The New Rules for Using Instagram Hashtags

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Ever feel like hashtags are this super magical mythical creature everyone is raving about yet you still don’t get how to find them, much less use them?

We feel you. Let us explain.

While hashtags alone might not save your entire social presence, you certainly shouldn’t neglect using them. Think of hashtags like your brand’s personal cheerleader helping you get seen or like a google search helping you get discovered. We’re going to break it down for you with 5 essential tips to own your hashtag strategy with every single post from now on. Let’s go! 

Using enough quality tags

Every time someone forgets to hashtag their posts, our social media manager cries a little  #facts. Ok, ok, maybe we’re kidding but we just want you to know how important they are. Posting without hashtags or just one tag is basically like placing an ad in the middle of the jungle. We suggest using as many tags as you can that are relevant to your business. 

Ask yourselves the following:

  • What might your dream clients be obsessing over on Instagram that you can tag?
  • What tags are similar pages using that have a good-sized following?
  • What are some keywords that your brand could fit under? Make sure the keywords are relevant to the image being posted to prevent getting flagged

Every time you type up a tag you’ll see a little dropdown showing you the number of posts using that tag. The sweet spot for hashtags is those that fall under 500K uses to have better chances of being discovered without gambling on too small of an audience.

Switching up tags to avoid spammy behavior 

Sick of those “nice one” or “great photo.” You know, those spammy emoji comments? Ugh, we hate them too! You can’t always eliminate them but you can definitely reduce the amount you get by switching up your tags.

When you use the same exact groups of hashtags every single time this can signal to the mysterious Instagram algorithm that your behavior is “spammy”. You want to avoid falling under this umbrella even if you’re not actually doing something considered spammy. When it comes to hashtags, the best way to avoid this is to have different sets of tags. Put simply, don’t use the same ones for every post.

Also, important sidenote, avoid cheesy tags like #likeforlike or #follow4follow. These are typically used by spam bots so avoid them to keep your account in good standing.

Adding hashtags to stories for increased discovery 

Ok, people! All our tips here may take a little effort, but this one here is a simple and super effective one that sooo many people ignore or don’t even know about!

Use hashtags on stories!

You can use up to 10 hashtags for your stories and apply the same principles from our first tip with making sure they’re quality tags. This way not only will your posts be discoverable but you’re opening up even more opportunities through your stories. Getting featured on a story for the hashtags used is the jackpot here.

Using insights to pinpoint best tags

Have a business account? Perfect! If not, you need to go switch on over like yesterday. Take a look at your top-performing posts on your business page insights and save the hashtags used for these top 9 posts. This is a great way for you to start curating groups of tags with a more strategic angle to them. If you have social media scheduling software, such as Later, chances are you also have access to analytics showing you which tags are associated with popular content.

We know data can sound scary but it’s about to become your brand new business bestie, we promise

Using 3rd party tools to search and save tags 

We love making our workflow as efficient as possible. So we’re definitely using a variety of tools to help us achieve that.

In addition to the tip above on using insights, we highly suggest picking a social media scheduling software with analytics. You’ll be able to search for tags without having to go on Instagram as well as build out groups of tags. How cool is it that at a click of a button you can auto-populate a full set of 30 tags that you’ve tested and loved?

Woah, so this was a whole lot of golden tips that we really hope you’ll put in action and find helpful. For those of you who are just too busy to keep doing it all yourself and are ready to hand over the responsibility to a team of experts, you know that Creative Label is the one for the job. Shoot us an email at info@itscreativelabel.com and we’ll help you get started on putting together your hashtag strategy.

Instagram’s API and Everything You Need to Know!

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We know what you’re thinking. So we’ll get straight to it: What is an API? And why does Instagram have one?

Read more

The FTC Won’t Let Me Be

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Everything You Need To Know About Paid Partnerships On The Internet

You’ve seen it before, it’s an aesthetically pleasing photo or video, with great product placement, posted by an Instagram user with high engagement, followed by a caption with the hashtags, #sponsor or #ad on the post. This is influencer marketing. Before we get into how the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) plays a roll in all this, a little background on influencer marketing and its rise is helpful.
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Influencer marketing is rapidly taking precedence over traditional marketing forms like print and video advertising. Why is this you ask? A recent study by Tomson Blog answered that. Followers of Instagram users with high following and most importantly, a high engagement rate, have all bought into and can relate to that particular Instagram users and the products they’re endorsing. Brands are noticing. The return on influencer marketing is high, according to Tomson Blog, “51% of marketers believe they acquire better customers through influencer marketing,” and because of that “59% of marketers plan to increase their budget over the next twelve months.”
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Brands and marketing agencies are all privy to this new wave of marketing, so it’s no wonder why the FTC is in on this too. The FTC conducts investigations and brings cases involving endorsements made on behalf of an advertiser under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which generally prohibits deceptive advertising. Put simply and among other things, the FTC regulates paid social media posts to ensure users are truthful in their posts. FTC Rules – Advertising & Marketing.
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After taking notice of this new wave of marketing, the FTC not only issued guidelines, but also charged individual social media influencers for neglecting proper disclosures on paid posts. To help keep the FTC from knocking at your door, we’ve compiled four important takeaways from the newly issued guidelines.
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If it will affect your credibility, disclose.
If the gift or incentive would affect the weight or credibility of your review the chances of you posting it for your followers to see, then it should be disclosed.
 
Disclosure should be clear and conspicuous.
To make a disclosure “clear and conspicuous,” the disclosure should stand out, and you should use plain and clear language. Disclosures should be
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  • close to the claims to which they relate;
  • in a font that is easy to read;
  • in a shade that stands out against the background.
  • for video ads, on the screen long enough to be noticed, read, and understood;
  • for audio disclosures, read at a cadence that is easy for consumers to follow and in words consumers will understand.
Running a contest? #contest or #sweepstakes is required
Because it is likely readers would understand the hashtags “contest or #sweepstakes to mean the post(s) were made as part of a contest, you need to use those hashtags to make it clear.
 
#ambassador, #thankyou or #partner is not enough disclosure
The use of “#ambassador” or “thank you” is ambiguous and confusing to a consumer, who is not up to speed with influencer marketing.
 
 
If you’re an influencer, a brand, or marketing agency, be sure to familiarize yourself and apply these guidelines to your practice.

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