Is it time for you to upgrade your Instagram account? Now hold on to your hats, because I’m about to drop some serious knowledge on you!

Let’s start at the beginning and talk about how crucial it is to be consistent

Sure, you’ve heard this a thousand times before, but give me a chance to explain. Stick to your principles, because they’re crucial. When it comes to Instagram, consistency is like being the boss. In order to keep your followers interested, you should provide them with a regular schedule of when you plan to publish new content. You shouldn’t necessarily aim to post every day at the same time (though if that works for you, go for it), but you should aim to post regularly. 

Making sure your followers know when to expect a new post from you is as important as making sure they know when to expect a new episode of their favorite TV show.

However, unlike in television shows, you should not leave your readers hanging for too long. Choose a regular posting time that works for you, and then adhere to it religiously.

Let’s move on to the posts themselves, the “meat and potatoes” of your content

If you want to keep your Instagram feed interesting, you need to post a wide range of content. Include a wide range of content in your updates, such as selfies, sneak peeks behind the scenes, and inspirational quotes. The same way that you wouldn’t want to eat the same thing every day, your followers wouldn’t want to see the same thing on your feed every day, either. Post a wide range of content, from selfies and behind-the-scenes photos to inspirational quotes and rants. Don’t stray too far from the established tone, though. Unless knitting is your company’s specialty, it’s probably best not to post about it on your tech company’s social media accounts. 

It doesn’t matter how many examples of “instagrammable moments” there are out there; at the end of the day it all comes down to what YOU create that sets you apart from everyone else. 

Authenticity – that’s what matters, too

In a world where everyone is trying to present the best version of themselves, it’s important to remember that Instagram is not real life. At least, not 100%. It’s a curated highlight reel. So, don’t be afraid to show your followers THE REAL you. Share behind-the-scenes content, show your personality, and be relatable. People will appreciate the authenticity and it will make them more likely to stick around.

Keep in mind the value of a great caption

Your caption completes your Instagram picture perfectly. That’s the cherry on top, the whipped cream on your coffee, you get the idea! Never underestimate the power of a well-crafted caption; it can make or break a post. And don’t be reluctant to experiment and have some fun with it. Some lightheartedness can help smooth over any rough spots.

Let’s discuss hashtags in more detail

Hashtags, oh boy. You can reach more people and have your content seen by more people by using them. Instagram hashtags function much like a coded handshake. They’re fantastic for reaching a wider audience and spreading the word about your work. Don’t just slap any old hashtags on your post and call it a day, though. Be certain that they fit the theme of your post and are used by people who share your values. Be sure they fit the theme of your post and are popular among your target audience.

Key takeaway? Make sure you’re using relevant and specific hashtags and not just #like4like or #follow4follow (those are so last decade). I know hashtag research feels complicated. Most Instagram research tools are quite expensive and throw data at you – expecting you to know what to do with it and analyse it all on your own.  My advice? Try out IQ Hashtags – it will arm you with the most advanced hashtag research tool, which is at the same time totally easy to use. Have a look:

The importance of a quality filter is our next topic of discussion

You can do amazing things with your photos with the help of filters. They have the ability to transform even a subpar photo into something truly remarkable. Try out a few different filters to see which one best represents your company. But keep in mind that less is more! If you overdo it, your photo will look like something out of a psychedelic nightmare.

Also, we mustn’t overlook the significance of tagging

Tags function similarly to shoutouts on Instagram. It’s a fantastic medium for expanding your reach and establishing links with related profiles. It’s important to collaborate with brands and other influencers, so don’t be shy about tagging them in your posts. 

Finally, let’s address the most pressing issue at hand: the algorithm

To some, Instagram’s algorithm may as well be a Rubik’s cube to solve in the dark. But there are some things you can do to improve your position on the “Explore” page.

First off, make the most of Reels, Lives, and Stories, the three main types of content you can create.  Finally, interact with your target market.On Instagram, interaction is essential, much like breathing. It’s essential to your posts, and without it, they’ll die!  Engage with your community by replying to comments and direct messages from followers. On the Gramyou must strike a balance between receiving and giving to avoid being labeled as such. Don’t be shy about engaging with your followers and asking them questions. Keep in mind that the term “social” media wasn’t chosen at random!

Key takeaway: The more you engage with others, the more likely they are to engage with you. It’s like a virtual friendship, but without the awkward small talk.

To wrap-up!

Growing your Instagram in 2023 is all about consistency, hashtags, engagement, and authenticity. And maybe a latte or two. But let’s not forget about the most important element of all – the real you, your charm, your authenticity. 

Growing your profile is not an overnight success. It takes time, patience, and maybe a little bit of luck. But if you stay true to yourself, post quality content, and engage with your followers, you’ll be well on your way to Instagram stardom in no time. So, grab your camera, your latte, and your cute puppy (or just a picture of one), and let’s make 2023 the year of the gram!

Get your phones out, put on your thinking caps, and start sharing some awesome content with the world. Lastly, if all else fails, upload an image of a bowtied llama and declare victory. If you take my word for it, it will always be effective!

The post 8 Proven Ways How To Grow Your Instagram Account in 2023 appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

You’ve just done your hashtag research and created many gorgeous sets of promising hashtags, all well-tailored and matching your niche. Ta-dah!

You’re ready to start using them to attract new followers and potential customers to your business. You have a bunch of bulletproof choices, and you’re going to use this power, along with your awesome content.

First of all – a smart move, good for you! With its engaged audience (at the moment, more than one billion monthly active users – according to official data, and Statista platform), a wide range of different user personas, and features like Reels, Instagram Stories, and Lives, you have so many opportunities to attract and interact with your ideal audience.

But, wait, wait.  Hold up.

Questions may start crowding in with the Instagram landscape wide open right before you. As a result, new doubts may start creeping in. 

When should you use these hashtags? How often? Even better question – you see many Instagram creators posting the same set of hashtags multiple times, sometimes dozens of times – how often should you change your hashtags? And how many hashtags should you use per post?

This is the evergreen question. The thing is, the honest answer probably isn’t what you want to hear:

It depends. However:

If you’re a newbie and have a small account, the key is to make your profile as discoverable as it can be. And hashtags are here to help, so don’t underestimate their power. Every hashtag = your chance to attract a totally new group of people. Kick off with as many relatable hashtags as you can – sure, quality over quantity, but if you can find 30 well-tailored hashtags, then use them! 

But that’s just the short answer, to put it in a nutshell. 

Let’s dive deeper into all the hows and whys so you can get the most out of the hashtags’ power. Let’s go!

How Many Hashtags Should I Use? What is the Right Number of #Hashtags For my Posts?

There is the golden rule: keep ’em, and use them – as many as you can (as long as they’re accurate and well-researched), and people will find you and stick with you.

Each Instagram hashtag works as a keyword that you can use to help the ‘Gram identify your content and make it much easier for users to know what your post is about. Side benefit? Hashtags can be valuable tools in establishing the topic and relevance of your regular posts or Reels! That’s why you need to select your hashtags wisely to correctly classify your posts so that they will be found by the right audience – your target followers. 

Instagram is home to billions and billions of different posts and Reels, with that number growing exponentially on a daily basis! Needless to say, to make sure your ideal followers actually see what you’re posting, you need to use hashtags, and if you can find 30 good ones every time you post – excellent! More is more, at least when it comes to well-targeted hashtags. 

How Many Hashtags Is Enough?

Is there any magic formula, a well-kept secret about the most optimal ratio, or some other insider secret-sauce knowledge you can employ to help your profile grow and get seen by the people you try to attract? Can you Harry Potter the heck out of Instagram?

I WISH! If only!

