Guest Post by Anthony Bergs
Instagram is a growing influence marketing chain with over 850 million active users every month. In such a cut-throat market, it is essential to identify exact tactics to grow your outreach.
So why are hashtags so relevant here?
These hashtags are your best bet to bring organic visitors. An Instagram user interested in a particular hashtag search all related posts using this hashtag. This where they will discover your work.
But do you really want to use those generic hashtags and be lost among the millions of different posts?
Here we will discover specific tricks you can use to systematically exploit the Instagram Algorithm and use Hashtags for your profit.
So how does the Instagram Algorithm work?
The algorithm will decide the ranking of your posts in the list. So naturally, the posts mentioned above the feed will get more traction.
Instagram released insights of these algorithms in the month of June this year, revealing all the aspects that govern the ranking of your post when a user is searching for a hashtag.
Now it is probable that the algorithm can change subjectively in the near future, but we can use the given standards to build substantial ripples in your Instagram marketing efforts.
User Interests
The factor that creates relevant recommendations is mainly user personal preferences and interests. The users that are using similar posts are more likely to come across your posts and explore your Instagram profile.
Relationships with the users
If a visitor has accessed your profile in the past, they are more likely to see your posts in their suggestions. This is mainly because the algorithm suggests continuous and engaging content that is recommended according to user preferences and interests.
How Recent your post is
The algorithm takes into account the recency of your posts to increase the exposure to an audience. Earlier, Instagram used the chronological order approach in the feeds ut now they are prioritizing posts based on user preferences as well.
Take note of the following aspects as well. The following points also affect the outreach of your posts:
- When a user is following a lot of accounts, the engagement on your post is relatively lower since there is a lot of competition for finding a spot in the top feed of the usera.
- If a user is on the application after a long period, your post may not be seen on their profile due to the overall quantity of posts made by competing accounts.
- Similarly, if the user doesn’t spend enough time on their phones, chances are they will not be scrolling down to see every post in their feed.
- Business accounts at the platform enjoy better prospects compare to personal accounts. Personal account, on the other hand, has a difficult time while engaging with organic traffic.
How to improve your relationships with your audience
1. Create Meaningful Interactions
Maintaining loyalty with your audience and making timely interactions can help you generate long-term followers. This can help you to get the top spot in their Instagram feed.
2. Comment On Posts With Relevant Content
Engaging with other content creators publically will help you in driving their followers towards your own content. Instagram’s new features to highlight and prioritize comments on the basis of user outreach and platform activity can help you to get the attention of users through your comments.
3. Add Content At Most Active Time Of The Day
Create effective traction by using Insights of your audience. Business accounts can view the peak usages of their audience and post hen they are likely to receive topmost views or attention.
How hashtags help you interact with the most coherent audience
1. Keep an Eye for your Favourite Hashtags
You can now follow your favorite hashtags and receive posts on your feed. You can use this feature to get featured in the feeds of non-followers. However, the advantage can backfire when you start using irrelevant hashtags.
The user following a given hashtag will come across your post through their feed. In a scenario where they do not like the post or find it unrelated to the tag, they can just report the post by clicking “ Don’t Show for This Hashtag.” The feature, therefore, has the potential to get your account red flagged. Ensure the tags are relevant to the posts so that you can gain credibility and specialized traction.
2.Hashtags In Your Story
Another feature introduced recently is the Hashtags in Instagram stories. This gives you better opportunity to expose yourself self to a new audience out there.
The Geo-location and hashtags are effective in bringing the organic audience to your profile thereby creating engagement for your frequent posts and 24-hour lived stories.
3. Understand your Hashtags
Instagram features two different type of hashtags. These are branded and community hashtags. Understanding the underlying contrasts will help you to create a marketing strategy.
The branded hashtags will be relevant and specific to your business sector. So use a quickwitted, easy to remember hashtags that will make your users excited to share your account and your brand hashtag with their peers.
4. Find the Right Hashtag
Now the problematic part of your hashtag marketing is actually finding those hashtags. You can go ahead and identify the popular hashtags through any mobile application or trending blogs, but the trick to making an effective outreach is to prefer the quality of hashtags over quantity. For example, the hashtag #fashion is always trending on Instagram. So your post with the hashtag fashion will fall down the list within seconds.
So how about using a more specific hashtag? Something that defines the content of your page.
The last tip
Follow other users. Look at their tactics and always keep an idea of the ever-changing trends of Instagram. Hashtags are the most organic method to create traction in the audience and truly interact with the interested fans of your content. Use the given tips to enhance your Instagram marketing through Hashtags.
Author Bio
Anthony Bergs is the CMO at a writing services company, Writers Per Hour. He is a certified inbound marketer with a strong background in implementation of complex marketing strategies. Feel free to connect with Anthony on LinkedIn.
