Social media has become an integral part of marketing for brands across all industries. If you too want to create a presence for your brand, you should focus on getting followers on Instagram. It is a visual content-based platform where you can showcase your products, drawing the attention of your target audience, who may buy them. Shopify’s Instagram sales channel links the products on your online store to your business profile on Instagram. Your Instagram following can help boost your store’s sales. To improve the following on Instagram hashtag techniques are most effective.
One of the top features of Instagram is the use of hashtags. Hashtags are a type of meta-data tags that are used on different microblogging social media networks like Twitter. In a hashtag, the symbol ‘#’ precedes a keyword. When you add a hashtag to your Instagram post, your post will become indexed as a part of the pool of content posts with the same hashtag. There are many effective hashtag techniques.
Build a smart hashtag strategy for getting followers on Instagram.
Hashtag Techniques to Grow Your Reach on Instagram
Hashtags can help you in getting followers on Instagram. Here are some of the top hashtag techniques that you can follow if you’re aiming towards getting followers on Instagram.
#1. Create Hashtags Based On Your Specialization Or Niche
It can be quite overwhelming to think of hashtags that are relevant to your business. For this, you can start by creating hashtags that are based on your niche or specialization. If your business deals in offering women’s apparel, you can probably go for a hashtag like #womensfashion or #streetstyle and the like. This can be a good starting point for your hashtag creation strategy.
#2. Keep An Eye On Your Competitors’ Hashtags
Assuming that your competitors are offering products or services similar to yours, you can look at their hashtag strategy to find out relevant hashtags that may align with your content. You can use the hashtags that they are using, for your content. Do not blindly copy-paste their hashtags. The idea is to only use those hashtags that are relevant to your content and to your brand.
#3. Look At Influencers’ Hashtag Strategy
Influencers are known to have strong follower bases and have good engagement levels as well. You can look at Influencers’ hashtag strategy to find out relevant hashtags that will help you in getting followers on Instagram on Shopify. For this, you first need to find out which influencers specialize in your niche or industry. Once you identify your industry-focused influencers, you can go through their Instagram posts to find out what kind of hashtags they are using. Based on your findings, you can develop your own hashtag marketing strategy on Instagram. This may increase your chances of getting discovered on Instagram and getting more followers on the platform.
#4. Use The Search Function On Instagram To Explore Possible Hashtags
You can head to the search function on Instagram and type all the relevant keywords with which you can associate your business. When you type in relevant keywords on Instagram, you will see a list of various different hashtags that will go well with your content. For every hashtag on the list, you will be able to see the different number of posts featuring it. You must go for both broader, popular hashtags, as well as niche-based hashtags to get maximum exposure for your Instagram posts.
#5. Take Ideas From Related Hashtags
When you look up a hashtag in the search function on Instagram, you can also see a number of related hashtags appear above the two tabs of ‘Top’ and ‘Recent’ Instagram posts. You can swipe left to find more such related hashtags for the searched hashtag. Related hashtags may help you find relevant ones that are more specific and precise. This means such hashtags will allow you to target better with lesser competition. The more difficult task is to get your target audience to see your content. With a smart hashtag strategy, you can get more followers on Instagram.
#6. Take Inspiration From Your Most Popular Content
If there was a particular hashtag that you used in some posts that brought many likes and comments, you can consider using that hashtag in your content posts in the future. It is important to look at hashtags that are already getting you good results. A tried and tested formula of hashtags will be helpful for your Instagram marketing strategy. Using hashtags that have worked well in the past may increase your chances of getting followers on Instagram.
#7. Use Branded Hashtags
One of the hashtag techniques is to use branded hashtags to promote user-generated content on Instagram. Create branded hashtags and ask your followers to add Instagram posts featuring your products. Add the branded hashtags in their respective Instagram captions. Tell them that you will be sharing their content on your profile to build enthusiasm. The idea is to build a buzz around the branded hashtag and draw your target audience’s attention towards your brand. You can then share user-generated content on your profile and get more followers on the platform.