Instead, look carefully at the hashtags you choose. As I said before – every single hashtag is a new chance to attract people from your target audience. That’s why I would recommend using 30 hashtags every time you can. It doesn’t necessarily have to be 30 – this rule is not that strict, don’t you worry. If you can find 25-28 good ones, that’s totally okay. You don’t have to use 30 hashtags just for the sake of using 30. 

Every business and every profile is different, with different marketing goals, target audiences, means, and approaches. What works for other creators may not suit you and who you want to attract, but hashtags are a universal helper; they’re a tool for every profile and business. 

How Often Should You Change and Update Your Hashtags, and Come Up With New Hashtag Sets? 

Some trending hashtags become outdated pretty quickly, that’s why it’s such a good practice to do hashtag research at least once a month. 

“Why SO OFTEN?” you may want to ask.

Well, that’s what brings the best results for my clients and for me, so I always recommend updating your hashtags every 4-5 weeks – because it WORKS, and it’s always the most crucial reason for me. Don’t forget you can also outsource your hashtag research a bit – for example, you do it with the IQ Hashtags Search Hashtag feature – that’s the most optimal choice. That way, it will take you up to 5-10 minutes, and you’ll gain this clarity and confidence that your new hashtags are the ones you truly need. 

Instagram wants freshly baked, early morning apple pies, tasty as hell, and still hot from the heat. Likewise, they want your content to be valuable, up-to-date, and trending. They do not want your day-old, stale apple pies – that’s why you need trending hashtags, to keep delivering the best content and make sure your target audience sees it when it’s still hot! 

Naturally, to make your fresh content seen, you must choose the best trending hashtags for your niche in the first place.

My personal research showed me that when you update your hashtags once a month and add some fresh trending ones every time you do so, your posts perform better than posts without trending hashtags (yes, that’s the critical takeaway).

How Many Hashtags Are Too Many on Instagram?

On the ‘Gram there isn’t such a thing as overtagging (overhashtagging to be exact, right). So you can use 30 hashtags every time you post – and there’s no need to worry, that it will be TOO MUCH. No way! Hashtags are yours to use, and the platform allows you to use up to 30 – so why would you give up on this chance? 

The only thing you need to keep in mind is to make sure that your hashtags don’t mislead Instagram users: having random and inaccurate hashtags can increase your bounce rate, and users can report your content as SPAM (and we don’t want that, so good hashtag research is really worth it).

Will Using Hashtags in Instagram Video Posts Increase the Number of Views?

Essentially, hashtags on the ‘Gram are carefully chosen tags and keywords, telling the algorithm and platform users what your content is about. You can assign hashtags to each post as you post them on the platform. Then, as people use hashtags to search out different posts and Reels as well, the Instagram algorithm will scan hashtags to help determine what results to show off!

So, yeah, we need hashtags to categorize and organize content, draw attention to it, promote, and connect with the target audience. Using Instagram hashtags gives your posts a significant boostand organic promotion, right off the bat! That’s truly powerful.

Instead of only showing your posts to your current followers, you’re opening up the floodgates to all the potential followers who are already looking for what you’re sharing. For example, if you use the hashtag #carrotcaketutorial, your post will join the other posts under that same hashtag. The idea is that if someone is looking to learn how to bake a delicious carrot cake with a simple recipe when they search “#carrotcaketutorial”, your post will populate under that hashtag.

Side benefit: if you’re using trending hashtags, your Reels (and regular posts as well) can also be pulled into relevant Discovery pages for millions of users to discover.

How Many Hashtags? 3 Common Questions, Answered 

Still have some lingering burning questions over how many hashtags should you use? Here we go! I’ve gathered answers to common ones on the most optimal number of hashtags, hashtag research, and hashtag collection updates frequency.

To grow faster on Instagram, should I post as often as I could, maybe even twice a day? And should I use 30 hashtags every time I post?

Don’t start hair-pulling. Not yet. Repeat right after me: quality over quantity.

These days, Instagram prioritizes trending, high-quality posts with mega-relevance to the ‘Gram users. That means it’s far better to post 3-4 times a week, more awesome content versus 2 times a day but mediocre posts, just for the sake of posting.

Coming up with new posts ideas isn’t as straightforward as it seems. You have to research best practices for pleasing your target audience and the Instagram algorithm while balancing your own creativity and content strategy in the mix. Create user-friendly posts. Keep on providing value, and you’re already way ahead – you don’t have to post two times a day.

And when it comes to 30 hashtags – if you’re able to find 30 GOOD, RELEVANT ONES – that’s gorgeous. But remember that research is the key. 

How do I use hashtags on Instagram to get more followers?

There are no universal, “one fit all” best hashtags to use on the ‘Gram. Instead, I would focus on choosing hashtags that match the topic of your posts, so your target audience can find you. This way, users that are looking for content around that topic will be able to discover your profile which leads to a more targeted and engaged community. 

I’ve read so many posts and articles about the most right number of hashtags you should use to reach more people, and I was surprised to read on the official Instagram blog that 4-5 hashtags can be enough! Do you think there are cases in which using fewer hashtags can actually help instead?

As I said before – every hashtag gives you a totally new opportunity to reach a different group of people. I believe that what @creators truly meant in their article is that the quantity of hashtags doesn’t matter as much as the relevancy to the content.

Generally, most posts should have 25-30 hashtags, but it’s better to use fewer, than to use 30 random ones!

Be sure to include the hashtags that are the best descriptors to make it easy for your target audience to find your posts and for the Instagram algorithm to understand its contents. Continue to monitor how successful your hashtag sets are performing and adjust them as you learn more about what gives the best results.

And let’s end today’s article with these wise words:

Remember: Growth looks different for everyone. 

So does Instagram hashtag research.

I hope that you got some value from this! Please like or share this Instagram lesson, especially if you know somebody who should read it. I share a lot of this information for free because I rely on word of mouth to reach people!

If you’ve got any questions or doubts, let me know down below. I’m here to help.

PS. Some time ago someone from our community asked me about the Instagram photo editing process, and presets I personally recommend – and SPOILER ALERT – I will spill the tea, and reveal all the parts of the process I use in the upcoming post. For now: I’m testing new Lightroom Instagram presets – have you heard about them? I find them pretty cool – hopefully we will analyze them in our next post!

The post The Optimal Number of Hashtags – How Many Hashtags Should You Use in 2023? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Hey pals! Christmas and New Year’s Eve are coming. Or should we write #newyearseve? 

It’s time to start prepping our Instagram content for this holiday season and all those white days filled with winter wonderland landscapes (if you’re lucky, of course – if not, don’t worry, half of our team probably won’t see snow either). But before we do, and before you start the traditional seasonal hashtags hunt, we have one critical tip. Be careful with #gloves, #ice, and #skateboarding – these hashtags are banned! Using them in one of your posts can result in your account getting the infamous “shadowban” symptoms. So all kidding aside, because we don’t want that, right?! 

Every year around the second half of December, Instagram feeds start filling up with #winterwonderland and #christmasiscoming posts and videos. You’re probably witnessing that right now! Do you want to join with your festive reels and creative winter holidays posts? That’s a perfect idea. Let’s go!

Decide how you want to address this winter season in your Instagram strategy and pick the best festive and winter-related hashtags to boost the reach of your content. Not sure where to start? Good. We mean… We’ve prepared EVERYTHING you should know! Better yet! We have created a free Instagram handbook with a HUGE bundle of festive and Christmas season-related hashtags to help all of you: influencers, creators, business owners, and solopreneurs get the most out of your upcoming posts by using the most effective hashtags there are for this time of the year. Our Instagram hashtags directory features over 400 of the best festive and winter-related Instagram hashtags for you to use for maximum reach and highest exposure.

