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Hashtag Research Is How You Bring the Followers to You

Plixi Team

Sep 27, 2024 9 min read

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Hashtag research is how brands find the best hashtags to increase discoverability on Instagram. Hashtags have long been a great tool for growing an online platform, and knowing the right ones could benefit a brand.

Unfortunately, you don’t achieve growth by simply typing popular hashtags into a post’s caption. There must be some degree of research to find the best ones.

It is necessary to find the hashtags likely to produce the best results. You do this after engaging in some research!

Hashtag Research Is How You Bring the Followers to You

A Hashtag Research Tool Could Change Anything for You

You must already have your plate full as a content creator. There is no shame in incorporating a hashtag research tool to help. They are quite advanced and intuitive. Let’s discuss options to help with your content creation.

A Hashtag Generator Tool

What if we said a tool just had to look at your content to decide on the relevant hashtags? It’s possible to simply upload your content to a website and get a slew of appropriate hashtags. 

Its sophisticated AI technology recognizes the elements in your post and extracts the ones worthy of a keyword. Inflact is one such tool. A hashtag generator can seamlessly pump out 10-20 hashtags for you to use on your post. 

Of course, you can choose which ones you prefer to incorporate. A tool like this takes away the heavy lifting of Instagram hashtag research. Now, you have more time to create content.

Hashtag Analytics Tool

Trying to make sense of the numbers and percentages in your Instagram Insights can be a lot. That is why it’s good to have a tool to do it for you. Get all the relevant information you need on the performance of your posts among particular demographics on Instagram.

Make sense of your impressions, reach, and decide how to move forward. You won’t have to shoot in the dark if you have numbers to back up everything you do. Keyhole has a 4-day free trial if you’re interested.

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How You Can Do Hashtag Research Tool Free

You might have a lot on your plate already. The idea of using a third-party website is overwhelming. That is why you want to know how to do hashtag research tool-free. Fortunately, this is an option. 

Instagram has made its platform so intuitive and advanced. If you’re willing to do the extra work, you can do all your research on the Instagram app alone. It won’t even cost you.

Analyze Competitors

You see your competitors on the platform getting the visibility and traction you want. Of course, many different factors could lead to this success. Don’t discount the effect of hashtags on this success. 

Pay attention to the ones they use in their posts. They may have curated the right blend of hashtags to use to be successful. Consider incorporating them in your next post to see how well they perform.

Still, you must know that you may not have the same luck. If this creator is already big, their traction could be due to their pre-existing following. Some of them get away with using no hashtags at all. They might be successful despite the hashtags they use.

Also, consider that if you use these hashtags, you will compete with this creator. You both show up in the same search results. Unfortunately, viewers use social proof to decide which post they want to view. Imitating a bigger creator could ultimately harm your brand. 

But again, there is a high chance it will also be effective.

Check Your Insights

If you have a regular IG account, you won’t benefit from Instagram Insights. It is a feature solely for users with creator or business accounts.

If this feature helps you gauge how well your hashtags did on a post. It will show how effective they were in attracting users to your page. You can see in black-and-white whether your hashtag strategy was working. If it wasn’t, you will know to try something different next time.

Refer to your hashtag list and refine it. A good tool may produce well-researched hashtags and eliminate this work.

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Creating Hashtags Using Specific Categories

Hashtags are not all the same. We wouldn’t say that some are more important than others. However, they do serve very different purposes. Together, they help create a hashtag strategy to increase your engagement rate.

1. Popular 

Popular hashtags are the hashtags that are, well, popular. They are the ones that have the most content attached to them. Certain words almost instantly come to mind when someone thinks of an item. It is typical for creators to make hashtags of the most obvious keywords.

It’s reasonable to use this method to create relevant hashtags. After all, if you thought of it, so will a person searching on Instagram. Another user is more likely to use this hashtag to find your content. 

However, this does come with drawbacks. Many creators may use this hashtag to reach their target audience. If so, it will be harder to find your content. You will have to compete with other users incorporating such a common hashtag.

Let’s say run a page for your boutique coffee shop. You could come up with hundreds of hashtags. Some include #Coffee, #Cappuccino, #Latte, or #Macchiato.

