Whether you are new to doing business on Instagram or are a social media veteran, selecting the best hashtags to maximize audience reach and engagement is of paramount importance to have a successful career on Instagram.

Instagram lets you add up to 30 hashtags on a feed post and 10 hashtags per instastory. Research shows that posts with 9 hashtags usually receive the most engagement, but as it may differ in every industry, utilizing Instagram analytics to analyze your industry’s competitors’ posts will be best in determining the number of hashtags you need.

However many hashtags you choose to add, these 4 tips are key in ensuring the optimum performance of your post.

1. Research and Analyze Instagram Hashtag Engagement

The goal of using hashtags is typically to reach more people, but reach is only important when it turns into engagements. So once you decide on the hashtags you might use, check each of their engagement rates. Do they receive your desired number of likes and comments?

If they do, the next thing you need to know is how quickly they receive that number of engagement. This means that you should aim for hashtags that receive high engagement in a reasonably short time. This data is accessible to you by using Instagram hashtag analytics, such as Analisa.io that will show you the number likes, comments, and growth over the period you select.

2. Combine Different Types of Instagram Hashtags

Instagram marketers usually classify hashtags based on their size and function. For instance, hashtags with a broad topic and a high number of contributors are known for some marketers as generic, broad, or sometimes industry hashtags. Examples of this type of hashtag include #marketer, #photographer, #fashion, etc. Usually, marketers or creators use only 1-2 industry hashtags because the competition is very high, but it does potentially show your post to more people.

Alternatively, there are also hashtags with lower competition. These are the hashtags you want to get in the top 9 of.  This can come in a more specific form of the generic hashtags, such as #digitalmarketingtips instead of just #marketing or a community hashtag such as #WomenWhoTravel or #mytravelgram. Additionally, you can add hashtags that are specific to your brand or campaign for awareness purposes, this is used by brands such as #OldNavyStyle or Lululemon’s #4080challenge. These last types of hashtags are a great way to notice how many of your audience participate in your campaign or voluntarily endorsing your brand.

3. Always Research Relevant Instagram Hashtags

As we have mentioned, hashtags should not only generate reach but also engagement. To do this brands must ensure their hashtags represent their post, product, or profile, and most importantly, it must resonate with the right audience. In order to do this, you must analyze the demographics of your followers or targeted followers. This includes age, gender, and location. By finding this information, you will find their interests or the popular hashtags for the demographic group of your choice. An alternate and easy way to do this is to do a competitor analysis. Instagram analytics services including Analisa.io allows you to access data about your competitor’s most used hashtags, the hashtags’ performances, and their audience demographics to support your strategic planning.

4. Track your Instagram Hashtag Performance

Take note of how the audience reacts to your hashtags. How many people have your hashtags reached? Are they only viewing or do they convert into new followers? Managing hashtags use requires a research strategy, in many cases, there will be trial-and-errors or you may have to frequently update your hashtags. After applying the first three steps above, you need to make sure that the hashtags you choose are still relevant and still receiving a good amount of traction. This way your account will not only reach new people but also maintain them.

This could also be done easier with Analisa.io’s Instagram hashtag analytics that tracks and summarizes in figures, engagements, participation, and location source on a daily basis or an all-time basis.

Instagram hashtags should not be taken lightly as they could determine how well your posts perform. Hashtags are an important part of your strategy to grab more audience and even to boost your branding effort. And when it comes to a rapidly-developing social platform like Instagram, the right data and insights are crucial for helping you navigate to Instagram marketing success.