We’ve done in-depth hashtag research, so you don’t have to! Come and get it (as Selena Gomez sings in one of her old songs *don’t judge us, it’s our guilty pleasure SOMETIMES*)

If you’re an Instagram enthusiast, aspiring influencer, or ambitious business owner looking to up your hashtag game, click here to skip straight to our list of over 400 festive and winter-related hashtags for your posts. Simply download it, keep it on your phone for reference, and paste your desired hashtags whenever you need them!

Curious about what’s included in our festive hashtags handbook? Let’s take a look!

CATEGORIES INCLUDED IN OUR FESTIVE AND WINTER-RELATED HASHTAGS INSTAGRAM HANDBOOK:

• Winter holiday season
• Christmas
• New Years

Safe Christmas season, New Year’s Eve, and winter time-related hashtags – yass, most effective hashtags for #christmasperiod and #newyearseve to grow YOUR Instagram

At the time our wintertime hashtags handbook was created, every hashtag we have included was 101% SAFE. Meaning, none of the hashtags we picked are currently banned on Instagram. And if you’re extra careful, you can always double-check, just to verify if nothing has changed (sometimes banned hashtags change in a blink of an eye) and head over to IQ Hashtags Banned Hashtags checker (that’s always a good idea). 

To wrap-up!

There you have it – the most effective hashtags you can use to amp up your festive and wintertime Instagram posts. Track your stats to make sure you reach the target audience you’re going after, and – that’s for extra points – don’t forget to measure your hashtag performance (you can use IQ Hashtags to do it). Good luck!

[download_after_email id=”1308″]

The post The most effective festive hashtags – our FREE festive hashtags handbook appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

With that being said, let’s go to 7 things you should consider to use to grow your account in 2022 – what’s new and what’s getting more and more hype? Let’s see.

Finding your niche

Instagram is too crowded to simply assume that being a lifestyle, fashion, or photography Instagrammer will be “right niching.” It would help if you narrowed it down – now, in 2021, it’s more important than ever.

We’re almost sure you’re already tired of advice “go find your niche!” because let’s be honest: it isn’t as simple as it may sound.

If you don’t know your niche yet, of course, you shouldn’t let that stop you from posting.

Just test different topics, try out all the ideas that come up to your head – but do it consciously and decide which are the ones you feel the best with, which are the ones that your audience is interested in the most.

An analysis is a key to success (cliché but still 100% true). You’ll learn what feels most natural to you only by observing and experimenting. 

Focus on IG Lives Streaming

In the past, people were a little bit shy and intimidated by the thought of going live. It felt a bit unnatural to sit in front of the camera (built-in phone camera to be specific), but 2020 and the pandemic made people used to on-line activities and showing up on Zoom or Google Meet calls, plus all the things were happening on-line: yoga classes, fitness classes, linguistics classes, cooking classes, EVERYTHING.

Now going live on Instagram feels less awkward, and many times, even the shyest creators decide to try. It’s rewarding!

Now let’s dig a little bit deeper: it’s also a great way to actually engage with the audience. Answer their questions, get to know them better, and make them like us more because of our smile, tone of voice, and gestures.

It’s not only on the rise: it’s here to stay. 

Reels

Researchers assume that this year reels will take center stage on Instagram – this short video form has a vast potential simply because people enjoy consuming it. What is more, Instagram made reels shoppable, which means you can actually buy something that has appeared on somebody’s reel. That is a piece of big news for business owners – reels marketing will be growing fast, that’s more than sure.

Micro-influencers coming to the forefront

Micro-influencers are winning this year. Why? They most often have a much higher engagement rate and closer relation with the audience, and they are perceived to be more genuine. They provide a more niche-specific kind of growth and more deep engagement for brands they collaborate with.

Consistency

Instagram’s market is getting more and more saturated, and with that being said: it’s crucial to remind our followers why they follow us and why they should stay with us. Consistency gives your followers something to look forward to. It’s the easiest way to say, “hey, I am here, don’t forget me!”

Consistency looks different for everyone – but being consistent on Instagram is all about creating a realistic posting schedule. Yep, you have to note down your plan and stick to it. If it’s three times a week? Great. Everyday? Amazing. There is no right, specific option that will work best for everyone: you have to decide for yourself.

As long as you’re committed to your schedule – it’s okay. Plan your posts ahead: there are so many apps that can help you: UNUM, Planoly, Later… Spoiler alert: we’ll discuss which one is the best for who in one of the upcoming posts. 

Instagram SEO

Search engine optimization is finally coming to Instagram. If you have a website, a blog, or a Youtube account, you already know what it is and why it’s so important (and why it will make our Instagram life a little bit easier). Because of that change, we have to take our captions SERIOUSLY. They matter not only because they have to be engaging and user (follower) friendly: now our captions also should include keywords. Keywords that people interested in our niche are looking for – it will make our posts easier to be found! Great news: it’s going to be increasing our organic reach!

Branded AR Filters

Influencers and brands create their own augmented reality filters all the time – even though people love raw, natural, authentic content, at the same time, we adore those funny filters and creative animations. 

2022 will surprise us many times – but hopefully, most positively and creatively. What trends are your favorites? What do you expect more of, what should we research: we love to hear from you!

We write to inspire you to analyze your content – eat up all the information, use it and make us proud with your creative results!

The post Top Instagram trends for your social media strategy in 2023 appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

We know, we know – it may sound like a massive clickbait, but believe us, that wasn’t on purpose! Lately, we’ve been talking with you a lot – and those conversations turned out to be the best inspiration for our next Instagram lessons. Creators’ and brand owners’ lives are the best inspiration because there are problems to solve, and we’re challenge-addicted people (espresso-powered, yup).

The problem we’re going to discuss today sounds severe, and indeed it is: why can’t you just slap a few hashtags (compiled from your friend’s profile and the profile of someone from a totally different niche) to your content as a random afterthought? Do you really need to research new hashtags, compile the most strategic ones, and then test them?

The first answer will be a bit mysterious, but at the same time, it can hit hard: if you’re not noticing a whole lotta difference in your posts with 30 hashtags and your posts without any hashtag at all, then something is off, and your hashtag strategy is flawed. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today: 

Hashtag strategy is essential. Period. There’s definitely no argument there! But what else do you need to know about it to make your profile grow? What may you not be aware of? What myths are stopping your stellar growth?

Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags… Why do marketing gurus go nuts for them? 

As you probably already know, hashtags are meant to attract an audience who’s looking for content specific to what you’re posting. But let’s play truth or dare for a sec. Or maybe it’s going to be more like “truth or absolute truth,” to be honest. 

Are you spending too much time on Instagram, and you’re not seeing any return of energy and time investment, you aren’t growing, and you feel like constantly beating the mean algorithm? Let’s be honest—there are certain struggles that come with becoming a content creator (even if you’re doing it for your business!), especially Instagram content creator, that we wish all of you could officially avoid. Creating purposeful content, creative concept brainstorms, and of course, posting what you’ve prepared can be one of the giant steps you take on your journey of online growth. But it’s not the only step. You REALLY need hashtags to get discovered and attract the right people.

Without a community, any Instagram profile, even the most polished one, looks like a ghost-town: it can be visually pleasing, but there’s no sign of a joyful life there.

That’s right, you may think, but the main trouble is, there are SO many tips & tricks and different approaches out there, and it can be overwhelming sometimes to figure out which ones you REALLY need and which ones are especially effective, right? Which ones are up-to-date, and you can trust them?

No stress, and no worries.

Only black coffee, and this article, for now.

Today we’re breaking down all the things you should know, listing out all the insights you might not be aware of, and which ones we think are best for different stages of your profile’s growth! Take the crucial step toward a more effective, efficient, and finally – profitable! – profile by focusing on one element of Instagram strategy. HASHTAGS.

