SO...WHAT IS A HASHTAG?

• A hashtag is combination of letters, numbers, or emojis following the # symbol (e.g. #NoFilter or #ThursdayThoughts)
• They are used to categorise content and make it more discoverable in searches to your target audience.
• As well as making your content more visible, they help to increase brand awareness, followers, engagement and hopefully... more sales!

HOW DO YOU USE THEM?

• Use all 30 - You are allowed a maximum of 30 hashtags per post (on Instagram) so why not use them all for more opportunities to be discovered – remember, it's free!

• Make them relevant – Make sure the hashtags you use are specific to what your post is about but also your industry, your location (if relevant), and your services. Hopefully your posts will be varied so make sure your hashtags resonate with your target audience.

• Mix them up – Try and use a different combination of hashtags for each post, tailoring them specifically to the content. A good idea is to make a big list covering what your business is about, what services you offer, what industry are you from, and topics add value to your audience, and pick out what's relevant each time.

• Do your research - When we talk about spending time on a hashtag strategy that includes looking at your peers, competitors and the influential people in your industry and noting what hashtags could be relevant to you. You can also use the search tool (magnifying glass) to search tags and discover related tags to help tailor your lists ready for your content.

• Location, location, location - Including your location can help with location based searches, especially for localised services. So for example, if someone is looking for a Hair Salon in Cheltenham, they may search the following hashtags: #HairSalon #HairSalonCheltenham #CheltenhamHair #CheltenhamHairDresser #HairstylistCheltenham #HairStylist #CheltenhamHairDresser

• Size matters - Try to use a combination of both popular and niche-based hashtags. If you always use extremely popular hashtags, your content will struggle to be seen amongst the vast amount of other content. By posting content people want to engage with, along with hashtags that aren’t being used as commonly, you won’t disappear into a high level of post volume. You can check the post volume when you search for a tag as it will show the number alongside it.

• Include hashtags in your story - This is a trick that often gets overlooked but stories are now the more popular way to interact with another account. When you post a story, include a hashtag or two and shrink them so they are not highly visible.

• Measure to see what's working - If we don't find out how our posts have performed, how do we know what is working/ not working and hope to improve? On Instagram, if you click 'View Insights' below each post and scroll down, you can see your impressions from hashtags. This is a great way to see if your lists are working well or if they need to be tweaked.