Have you ever used a hashtag before when posting on social media? Well, if your answer is no, you might want to reconsider after reading this post.

If you want to reach a larger audience and increase your followers, likes, comments etc. hashtags are an easy and fast way to broaden your scope. They act as labels and appear with the hashtag symbol "#" in front of the applicable keyword. Hashtags provide and help filter relevant content, depending on what the user is looking for, that's why using hashtags helps to reach your target audience. According to the Ultimate Guide to Hashtags, posts with at least 11 hashtags get 61.5% more engagement than posts that feature zero. You read that correctly over 60% more engagement, just by doing a bit of research and including them in your posts and captions.

Now although hashtags are useful, it is important to understand how they work, before you start hashtagging every word that comes to mind.

Let's debunk some common hashtags questions together:

Are hashtags important?
Since hashtags are easy and free to create and use, they are an important tool for any business or social creator to utilize! They act as a bridge that connects your dream client to your business. Odds are that some of your potential clients are searching up relevant hashtags in your industry at this given moment.

Are there limits to how many hashtags you can use?
Yes! - depending on the platform. See below for the current limitations.
 

• Instagram = 30 hashtags
• Pinterest = 20 hashtags
• TikTok = 100 character limit
• Twitter = 280 character limit
• Facebook = No limit
• LinkedIn = No limit
• YouTube = No limit

It's important to keep in mind that, in this case, the more isn't always the merrier. Think quality not quantity. Adding too many hashtags will not only look cluttered, but can also appear unprofessional.

Where do you put your hashtags?
Once you have the right amount of hashtags per platform, simply copy and paste them into the caption or add it as a comment once posted.

Focus on hashtags that have less than 1 million posts attached to them already. The lower the number of posts with that hashtag already, the more discoverable your content will be.

Think about your ideal client and the industry your company or service is in. What are some keywords or hashtags that your ideal client might be entering when trying to find what you sell? For example, if you own a Vegan Bakery you might use hashtags such as:

• #vegandesserts
• #dairyfreecake
• #bestvegancookies

As you search for relevant hashtags, you will see how many posts are already attached - from there you will pull the hashtags that have less than a million posts.

Hashtags can be either general or very specific. The more general, the more likely it is that that hashtag has millions of posts attached to it, so in most cases it's good to find the right balance. Experiment and see what works for your business!

If you're really feeling stuck, you can use a hashtag generator. There are both free and paid sites that help you find relevant hashtags for your business or industry. Here are some of our favourites:

1. MetaHashtags
2. Ingrammer
3. All-Hashtag
4. Hashtracking
5. AutoHash

There's your quick lesson or recap on how to use hashtags to increase your reach! You're ready to start incorporating hashtags into your posts!

Although hashtags help you get discovered, remember that it's your content that will convert them into a follower or customer!

We hope this blog post on using hashtags to get discovered has been helpful. Reach out to us if you have any questions - we're here to help!