Let’s take a look…In today’s article, we’ll discuss in detail:

• Do hashtags still work the way they used to?
• Are they necessary?
• What is the primary purpose of hashtag strategy, and do you really need one?
• What hashtag myths are hindering your growth?
• What hashtag rumors are actually true?

Today, we’re getting hyper tactical. Read on and find out – let’s go! Our point is, if you’re an Instagram creator out there trying to make your content seen, understanding hashtags may just be the ticket to make it big. How big, we can’t prefigure now because it depends on a bunch of practical factors. And today, we’ll talk about some of those factors! Critical ones. 

1. Hashtags are still working. Period. 

There are SO MANY conflicting insights out there.

So let’s make it clear! We’ve been working in this marketing field for ages, so we’re keeping up with all the trends, information, and disinformation: hashtags are not dead. If you feel like they aren’t working in your favor, there’s a risk you simply aren’t using them correctly.

They’re still a BIG DEAL. You just need to make sure that you’re using them consciously and strategically. Why? People might be looking for you for content like yours, but you won’t be discovered unless you show up to the hashtag party!

They really should carry a significant weight of your Instagram strategy! Especially when it comes to making sure people from your target audience can easily discover all the posts you work so hard to prepare.

We don’t know about you, but we’re genuinely passionate about the content we share, and we have people in mind as we’re preparing it! Just kidding – we know for 101% it’s the same story with you. This means our mission is to make sure those people, those people who need our content, who need those insights have a REAL chance to see it! That’s why we know it, for sure, hashtags should be a part of everyone’s strategy if they’re preparing valuable content that needs to be seen.

Numbers speak for themselves as well:

(yes, results like this are still possible, so there’s a huge motivation!)

2. A strategy is a must – more than ever

Yes, double yes, this is closely related to what we’ve discussed in the previous section.

When you think of hashtags, you think of keywords that are making your content discoverable. And the first thing we want to say right to ya is this: hashtag strategy doesn’t have to suck and take you LONG HOURS. It doesn’t, it really doesn’t, 

And establishing and implementing it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun choosing new sets of hashtags, or you can’t use your competitors’ ones to test them out. Testing is essential, by the way.

You need a hashtag strategy to understand what you’re trying to achieve. To use hashtags more consciously and plan what exactly you’re trying to do. Who’s your target audience?

What’s your niche?

Those questions are the key – using a lot of generic, extremely random hashtags won’t be of any help to your profile. That’s why you absolutely need… 

3. Hashtag research. It can be your secret weapon.

Pro tip #1: Research hashtags that are specific to your niche. 

Pro tip #2: Look at what hashtags successful creators in your niche are choosing, and then – smart idea alert – compile a list of hashtags that you can use as well.

But hey, don’t copy exactly the same hashtags for every single publication: rotate them, and mix them with hashtags from your organic research. 

We know you don’t want to spend 45 minutes on hashtag research every time you want to post something. You want to be ready for that post that lies ahead without thinking about the ‘I need to analyze hashtags for half a day’ part too much. So hashtag research tools are basically a godsend. You can save up to a few hours every time you use them (does IQ Hashtags Tool ring a bell? that’s our fav one so far).

Takeaway: Use hashtag research tool, and observe, observe, observe what others are doing. Life will get easier. 

4 . You need to make sure your content is engaging. Stop sleeping on your graphic design skills. And the storytelling is crucial too! 

We’re not going to start with recommending using Canva. BUT actually, maybe we are. 

That’s the most intuitive tool out there, and easy peasy, you’ll find out that you can do more than you think. Set yourself an evening aside and create some awesome posts. Your audience will appreciate it!

Takeaway: Work smarter, not harder, and focus on preparing aesthetically pleasing, engaging posts – many times, it’s better to prepare 3 good ones, than 20 completely boring ones, just for the sake of saying, “I’ve prepared 20 posts”!

5. 30 is still your luckiest of numbers 

When we talk about hashtags, what we’re really talking about is getting discovered by people who’re searching for content similar to what you’re creating. Hashtags are your best chance of getting found!

Anyway, there’s a lot of discourse going on now about whether it’s worth using 30 hashtags anymore. Maybe it’s better to choose only 5? Or 3? It’s actually a topic that comes up so often, that’s the most cyclical Instagram discussion out there. 

You need to remember one thing: each hashtag gives you a new opportunity to reach a totally different group of people. Why would you give up on it?! Maximize your potential reach.

Let this be your sign. We use 30 hashtags every time we post.

Now, it’s your turn!

6. Where you put your hashtags MATTERS

“It doesn’t really matter if you’re posting your hashtags in the caption or in the comments section – as long as you’re using targeted ones, you’re good”.

That’s what you could hear some time ago, but the wind of changes came here. Adam Mosseri has officially claimed that we should avoid putting hashtags in the first comment, as when they’re placed in the caption, they’re doing much better. It’s a matter of algorithm optimization – so let’s remember about that from now on!

That’s all for today! We truly hope this is a time-saver for you. Or maybe you’ve got to know something you didn’t think you were looking for?! 

PS: Isn’t everything better with friends? Forward this article to your Instagram bestie that could also benefit from our insights!

The post The #1 element you need to win on Instagram – 6 facts about hashtags you may not be aware of yet appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Move over Ethereum, engaging content is the new currency. All day we’re consuming new posts and reels like hectolitres of coffee on your best friend’s birthday morning (or the morning after). People are literally glued to their screens all day long.

So, it should be easy to catch their attention, right? Nothing more deceptive – it’s harder than ever because they’re getting more and more selective. Did you notice your latest content gets a much lower reach than it used to? You blame hashtags. We know it. They don’t work as they used to. Instagram needs to fix the algorithm; hashtags need fixing as well. Sounds a bit like your thoughts?  One of the things I’ve wanted to do in 2021 for my Instagram profile is to grow my follower base and attract my target audience, but hashtags aren’t by my side, so there’s no practical way to do that. Familiar as well? 

We’re discussing with many creators every week, EVERY DAY, and believe us: these words are surprisingly common. Been hearing this a lot lately! So, the first question that pops up in our head sounds: can it be true? Should we blame hashtags, or are they innocent, and something else is off? Is there anything wrong with the way hashtags are working atm?

People around us get SO CONFUSED with Instagram and hashtags. And we guess it’s also because there are so many conflicting insights out there. So we need to stop it. We need to make it much more straightforward. 

We’ve done our due research and have come up with some pretty fantastic facts and debunked myths. Today’s blog post is all about our insights, followed up with ways to implement the tips we’ve prepared for you. What’s more, most of what we’re about to show you, you can accomplish with just one tool — IQ Hashtags (if we had a dollar for every time we mention this tool here, we’d be richer than Kardashians. But we’ve noticed that IQ Hashtags created an affiliate program, so maybe it’s a bright idea to join). 

So, without unnecessary ado, allow us to share with you everything you’ll need to know about Instagram hashtags and the way they work in 2022. In today’s Instagram lesson, we’ll be covering the following topics:

• Are hashtags still working on Instagram the way they used to?
• Why don’t you see any results from your hashtag strategy?
• Is hashtag strategy overrated, and do you really need it?
• Should you use 30 hashtags every time you post?
• How to use the power of hashtags for stellar growth?
• Should you listen to those skeptical YouTubers who claim that hashtags are already passee?
• What should you do when you can’t figure out why your hashtags aren’t working anymore?
• Are hashtags a good way to get trending on the Instagram explore page?
• What should you do when hashtags are acting weird for you?
• Is it true that you don’t need hashtags, you only need to pump out valuable posts?

First things first. Let’s answer the most burning question, and let us tell you… 

Hashtags are alive. They’re definitely not dead!

