they post. This practice, while effective, only serves to dilute the power of each hashtag. It makes you look pretty desperate, too—almost as desperate as another common Instagram habit: posting self-portrait after self-portrait. #getsomeselfrespect

The hashtag, when used right, serves well, like this Instagrammer, ocullus, who hashtags frequently with #texture, garnering him followers who are gaga for texture. He uses targeted hashtags to create a niche of passionate followers.

Does your business use Instagram? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.