2. Niche

These hashtags are a little bit less obvious. They are useful when unique brands get to play up on their unique offerings to the public. They will attract less users. But, these users will be genuinely interested in this area.

Let’s go back to the coffee shop example. The hashtags we listed above were phrases that come to mind quickly. 

Let’s say this coffee shop has special quirks that some people like. Some appropriate hashtags could be #VeganCoffeeShop, #SustainableCoffeeShop, #DeafBaristas, or #ExpressCoffee.

Users who search for these keywords want something very specific. There will be less competition for the content creator who uses these hashtags. Many people simply don’t offer the same service.

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3. Location-Based 

Everything seems to be online. Still, some amount of commerce requires brick-and-mortar structures. We will go back to our coffee shop example. People don’t order a coffee shop experience to their home. They like to go into one to have it. 

Hashtag ideas about a specific location are important to businesses that need foot traffic. This coffee shop must create a list of hashtag ideas incorporating their location. It could be as specific as the street the coffee shop is on. Or, it could be as general as the country.

Hashtag Instagram research will let you know what competitors use to gain walk-ins. Your results might show hashtags like #CapeTownCoffeeShop, #CoffeeShopsInDowntownMiami, #CoffeeShopsNearRueDeLaTour, or #CoffeeShopsInPortmore.

You get the idea. Someone in the neighborhood might want to make the trip. These hashtags will let them know the nearby options.

4. Product-Specific

Some brands have specific products that they carry. Mentioning them in hashtags is a great way to bring more attention to them. Customers want to see content surrounding a particular product. They can use the hashtag as a database to store the content.

The coffee shop may want to capitalize on its unique inventions. They might use hashtags like #BeetrootLatte, #RoseGoldLatte, or #PumpkinSpiceLatte. Doing this could weed out people who never wanted anything in their search results.

5. Branded

This type of hashtag is great for hashtag campaigns and is a very effective marketing tool. Some big names like Nike and Disney have done it as well. It’s a great way to capitalize on user-generated content (UGC). 

You invite your users to upload content using a specific branded hashtag. When people click the hashtag, they will find all the content around that product, so the brand doesn’t have to use its resources to create content anymore. 

Prospective customers will see real-life examples of the product in effect. Other users will want to join in on the craze as well. It becomes a very self-promoting method to get your name out there.

Business owners also use these for events. An event hashtag helps people see content about a particular event. It could be a wedding or product launch, for example.

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Frequently Asked Questions About How To Do Hashtag Research

Many people want to know how to do hashtag research. They have some very good questions on the topic. Here are some answers to the questions you may have.

FAQ: Why is hashtag research important?

Hashtag research is important because it helps you optimize one of Instagram’s most important growth tools. It allows you to find the best hashtags for the content you want to promote. 

It makes it easier to find your target audience on social networks. It also helps to avoid hashtags Instagram shadowbanned. You could save your entire account by avoiding hashtags like these.

FAQ: How do I research my hashtags?

You can research hashtags by doing multiple things. You can look at the hashtags that your competitors use. It could be part of the reason they are successful on the platform. You can also use a hashtag generator tool to avoid the hashtags that may be less effective than others.

FAQ: What is the main aim of hashtags?

Hashtags aim to increase your visibility on Instagram. When someone searches for a particular topic, hashtags help your content appear. It gives you an audience before Instagram users who don’t already follow you.

FAQ: What is a hashtag strategy?

A hashtag strategy uses multiple types of hashtags to increase discoverability on the Instagram platform. The strategy must have a deliberate blend of hashtags to target the right audiences.

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We Can Grow Your Page More Than Any Hashtag Can

You can find the internet’s best hashtag tracker. It doesn’t mean you will suddenly grow the huge following you dream of. Doing that takes deliberate action on your part. It takes dedication and consistency and is a very good Instagram growth tool.

The first two ingredients have to come from within. Fortunately, we can help you with the last one. Plixi uses very sophisticated AI technology to help content creators like yourself. 

We bring you closer to your ideal target audience. You will get the kind of followers that will willingly engage with your content. With your hashtag research, you will be unstoppable.

Let’s take your page to the next level. Sign up with Plixi today!

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