Hey, we don’t have anything better to categorize our content, and we won’t anytime soon!

Hashtags are also the most basic way to connect with new potential followers. You know – Instagram is ever-evolving, the algorithm changes, Adam Mosseri’s statement may surprise you at times, but the basics of the platform definitely won’t change, and the basics of content-discovery and content-categorizing are still the same: hashtags.

If they’re alive, why don’t they guarantee high reach every time you post something new?

Well, sometimes hashtags perform really well, your post reach + engagement skyrocket, and you can’t be happier, and sometimes you can’t get sadder because all you get after you post is radio silence. Actually, there are many factors which determine that – not only hashtags (and we’re discussing them in many of our Instagram lessons, for example here: Why aren’t you getting likes and views through hashtags on Instagram anymore? 5 mistakes you may be guilty of making without even knowing ) 

Why do so many creators claim that hashtags aren’t working anymore? Well, sometimes hashtags don’t work because other people are simply not interested in what they’re posting – and hashtags shouldn’t be blamed for it. That’s the harsh truth nobody really likes, but there’s already too much average content out there – take your time and create valuable, authentic posts. Generic content isn’t enough anymore. No matter how great of a hashtag you find, you won’t get many views and high engagement if you don’t have appealing content. Period. So prepare the best content that you can create. 

Hashtags are still your most effective way to get discovered.

Are you a celebrity?

A Hollywood actress?

Ryan Gosling’s wife?

If none of the above, you certainly need hashtags

Why? You can create the most creative or entertaining to tears content, but how can your people find it if you don’t add hashtags? Even good luck needs some help! No matter what pessimistic marketing gurus are telling you, people use hashtags to hunt for new content and new accounts to follow. Do you want them to find you? 

If you’re sick of hearing “hashtag strategy, you need a good hashtag strategy” all the time, listen – it isn’t as problematic as some Instagram gurus make out

Instagram hashtags are an incredible way to reach new audiences. You already know that. They can lead relevant people right to your fantastic content. Win-win. 

But, how do you choose those right Instagram hashtags? That may sound like a challenge, right? But to be totally honest, it doesn’t have to be complicated. AT ALL. 

Focus on your ideal follower intent. In everything we create and post on Instagram, we should always be focused on fulfilling the potential follower’s wants, needs, and desires. Someone from your target audience. 

Just focus on choosing hashtags that match your target audience.

Pro-tip #2: Look at each hashtag’s search volume. Search volume gives you a clear idea about how many users are searching for that given hashtag! Sure, it should be beneficial to choose hashtags that many people are looking for, but – cliche quote alert! – remember that quantity doesn’t always equal quality. Many, many times, it’s much better to opt for medium and lower-volume hashtags because chances are, they will be much more relevant to your target audience, so your content gets easier to be found. 

Where can you find the best ones for your niche?

We know what you’d like to say! Hashtag research takes up way too much time. Finding the targeted hashtags with the right volume in your niche can be stressful. Want an easier way to find great hashtags that real people from your target audience are looking for? Let the hashtag research tool do this work for you. It’s your turn to be a bit lazy. Pardon our French – SMART, NOT LAZY!

A hashtag research tool like IQ Hashtags (that’s the one we’re using as well) will do the trick! This magical tool allows you to find new hashtag ideas in two main ways. Our fav is typing in a hashtag and getting back related ones.

Alright, that’s all for now! Targeted hashtags can open doors for opportunities that you can’t even imagine yet. When we started, we thought we’d only attract people from a small part of the world. Instead, we ended up writing and creating content for Instagram users from literally all around the globe! We can’t possibly predict what good hashtags could do for you, but we’re excited to find out! Let us know in the comments, and, if you need some extra help (regarding your profile, attracting your target audience, or some other Instagram-related advice) – we love reading your questions, and then we answer them in our Instagram lessons, so don’t you ever hesitate to ask

The post Do Hashtags Still Work on Instagram in 2023? Are They Really Dead? Do They Still Matter? appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

You see the danger with sudden reach drops is, you don’t always see it coming. It can creep up on you like an unexpected zombie in one of those haunted house experiences, and before you know it, you’re terrified of checking your stats, analyzing all the last month’s insights, or even creating new content. To be honest, we don’t think enough people talk about this, and fair enough, no one wants to admit they’re having a hard time with Instagram, and they’re truly worried about the numbers behind their profile. The reality is that it happens to the best creators as well – sometimes your hashtag strategy fails or simply needs some updates, and well-thought improvements. 

In many of our sincere conversations with you, we hear that you often get a creative Instagram rut, and you have no clue how to get out of it because you keep on trying, you spend long hours polishing your content, and no matter what, your reach remains low – absolutely no matter how inspirational and educational your posts are. 

We know it: it’s a wild journey of self-doubting, constant fear of not being good or inspiring enough for a content creator. That’s where the imposter syndrome craps in. 

The good news is that most probably, it’s not you!

It’s your hashtag strategy that needs some extra work, and you need to stop it from standing in your way. What you focus on indeed expands – so we need to focus on making sure that your hashtag strategy is working FOR YOU, not against you, okay?

But how? Because when you’re there, and your reach is constantly dropping down, it feels impossible, right? Yup, we know those feelings, and you’re not alone. But what’s cliche, but accurate as well: nothing changes if nothing changes.

Some hashtag strategy changes may be highly needed. Let’s check it! 

Today we’ll discuss in detail:

• Why your hashtag strategy doesn’t work, and how to fix it?
• Why do you feel like the hashtags you’re using are dead?
• Why don’t your hashtags bring any new engagement?
• Are you following the most crucial hashtags do’s and don’ts?
• How to effectively attract new followers?
• Is it still possible to grow a big tribe with relevant hashtags?
• Are relevant hashtags as important as social media gurus are telling you?
• What hashtag strategy mistakes may be ruining your growth?
• How to avoid reach drops?
• What are the critical hashtag strategy rules you should never forget about?
• Where should you place your hashtags? In the caption or in the comments area?
• Can you repeat the same set of hashtags and still see good results?

Are you ready to dive in deeper? Let’s go! If you’d like to tap into the consciously developed hashtag strategy’s potential to reach a bigger audience, you’re on the right track. Upping your hashtag game is the ultimate way to go. It’s essential to be more strategic, creative, and intentional about your hashtag research and strategy implementation.

How? Let’s begin with discussing the most common hashtag strategy that may seriously damage your efforts and hinder your growth. Learning from the mistakes of other content creators is a path with so many advantages. So, what are the most frequently repeated mistakes that you need to avoid?

1. You don’t care about hashtags relevancy

That’s actually a really common mistake!

Your hashtags should primarily be the phrases that describe the content you post or the audiences you want to reach. A relevant hashtag is closely tied to your niche! It can’t be too generic, like #pretty, #today – these hashtags won’t attract the people you care about, the ones with high potential to become engaged members of your community.

Relevant hashtags are so beneficial because they make your posts discoverable – and people can easily find content related to a particular topic they’re interested in, and you can quickly gain new followers from your target audience. It’s like a win-win: they find what they’re looking for, and you’re attracting potential high-quality followers.

How to identify the most relevant hashtags? You can do it manually by researching your competitors’ picks and observing tendencies, or you can use both free and paid tools to find relevant hashtags and explore the best fits. The latter is a huge timesaver and can save you from many troubles as well – so we wouldn’t hesitate and trust one of the most extended hashtag research tools. Can we recommend anything trustworthy? We use IQ Hashtags – in our opinion, it’s the most intuitive and comprehensive one out there. Its Hashtag Search feature gives you the best options, driving actual results, as it provides an extensive list of hashtags that relate to a primary keyword (it can be your niche or one of the key areas of your profile). 

