Lesson #4

Using hashtags without going OTT

Milkshake | School of Instagram | Lesson 4: Using Instagram Hashtags Without Going OTT

By Jessica Vince

Hashtags are the search engine of Instagram so it's time to get involved. Our favourite influencers reveal their tips...

Love them or hate them, Instagram hashtags are a nifty way grow your Instagram. So it’s time to make the most of them! Adding just a few tags can help people discover you. Plus, they lead to better engagement and a stronger community. Sounds good, right?

The question is: how to hashtag without looking spammy? We asked these expert Instagrammers for their top tagging tips.

Develop a Instagram hashtags strategy

Using Instagram hashtags strategically can really pay off. I use 5 – 10 tags for every post that are relevant to my account and match my type of content. So mostly in the field of plus size fashion and body positivity. Targeted Instagram hashtags like #effyourbeautystandards and #beautybeyondsize are really effective. They allow you to get discovered by a truly engaged audience and help to define your niche.

“Using hashtags strategically allows you to get discovered by a truly engaged audience and helps you define your niche” – @NerdAboutTown

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The sassiest Teletubby you’ll ever know. ____ 📸 – @shotsbyfifi Dress – @zara Boots – @asos Sunglasses – @primark ___ #plussizefashion #andigetdressed #plussize #zara #tcfstyle #psbloggers #plussizebloggers #fbloggers #fatfashion #ootdshare #wiwt #outfitinspo #psootd #whatiwore #stylemaven

A post shared by Stephanie Yeboah (@stephanieyeboah) on Apr 7, 2019 at 2:50am PDT

Create customised Instagram hashtags

I began a bespoke hashtag when I was travelling the world. I wanted to show that travelling isn’t all mojito sundowners. After a few months of sharing the ‘peak’ and ‘pit’ every day as we travelled through New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand, I started a hashtag for anyone who wanted to join in: #thepeakandpitcollective.

“My hope is that, in some small way, the hashtag inspires other people to see tiny positives, even in the most awful days” – @disastersofathirtysomething

To this day, I love reading about other people’s highs and lows. As well as mulling over each of my days and taking stock to consider the best and worst moments. It’s really helped with my reach too. Ultimately, my hope is that, in some small way, the hashtag inspires other people to see tiny positives, even in the most awful days.

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So…does this need a disclaimer that it's ~not~ my current location/hair colour/skin tone or is that just slap-you-in-the-face-with-a-cold-cod obvious? 🤣 Feeling rough so tormenting myself with old travelling photos. And @bethsandland's current ones. Send me a postcard Beth, pet. Pit: got a pathetic cold which is making me feel pathetically pathetic. It's even making me a pathetic parent cos I literally COULD NOT be arsed (sorry mum, "bottomed") to give them proper food tonight. Jonny's out every weekend and evening working two jobs at the moment, so the thought of solo carrot mashing followed by monitoring double baby choking sounds and performing double baby Heimlich manoeuvres was beyond me. TBH. Peak: on the subject of sickness, I thought I'd pass on a success story. At Christmas you were kind enough to send infant rash/eczema remedies and I've tried them all. Obviously every child is different and I'm not a doctor ("she's not a doctor?!" I hear you gasp out loud into your evening pinot noir 🍷), but @lush's Dream Cream is working quite well for us, so just wanted to pass that on. So today: hurry up and invent a tan prolonging cream, Lush HQ. This tan took 12 months to build and 12 days to lose and I'm still a Bitter Brenda 'bout it. #thepeakandpitcollective

A post shared by writer + twin mama (@disastersofathirtysomething) on Mar 14, 2019 at 12:21pm PDT

Keep it unique

Instagram allows you to use a maximum of 30 tags per post so I like to make the most of them — #noshame! I’m careful to avoid ‘high density’ tags (#love has over one billion posts…and counting!) or gimmicks like #followforfollow because you’ll end up with a bunch of unengaged followers who quickly drop off.

“To find relevant Instagram hashtags, check the bios of accounts you want to be reposted by” – @lizandlavender

So I mix it up with more unique tags so my content is more likely to surface amid the noise. I add a block of Instagram hashtags as a comment on my post to avoid messing up the caption.

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three things . . one year. how long it’s been since i consumed a minimum of a baguette a day while sipping coffee on every corner of le marais. i died a thousand deaths. and wore a lot of black. can we go back @travel.rad? . . one month. how long it’s been since i last posted on here! learning how to balance the launch of @wildlather, freelance styling, and sharing photos has been a challenge i’m really freaking grateful for . . one day. how long it’s been since i last posted to my blog (are you as surprised as i am?!). i shared all about my recent experience visiting the unexpected side of britain with @lovegreatbritain. check it out if you’re looking for an off the beaten path adventure 🌊🙌🏻

A post shared by liz wible 🌾 (@lizandlavender) on Nov 1, 2018 at 5:12pm PDT

To find relevant hashtags, check the bios of accounts you want to be reposted by — #WorthSaying by L’Oréal Paris is a good example. Explore other accounts in your industry and take note of the tags they use. It’ll help you find your tribe. Trending tags work well too, just check out Instagram’s Explore page for inspiration.

Get involved in updates

Instagram hashtags have developed rapidly with several updates from Instagram in the past year so it can really help to stay on top of the latest developments.

I love that you can now follow tags. Just click on any hashtag then tap ‘Follow’. Its photos and videos will now appear in feed. It helps me stay up to date with topics I enjoy, plus my posts can be discovered by others who don’t follow me.

“It can really help to stay on top of the latest [hashtag] developments” – @rosannafalconer

You can add hashtags to your Stories too, and to your bio, so there’s plenty of ways to use them to get your content out there. For me, these updates mark a renewed importance in using hashtags effectively. It’s a personal choice in exactly how you use them, but there’s no denying they have their benefits.

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Ballgowns for breakfast 💗🦄💗 Trust @oliviarubin to find the best bathroom in town to launch her new space @theofficialselfridges (rest assured the launch took place in the private dining room @brasserieoflight, not these exquisite mirrored bathrooms). My dress is from her new collection 🌸 #London #bathroomselfie #oliviarubin #ootd #🦄 #pinkbathroom #teampixel

A post shared by Rosanna Falconer (@rosannafalconer) on Mar 3, 2019 at 7:17am PST

Ready to hashtag it up? Give these tips a try and say hello to Insta fire in no time.

We’d love to hear your hashtag habits too. Join us on Instagram where we’ll be sharing more advice (as well as plenty of pretty pics) at @go.milkshake ?

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