One of life’s greatest mysteries in the marketing world, are Hashtags dead?
Well, it’s been confirmed by the Instagram CEO himself, Adam Mosseri, that Hashtags don’t hold the power they once did. They aren’t completely useless, but they now work as a categorisation tool rather than aid with distribution. They help organise posts into categories, so when you search for content, it knows what to show you.
The way we search for content has changed over the years, Instagram now behaves more like a search engine. Using keywords to pull through the content that best matches the search.
So, what’s replaced them?
Keywords are now king, ensuring your posts, captions and content contain your industries keywords is how your content will become searchable. Instagram prioritises authenticity, having real and relatable posts will let your personability shine through.
Being consistent with your posting will also help boost your reach, posting once a month isn’t enough. If a post has been getting good engagement it will be pushed out to the wider audience. For example, having a video that has been getting shares, saves and comments, Instagram will recognise this and push the content out further. Almost like a snowball effect.
Is this across all platforms?
Just to make things awkward, this rule doesn’t apply across all social media platforms. The role and effectiveness of hashtags have evolved, and their importance varies depending on the platform you’re using.
- Instagram & TikTok: These are the platforms where Hashtags are still most relevant and can be a helpful discovery tool. They can aid in helping users find new content and creators. The new development of Google now indexing Instagram has highlighted the importance of getting all aspects of your post right to increase the opportunities of your post being discovered. More on this here.
- LinkedIn: Here, hashtags are less important but still act as a professional categorisation tool. They help professionals follow and discover content related to their industry. Using just a few (2-3) targeted hashtags on relevant posts is sufficient and helps maintain a professional tone.
- X (formerly Twitter): Hashtags are becoming less prominent on the platform where they once reigned supreme. Hashtags are primarily used to join real-time conversations and trending topics. It’s actually now believed using more than two hashtags can decrease engagement, so it’s best to be selective and topical.
- Facebook: Hashtags have never been a major feature on Facebook. They are primarily used to categorise content for specific groups or events but are not a significant driver of organic reach. At Blue Bee we don’t use them on Facebook posts as a rule.
What Should You Be Doing to Increase Your Visibility?
So, if hashtags are no longer the one-stop solution, what should you be doing to make sure your content is still picked up by the right people? It’s all about shifting your focus from a simple tagging strategy to a broader approach to social media treating it more as an SEO exercise.
- Post Original, Educational, and Evergreen Content: Algorithms reward content that provides genuine value to the user. Focus on creating posts that are not only original to your brand but also educational and timeless. This kind of “evergreen” content will continue to be relevant and searchable long after it’s been posted.
- Use Keywords Strategically: Keywords are the new hashtags. Naturally integrate your top keywords into your captions, post text, and bio. Just like you do with website and blog content, think about what your target audience are going to be searching, and make sure that language is present in your content.
- Add Alt Text to Images: Alt text, or alternative text, is a crucial but often overlooked step. It provides a written description of your image for visually impaired users using screen readers. Critically, it also gives search engines more context about your content, which can improve your visibility in image searches.
- Tailor Your Content for Each Platform: A one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. Each platform has its own unique audience, format, and style. A professional, long-form post might be perfect for LinkedIn, while more visually driven content is better suited for Instagram. Understanding these differences and adapting your content accordingly is key to success.
How Blue Bee Can Help
Feeling overwhelmed by the ever-changing world of social media? Don’t fret, Blue Bee are on hand to help.
We specialise in increasing social media engagement through a comprehensive approach that includes both organic posts and paid ads. We get to know your business and target audience, providing us with a solid foundation of knowledge allowing us to craft a highly relevant social media strategy tailored specifically for you. Blue Bee can craft, curate, and test your social media content and advertising to help you achieve your business goals. Get in touch with the Blue Bee team today to start your social media and wider digital marketing journey.