2. You overuse popular or… too specific hashtags

Hashtags with low search volume are often too specific and won’t bring you any satisfying results, as almost no one is looking for these hashtags. The ugly truth: content associated with these types of hashtags are unlikely to be seen simply because there are too few people interested in it!

At the other end of the spectrum, we have many overly popular hashtags. Will they become a better choice? Not at all! They have nothing to do with boosting your reach and attracting new followers from your target audience as well.

Another word of caution: high competition hashtags mean there are too many other content creators competing for ranking high for those hashtags. They’re just too competitive, and your posts will disappear in a blink of an eye at the speed of light, as plenty of new posts described with those hashtags are being uploaded every second of the day.

There’s also a high risk that they won’t attract anyone from your target audience, as they’re just too generic and overloaded with spammy content.

Stick to medium-size, niched, and targeted hashtags – they’re the most strategic choices!

3. You don’t have time for in-depth research

We’ve already talked about hashtags relevancy and how to find the best fits, but hashtag research is so crucial, it deserves another point! Far too many content creators shoot themselves in the foot by neglecting to choose and use hashtags strategically.

Hashtag research is worth EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Don’t be in such a hurry, you don’t have time for researching the most beneficial choices and analyzing the performance of your current hashtags.

Analyze, analyze, analyze and draw conclusions—test different hashtag sets. Save many collections of the most relevant hashtags. Observe your competitors. Good research can tell you vital information. Actually, research should be one of the very first steps in the hashtag strategy developing process, so getting it wrong or neglecting it and not doing it at all sets you up for a massive disappointment, and we don’t want it, right?

4. You repeat the same set of hashtags all over again

While you may think repeating the same hashtags all over again will drive more targeted followers to your profile, it could actually do the opposite.

Why? You’re reaching the same group of people, over and over again! Every new hashtag gives you a unique chance to attract a totally new audience – so don’t you waste it! While it might be tempting to repeat this one golden set, avoid using it too often. Instead, mix old hashtags with some new ones, research trending ones, and save at least 4-10 different sets of hashtags for different types of posts.

5. You put your hashtags in the comments

In the past months, Instagram has become much better at letting people in on how the algorithms and Instagram search engine work, and Adam Mosseri promises he won’t slow down. Most recently, he has ended the as old as the hills debate about “where should the hashtags go?” – announcing that putting hashtags in the caption gives you extra opportunities for ranking in Instagram search engine results and is much better for the platform’s content optimization.

“For a post to be found in Search, your keywords and hashtags should be in the caption, NOT the comments” – that’s what he said.

We know what you may want to say: ugh, Instagram and this whole hashtag strategy thing is giving me a headache! We know, we know, analyzing your hashtag strategy and sticking to the updates rules can be overwhelming at first. But if you’ve identified your main mistakes, have a polished strategy in place, and take courageous action, you’ll be rewarded with an engagement boost and new targeted followers!

Nothing magical comes easy. It’s hard work polishing your Instagram strategy and keeping up with the news – but you’re capable of staying on track regardless! 

The post Why aren’t you getting likes and views through hashtags on Instagram anymore? 5 mistakes you may be guilty of making without even knowing appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Raise your hand if you have a love-hate relationship with Instagram updates!

Juggling content creation, keeping up with the news, reading @creators’ and Adam Mosseri’s insights, engaging with your audience, and polishing your hashtag strategy is a lot to handle all at once and can take a massive toll on your general motivation. And your motivation, along with the feeling of being on the right track are essential during these stressful social media times! Instagram news can create a roller coaster of emotions – from watching funny reels, and deciding you’re gonna make them a part of your strategy to getting overwhelmed with unrealistic productivity, and constant content creation expectations. 

Life happens – we’ve checked ourselves, and we know it from regular talks with you as well. Sometimes reading about updates, and official insights can feel REALLY overwhelming when you don’t have anyone to help you interpret the news you have to face. Let’s be entirely honest: the real Instagram problem, for many years now, is organic growth for the average creator. If you post and you don’t get exposure, you’re feeling down, and you start questioning everything. It gets even worse when the official source of Instagram insights keeps messing with your head and delivers conflicting opinions on what you should do to succeed on the platform and notice quicker growth. 

You probably know what we’re trying to say… Did you catch the recent @creators announcement? IS IT STRESSING YOU OUT? 

Yup. @creators have shared some SURPRISING news about how hashtags should be used from now on. It has made so many of us confused! A few months ago they told us to use 30, then 15… And now 3-5?! We’ve heard many creators complain that nothing makes sense anymore.

That’s why today we’re breaking down their pieces of advice, and what these insights mean for you and your hashtag strategy. 

Let’s go! Today we’ll discuss in detail:

• Has Instagram REALLY REVEALED how to use hashtags for growth?
• Should you apply the new hashtag rules?
• Is it true that you shouldn’t use more than 5 hashtags?!
• How to interpret @creators’ words in practice?
• Should you modify your hashtag strategy, or maybe it’s still completely fine?
• How to find the most relevant hashtags to see REAL results?
• Is using 3-5 hashtags any better than using 30 relevant ones?
• What’s the most optimal number of hashtags? 

Let’s have the BIG hashtag announcement explained! Ready to dive deeper into what Creators’ words mean in practice? Let’s do it! 

Do hashtags still work in 2021?

First of all: let’s answer the question that’s on everyone’s lips – do hashtags still help you gain better visibility in 2021? Are they still the main factor of the successful Instagram strategy?

They SURELY are. 

It’s an extremely helpful classification system – that’s why hashtags are crucial, and we’re 101% sure they are here to stay. At least for the foreseeable future. Polished, interesting posts without hashtags are like a Tesla that doesn’t leave the garage. Stats don’t lie – use relevant hashtags that are already gaining traffic and use them to your advantage. 

What did Instagram mean by saying you should use 3-5 hashtags? How to interpret these words? Is using 30 hashtags every time you post still making sense?

We realize that the Creator’s post left so many of you EXTREMELY confused, so we need to give you clear insights!

We believe that we shouldn’t interpret their words too literally, and what they’re trying to say is that we all should focus on the specificity and relevancy of the hashtags we choose to post and avoid random hashtags.

We mean: taking the insights from creators’ posts too literally wouldn’t make sense! 

It would be such a waste of hashtags’ potential to use only 3-5 ones every time you post because there are so many great, niched hashtags that users are actually browsing or following. And what’s more, there’s no logic in saying that 3-5 hashtags can be more effective than 25-30. The more hashtags we use, the more people we reach = more chances that new users from our target audience find our content. 

We would need to ask Instagram: why allow so many hashtags if you don’t want us to use that many? Why even have a 30 hashtags limit if 3-5 is the optimal number, and that’s enough? Your 29th hashtag might be the golden one: we shouldn’t give it up! 

That’s why we’re absolutely sure that what they truly meant is that we should all focus on SUPER RELEVANT hashtags and avoid random ones, picked just for the sake of posting 30 ones.

Rule number one: It’s not about the numbers. It’s all about relevancy.

So let’s clarify: using 30 relevant hashtags is still the best way to increase your reach and attract new followers from your target audience. Why? Each hashtag is an opportunity to reach a wholly different group of users. 

If all your 30 hashtags are relevant, using so many ones is still a way to go!

We’ve worked with thousands of clients, analyzed their Instagram strategies, and tested various solutions, and we have to say: 30 relevant hashtags give the highest reach. All our clients are using up to 30 well-tailored, targeted hashtags on EACH post, and their engagement is increasing + it’s maximizing their organic reach. 

Instagram is trying to encourage us to be MORE SPECIFIC in categorizing our posts, and decrease hashtag spamming, but it doesn’t mean we should give up on taking our chances to reach more users from our TA (target audience). It just means we should pay more attention to choosing BETTER, more targeted ones.

