2023 Hashtag Advice From Our Community of Social Media Managers
If we had a penny for every time we heard "hashtags are dead," we would probably have enough money to surpass our six-figure agency income at this point!
Don't pull your hair out over hashtags! Are they constantly changing? Yes, 100%, but the bones are always still there. Can they be a little difficult to master? For sure! But what isn't when it comes to social media is the real question!
Let's hear from our community of social media managers from our Social Savvy Collective Facebook Group and their opinions, thoughts, and best practices for hashtags that can help you with your hashtag strategy on your socials!
Ovvi Triana
Social Media Manager
Sociolola
“Giving an eye to DAPC or Daily Average Post Count (the average number of posts made into a hashtag), when the DAPC is too high, it’s almost impossible to reach the audience with that hashtag, chances are your posts will be drowned. Check it manually. Track the recent post on that hashtag and check whether they have adjacent time or not. Use hashtag that has medium DAPC, don’t use low DAPC they might be not performing well.”
Jasmine Shapiro
Social Media Manager
JS.VirtualAssistant
@js.virtualassistant
“There are basically two schools of thought. There are those that think hashtags are not useful and don’t impact your growth on social media at all. Then there are those that swear by hashtags and max out each post with 30 hashtags. Personally, I think using hashtags are a great way to extend your reach and get new eyes on your content. Hashtags definitely need to be used with purpose and with a strategy. My favorite best practice for hashtags on social media is to make sure to actually research hashtags before you use them. When doing research you want to make sure your hashtags are targeting specific audiences including both niche specific hashtags and hashtags that target your target audience or ideal client. Putting in the time to do your hashtag research really pays off when your content is able to reach the right people. I would also have to say that it’s important to have a variety of hashtag sets for different types of posts. Then you are able to rotate these groups of hashtags for different types of posts and maximize your reach. For example, I am a social media manager and my target audience is coaches. I have a few different sets of hashtags I rotate through including a set of hashtags I use for posts focusing on social media tips, a set for posts surrounding social media managers and the work I do, and a set for posts targeted towards advice specifically for my target audience of coaches. In doing this I can have really been able to extend my reach and attract the right audience. I hope this helps!”
Sarah Thompson
Social Media Manager
Social With Sarah
@_socialwithsarah_ | socialwithsarah.com.au
“When choosing hashtags for your posts, make sure you use a range of both high-use hashtags as well as smaller-used hashtags. If you are only using highly-used hashtags (1 million plus uses), you’ll find that your content is getting missed and passed by with the large flow of posts constantly coming in.”
Emma Peck
Social Media Manager & Marketer
EMCO Media Management
@emco.media | emco-media.com
“The importance of hashtags is constantly debated. Some creators suggest they no longer work, whilst others swear by them. My advice to you is to use them, but use them correctly & as a part of a larger strategy. Your account isn't going to grow with hashtags alone, but they can mean the difference between a post reaching 100 people to 1000 people. My main piece of advice is to always have your ideal client in mind. What are they going to be searching for? How can you make it easier for them to find you? To start, carry out competitor analysis within your niche. Create a list of hashtags they're using & cross-reference them with other competitors. By gathering this intel, you're able to learn how your competitors are engaging with your target audience & what hashtags are performing well. I then suggest breaking down these hashtags into categories: location, content specific; customer pain point, your ideal client; industry & community. Not all these categories may be necessary for you to use, but you can decipher which ones to implement by aligning them with your goals. Lastly, I always suggest using predominantly small/medium-sized hashtags. Whilst high-competition hashtags can help to increase your reach, it is far more difficult for your post to rank if you're using them alone.”
Jessica Sheehy
Social Media Marketer & Agency Owner
Social Savvy
@socialsavvyhq | socialsavvyhq.co
“Although hashtags aren't as powerful as they used to be, they’re still a great tool for reaching new audiences on social media. In my experience, and through testing it on several accounts, industries, and methods - there is no "magic formula". When it comes to using hashtags, you can use up to 30 on Instagram, but that shouldn't be your main goal. You should curate and select hashtags that are for your brand, your campaign, your location (if it applies), and most importantly your audience.”
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