Some hashtags will help you GROW your Instagram profile, while others can even get your account
blocked! Find out which ones — right inside the video.
Hey guys, it’s Chia from Brand24, and I am back with a couple more Instagram hashtag
tips for you! Last week, we talked about how to find the best Instagram hashtags to grow
your Instagram account — and I showed you a few different ways to do that, including:
how to search for popular hashtags MANUALLY, right inside the Instagram platform, plus where
to find a very PERSONALIZED list of Trending Hashtags on specific topics (which is something that
Brand24 can help you with).
So, this week, we’re following up with just a few more hashtag tips for Instagram, including:
which hashtags to avoid (like Banned Hashtags), and which hashtags to help you grow your Instagram
profile — that's in addition to Trending Hashtags, that is!
So, let’s start with the positive: Trending Hashtags are great — they make sure that your
Instagram posts get maximum EXPOSURE since these are pretty popular and people are actively
using them. Community Hashtags, however, will make sure that your Instagram posts get maximum
ENGAGEMENT, because these are built on strong communities of Instagram-ers who are genuinely...
... they're really interested in those topics!
So there are 2 ways to find good Community Hashtags on Instagram: the first method is by following
Instagram influencers who are highly active in your industry or niche. This way, you can
observe the hashtags that they use, and see which ones generate the most engagement. You’ll
probably find that most influencers will NOT stuff their posts with the maximum 30 hashtags
— and the ones that they DO use tend to be less broad. Like, an influential health
food blogger might not use the hashtag #food, instead opting for tags like #cleaneating
or #healthyeating. These are exactly the kind of Community Hashtags that we’re talkin’
about — hashtags that are a bit more specific, and that often tend to get real comments and
generate discussions. I’m going to throw a link down below, in the Video Description,
to a blog post that shows you how to identify Instagram influencers for your brand or niche,
so you’ll find some good tips there!
The second way to find good Community Hashtags on Instagram — well, it feels like the next natural step
after this. Once you’ve identified the Instagram influencers who are really active in your
niche and you’ve made a list of the hashtags that they use, next you want to take a closer
look at their followers — especially at the hashtags that THEIR FOLLOWERS use. Remember,
the reason that you’re following THESE particular Instagram influencers is because they’re
super active in YOUR space… which makes THEIR target audience YOUR target audience.
Looking at the hashtags that their audience uses is a really good way to find even more Community
Hashtags, so that you can start to engage these people through YOUR content and YOUR Instagram
profile.
Besides using Trending Hashtags and Community Hashtags to grow your Instagram account, there
are definitely some hashtags that you want to AVOID using, like Banned Hashtags. Tagging
your Instagram content with Banned Hashtags can prevent people from seeing your post or
even get your account blocked.
Instagram doesn’t really have an official list of Banned Hashtags, so you need to check
this manually. This is a recent list of Banned Hashtags that members of the Instagram community
have compiled. Some of these are pretty self-explanatory, like #eggplant, but even something as innocent
as #happythanksgiving can get banned, just because it was getting flooded with so much
spam content.
Insta can ban hashtags permanently or temporarily, so it’s possible that a hashtag could be
broken one day and then start to work normally the next, but it’s always a good idea to
check real quick before you start tagging your posts, or you could end up using a hashtag
that will HIDE your post from everybody else.
Luckily, it’s really easy to check for Banned Hashtags: just go to the Instagram search
bar and enter the hashtag that you want to check. If no results show up, you might be
looking at a Banned Hashtag. And here’s an important tip: even if the hashtag DOES
appear to be ACTIVE, make sure you double-check by tapping on it. Since Instagram can ban
a hashtag temporarily, as I mentioned earlier, you might find that OLDER posts with that
hashtag are still visible, while NEW posts are getting blocked (and we don’t want to
get blocked).
Anyway, these are just a few quick hashtag tips for Instagram. Remember to use Trending
Hashtags to get more exposure for your account; Community Hashtags to boost engagement, and
to avoid using any Banned Hashtags because they can make your Instagram posts impossible
to find, or even get your Instagram profile blocked! And don’t forget to check out the
Video Description down below to find a few more Instagram tips!
Thanks so much for watching! If you have any questions, just let me know in the Comments
section! And if you’ve found this video helpful, feel free to Like, Share, and Subscribe
to our YouTube channel, where I will be sharing tips on how you can do even more in social
media & digital marketing each week! Thanks again, I hope you learned something new and I’ll see you next time,
bye!