Relevant hashtags – what are they, how to recognize, and find the best fits?

Relevant hashtags are those that accurately describe your post, your niche, and your target audience’s needs. As long as you choose the hashtags that are a conscious pick and have something to do with your content: don’t hesitate to use them!

If you’re struggling to find good ones (because yup, we hear creators complain that they don’t know which hashtags to pick, or they are not really sure if the ones they’re considering are relevant enough, all the time): make your Instagram life easier and trust one of the comprehensive tools for hashtag research. They will give you the clear answers and find effective hashtag sets just for your profile and its niche. Can we recommend a good one? We find IQ Hashtags with its Hashtag Search feature unquestionably game-changing, so try it for yourself. Spoiler: you won’t go back to manual research after trying it, we swear. 

A key point here is that too many people are just lazy. Instead of researching targeted hashtags, they post the random ones like #love #like4like, #postfortoday and expect higher reach. Don’t make the same mistake – good research ALWAYS pays off (double yes, that’s our forever mantra).

There’s a hashtag for everything. Yet, not every hashtag attracts your ideal followers – and we should focus on the ones that do! That’s the best key takeaway from today’s article, we guess. Please keep it in mind!

Have questions about polishing your hashtag strategy? Leave a comment below, and we will make sure to address it in one of our upcoming blog posts! To all of you trying to grow your Instagram: it’s worth it, and it’s possible. Don’t get discouraged! 

The post Should you really use only 3-5 hashtags? The ultimate analysis *in-depth research* and the TRUTH about the update appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

How long does it take…?

“How long does it take to reach 10K (or any multiple of 10K) followers” – is a pretty common question. “Pretty common” = we hear it over twenty times a week, to be honest. Many creators (and business owners as well!) fear that they’ll have to struggle with profile growth for the rest of their lives, and others expect 2-3 months of intense effort put in the content creation and following growth strategy to be enough. So what’s the truth?

Just like with most things in life… There is no one absolute universal truth. Each profile has its own growth pace – it all depends on over twenty different factors (we know you want to ask – yup, we’ll discuss them all in an upcoming post). We also need to remember that different things work for different people. That’s why there’s no one all-purpose blueprint. It may sound a little bit bothersome, but literally, it’s good news: there are plenty of them. We need to personalize them and analyze the details to comprehend the entire situation entirely – so we won’t lie like many marketing gurus do: there is more than one effective strategy.

But back to the core: today’s article actually won’t be about that! There is one tool that is beneficial for every niche, every business type. You’re right: HASHTAGS!

Hashtags may look like one more tool in our “Instagram growth toolbox,” – but they’re totally irreplaceable if you take your profile’s growth seriously.

Hashtags are here to guide you.

Okay, we know, it sounds a bit mysterious and cliche at the same time, but actually, that’s not a catchy slogan, but the genuine truth. Let us explain. The primary role of hashtags is to make your content discoverable – meaning, people who are looking for inspiration or insights from your niche, can find you and come across your profile without HUGE effort.

Hashtags organize the content you post into a pool of other posts: photos, graphics, carousels, and videos described with the same keyword. For example, #instagramtipsandtricks categorizes your content and allows content marketing lovers searching that hashtag to see what you’re posting, even if they’re not your followers. That’s why hashtags are so powerful: they boost your reach, improve your engagement, and help you increase your follower base. Sounds beneficial, huh?

So how to use these pound signs to make the most of them? We promise that if you apply our techniques, you’ll be able to create a profile that stands out, grow organically, and gather an engaged audience – are you ready to dive deeper? Everyone is dying to know: how does the effective hashtag strategy actually work? Here’s everything we know (and a few theories as well!):

How to find winning hashtags that are going to turn your hobby into a thriving business?

We are all on a bit of a different path; we all have a different mission and goals, we all have a different target market. With these things in mind, we have to say: everyone needs to develop their own strategy. But what we can do is teach you how to do it + how to use our proven to work and most effective methods to find the hashtags that are going to boost engagement, specifically for you.

First things first: what are you creating?

Who is your target audience?

To make the first shift: from a hobby to business-oriented online activities, you need to analyze:

• WHOM your business will serve and what you’re offering them?
• Who will mostly benefit from the content you post?
• Who are you thinking about when you’re preparing new content?

When you have clear answers, we need to find out how to reach THESE PEOPLE. They’re your number one – you need to attract them, you need them to come across your profile, so you can serve them (and they can become your loyal followers, win-win).

How to do it? You’ll never have to waste time scratching your head saying, “how the hell can I do it”, because we’re here. We want to take you by the hand and walk you through our proven list “HASHTAG STRATEGY building” step-by-step!

When you use our methods and avoid the mistakes we’re writing about, you’ll quickly find out that this whole ‘grow your Instagram’ thing is FAR simpler than you’ve been making it out to be. Keep our word, and let’s begin.

Rule number one: don’t use random hashtags!!! (honestly, we’re fighting the urge to add even more exclamation marks)

Whenever you fight the urge to add #love, #happy, #smile hashtags, ask yourself two questions:

• Are the people from your target audience, the most valuable followers you’re looking for, browsing these hashtags’ explore pages?
• don’t you mind looking a bit spammy? These hashtags are actually overly popular, and your post is going to be buried with THOUSAND of posts published at precisely the same time. So let us be brutally honest: they won’t work, and they’re most probably the waste of space in your caption.

Why is it so important? Potential followers from your target audience are the people you think would be interested in what you have to say/show. To build an engaged tribe on Instagram, you need to always keep those people in mind and to be preparing new content specifically for them. Yup. Everything you do – you should do mostly for them. 

These targeted users are the ones who are most likely to TRULY enjoy your post (not just one single post, but many of them!), and the chances of them following your profile are very high then. This strategy is over 1000 times more beneficial than attracting random people because people from your target audience will stay with you, because you’re creating what they NEED.

Don’t skip the hashtag research – in-depth research is your good friend. It can be your BEST friend if you want.

You already know it: you need engaged followers from your target audience.

What do you need as well?

Quality hashtags that precisely align with this target audience.

We love sharing tips and tricks that help you save your precious time, so we have to say: hashtag research can be time-consuming, won’t ever deny it. That’s why it’s totally okay to outsource it, and help yourself by using tools that are designed to make this process much easier and quicker. There are many ones out there – but the one we always recommend is IQ Hashtags, because it has much wider functionality than any other. It’s one web app, with so many different features: actually all you need to develop a working hashtag strategy. We love the fact that it lets you look for hashtags relevant to the size and theme of your account + you can also overview which hashtags are currently trending on the Gram.

Let us know if you’d like us to prepare the extended tool guide – with some life hacks to make the most of this tool!

Don’t fall into the trap of overusing the overly popular hashtags

The volume or popularity of the hashtags you choose is what’s really crucial.

You may already know it from our previous articles (because we always emphasize the importance of it!) – when you use a hiper-popular hashtag, your freshly published content gets lost in the sea of competition within SECONDS, at the speed of light.

#Instagramers has 90.6m posts attached to it. It means that while SO MANY people choose and look for that hashtag, your post will be added to a HUGE collection of content, full of spammy competition. Let’s pick another hashtag, more niched down. #Instagramforbusiness has 175k posts. Considerably better! This hashtag gives you much higher chances of standing out. The aim is to reach specialized, engaged people, not the random ones, remember?

Keep up with new trends

This is an excellent way to gain engaged followers, too.

What does it mean for an Instagram hashtag to become “trending”?

Trending hashtag is the one that isn’t already overly popular (it would be a red flag!), but it’s gaining popularity and more and more people are starting to use it.

But how to find out which ones are trending and which aren’t?

