Hashtags have long been a tool to group content and conversations around specific topics, allowing users to easily discover content that aligns with their interests.
Found across nearly every social media platform, they once played a key role in boosting reach and engagement. A solid social media strategy often relied on a blend of popular, relevant, and branded hashtags. However, times are changing...
Remember the days when Instagram hashtags were gold? You’d add a swarm of relevant tags beneath every post, hoping to watch the likes and followers roll in.
However, those days are long gone. As Instagram’s algorithm has evolved, so too must our approach. Many popular hashtags have become oversaturated, making it incredibly difficult to stand out among the billions of posts using them.
Now, Instagram focuses on your post’s quality, how people engage with it, and whether it aligns with users’ interests. This shift means that creating engaging content that genuinely resonates holds far more value than any hashtag lineup.
Instagram has rolled out a range of features that help users find content without depending on hashtags. For example, the Explore page, location and user tags, and especially Instagram Reels, now play a larger role in connecting content with the right audiences. These tools enable Instagram to prioritise content based on users’ habits and preferences, rather than just the hashtags you include.
Timing is also super important. Now, identifying the optimal time when your audience is most active can be crucial for a post’s success. Instagram Insights allows you to monitor when your followers are online, helping you schedule posts during these peak periods.
Instagram frequently introduces new features to boost engagement, such as Stories and Reels. Reels in particular are prioritised by the algorithm and offer a fantastic way to reach new audiences.
Incorporating these features into your strategy can help your posts gain the visibility they need without relying heavily on hashtags.
There have been various reports circulating throughout different LinkedIn communities as to the effectiveness of hashtags in the app, and whether you even need to bother with hashtags in your LinkedIn posts anymore.
Experts suggest that hashtags have become less essential, as relevant mentions and context are often already included within the post, which allows the platform to display the content to the right audience. As a result, platforms like LinkedIn may not require users to add a repetitive hashtag, such as Meta, because the system can identify the mention directly within the text.
But is that the case?
LinkedIn themselves have said:
“Hashtags are searchable and can be followed, allowing your content to show up in searches and feeds of professionals who follow those topics”
LinkedIn has also explained that incorporating relevant hashtags into your posts, either within the content or at the end, can boost your content’s discoverability and extend its reach. Hashtags serve as a helpful tool, making it easier for viewers to understand the post’s topic and find related content. However, to maximise their effectiveness, it’s important to ensure the hashtags closely align with the subject matter of the post. Alongside hashtags, considering relevant conversation topics and keywords also plays a key role in how the algorithm determines content value.
Hashtags are still pretty relevant on X because they allow users to group topics and conversations. Hashtags also help searchers find your content and increase your following. Hash-tagged words that become very popular are often trending topics, instead of trending content. So really, not a lot has changed.
Hashtags are still very much important for increasing the visibility, reach, and engagement of TikTok content. Using the right hashtags makes your videos easier to find, showing them to people interested in similar topics. They can also link your content to popular trends or challenges, increasing views, likes, and shares. This makes hashtags a simple but powerful way to boost visibility and engagement on TikTok.
Hashtags are still very effective on Facebook for increasing visibility and engagement, but they are not as popular as on other social media platforms. They still increase exposure by linking your posts to trending topics, making it easier for users to discover your content, even if they don’t follow your page. For instance, a well-chosen hashtag like #NFL can attract a larger audience, as seen in posts that generate hundreds of comments and shares. Hashtags on Facebook also allow you to target specific audiences by incorporating keywords relevant to your business and your desired demographic. Additionally, using consistent hashtags across your content helps streamline content collection from influencers, affiliates, and user-generated posts, making it a powerful tool for contests and giveaways.
In summary, Hashtags are no longer as relevant on platforms like Instagram, where quality content, engagement, and features like Reels and Explore take priority. While TikTok and X still rely on hashtags for trends and discoverability, and Facebook uses them for targeting, their overall importance has declined. Today, creating engaging, platform-specific content is far more effective than relying on hashtags alone.
With an eye for style and always keeping impact in mind, Megan is dedicated to delivering consistently interesting content that influences audiences, demonstrating growth in both engagement and follower numbers across different key platforms and networks. Beyond creating gripping content, Megan regularly produces key insights into how business schools and universities could, and should, be using social media as a marketing tool.