You can check which hashtags are trending in your niche right now with the analytics & monitoring tool – for example with our fav IQ Hashtags tool. It’s one of the REALLY reliable sources, as they use AI to keep up with all the trends.

Additional benefits? Using trending hashtags can get your message across to a much wider audience (highly relevant audience, that is interested in what you have to say!)

Give it a shot and see how it goes! With a bit of practice, hashtags can help you expand your reach, boost all your stats, and gain much more traction. We hope our insights help you with your hashtag strategy moving forward!

Are you happy with your current stats? What are you struggling with the most? We’re always here to listen: let’s chat in the comments!

The post QUICK and EFFECTIVE: your best hashtag strategy in 2023 appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.

Maybe you want to develop a better hashtag strategy, but you keep putting it off. Perhaps you’re wondering if hashtags are still working in 2021, if they can make an actual difference, and if you’re able to find the well-tailored ones which are the right choices to quicken your profile’s growth? Maybe you’ve seen hashtags’ power and possibilities before and feel like you want to boost your posts’ visibility that way again?

IS THIS YOU?

Listen: this is the sign you’ve been waiting for, and we’re here to discuss it! Let’s dive deeper into the hashtags’ magic: the way they’re still game-changing in 2021, how to make them work in your favor, and the entire hashtags’ “savoir vivre” you need to know to avoid Instagram faux-pas and activities that are simply wasting your time.

We’re big advocates for hashtags (no surprise there!) – but we won’t deny: it’s also important to acknowledge that choosing the most tailored ones is not black and white. They’re an INCREDIBLY helpful, indispensable tool to make your content searchable and discoverable, but only when you know how to use them right. Good news: it’s never too late, or too early to learn that, so the best idea is to do it… Today, right? Yup. Even if your second name is procrastination (no offense, of course – it’s human nature, we all know that)!

“I USE HASHTAGS, BUT I GOT DISCOURAGED BECAUSE THEY DON’T WORK”

How many times have we heard similar confessions and complaints? Can’t count them all, but we’re absolutely sure that if we had a dollar for every single one of them, we’d be richer than Kim Kardashian (or maybe Khloé? We’re not quite sure which one makes the better comparison).

But let us tell you: if they don’t work, something is off. 

Luckily, we’ll arm you with clear hints about what it can be so that you can fix it immediately. Let’s begin, shall we?!

DO’s and DON’Ts – what is boosting and what is hindering your profile’s growth?

Here we go. Let’s analyze what can be stunting your efforts. We also need to bust some hashtags myths – there are more than 200 million business accounts on Instagram, so you need to learn how to stand out and become more discoverable and not to fall into some popular Instagram traps. Following our dos and don’ts will help you improve your stats quicker than you can imagine – and, what is even more crucial: attract your target audience followers. That’s what it is all about.

1 // Are the hashtags you choose matching your content? 

Don’t you get a bit frustrated when you’re looking for foodie inspiration, let’s say you’re going to spend your summer holidays in Santorini, you type in the hashtag #santorinifood to do research, and then, out of nowhere, you see plenty of photos which have been taken in… Mexico? Don’t you have these “hey, that’s not my dream greek food!” thoughts running through your head? Aren’t you a bit mad that you’re finding things you don’t want to see under the #santorinifood hashtag?

That’s it. What goes around comes around, so don’t make the same mistake when you’re posting your photos!

DON’T: don’t use random hashtags, hoping they will bring you higher reach. Only those matching your content will do that – you don’t want to make anyone mad or frustrated, right? What’s even worse, people can see your behavior as spammy and notify Instagram that they don’t want to see your posts under given hashtags. 

DO: choose hashtags that really accurately describe what you’re posting. We absolutely recommend picking the ones that describe your niche, your caption, your photo, your graphics, your business, and your target market.

If you have no idea how to find 30 good ones, we know an extremely helpful tool that can find plenty of right hashtags that are a good fit for your profile. Chances are you’ve already heard about it: IQ Hashtags rings a bell, huh?

It’s a web app with everything you need to find thousands of highly-targeted hashtags that will bring in new target audience followers, boost your engagement, and ultimately lead to satisfying stats. Take it as a pro tip from us because it literally saves SO MUCH time.

2 //Hashtags’ search volume – should you really go for the most popular hashtags?

Some creators still believe that using the most popular hashtags will make their posts go viral. That’s not how it works. Using ultra-popular hashtags isn’t a beneficial strategy for getting more views and higher engagement: simply because people are posting new content with these hashtags all day long, all around the world, so their search volume is growing at a speed of light! Your post is going to disappear there quicker than you can even imagine.

Don’t: don’t use any hashtag with over 1 million posts associated with it. When you add a hashtag like this to your post, your content may appear on the Hashtag Page for a split second but is almost instantly buried by plenty of accidental posts published in the exact second.

Do: pick niche, medium-sized hashtags, try them out, experiment, and observe the results!

3 // Are banned hashtags real? Should you care about them?

Double yes.

Using banned hashtags will make your content become ‘undiscoverable’. Some hashtags only have a temporary ban, while many are permanently banned. And, what happens if you use some of them? You risk seeing a dramatic decrease in organic reach. 

DO: to avoid these harmful hashtags, you have to know which ones are banned, right? The blocklist is changing all the time, so to keep up with it – trust a tool that guarantees the most updated base of banned hashtags. IQ Hashtags is the one to recommend here as well – as in our opinion, it’s the most practical banned hashtags checker out there. You could be choosing banned and limited hashtags without realizing it – so it’s better to have your finger on the pulse.

4 // Less is more? Not this time. What about using 30 hashtags every time you post?

Instagram officially lets you use up to 30 hashtags on your EVERY post. And why do we think that using all of them is a good idea? Let us explain. Every single hashtag exposes your content to a different group of potential followers. The more exposure you get, the higher chances for valuable followers who will be genuinely interested in what you have to say, right? So don’t limit your reach and your engagement by using too few hashtags. 

DON’T: don’t listen to marketing gurus who claim that using more than five hashtags makes you look desperate. That’s completely ridiculous! When you focus on growth, and you want to take the next step towards building a thriving, authentic Instagram tribe that builds your Instagram imperium and ultimately leads to more collaborations or/and sales, you can’t ignore the opportunities that using 30 hashtags gives you. Hashtags make your content possible to find – without them, it would be extremely difficult for new potential followers to come across your posts and find your profile.

DO: Use 30 hashtags whenever you can. If you need help with the research process – use IQ Hashtags to save time and find the most effective ones for your niche. Hashtags can bring you the most loyal followers – and they have the power to turn your hobby into a business. And the best thing: they have nothing to do with money, they give you ENTIRELY ORGANIC REACH. 

5 // Where to post hashtags? Caption vs. comments? Does it make a difference?

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has confirmed: “for a post to be found in search, put your hashtags in the CAPTIONS, not in the comment section.” Caption wins and guarantees better optimization – Adam said so!

When you place hashtags in the caption area, you’re doubling their power. That’s extremely exciting – when somebody is looking for your specific hashtags, your posts can be found via the keyword search page. Hashtags put in the comment section will still work – but why would you give up on some extra exposure? 

DO: Stick to posting hashtags in the caption area, not in the first comment. This is a new principle that should be followed! 

That’s it for today. We just wanted to clear the most crucial things up! If you keep these insights in mind, we’re confident you will see a boost not only in the number of likes and comments but in long-term engagement factors as well. 

+ We’d love to hear your thoughts on this – what other things would you add to the list? What helps you maintain and improve your Instagram growth? Let’s chat in the comments!

The post Secret strategies from Instagram marketing specialists. How to use hashtags: all the do’s and don’ts appeared first on Display Purposes Blog.