How to Drive Follower Growth with Instagram Hashtags
Hint: Most people do this wrong.
👋 Hey, I’m Casandra. I share research-backed business ideas to help you start and grow a business. This is a 🔒 Premium Edition 🔒 of Really Good Business Ideas.
Most people use Instagram hashtags wrong.
They treat them like decoration: a few trendy tags tossed at the end of a caption and forgotten. But hashtags aren’t just about vibes. They’re one of the few remaining tools that can still drive real organic reach on Instagram, especially for new or growing accounts.
When used strategically, hashtags act like search keywords: they help Instagram understand what your content is about and match it with people who actually want to see it.
In this guide, we’ll unpack how to:
Choose hashtags that actually help your content get discovered.
Balance competition and engagement to find your sweet spot.
Use tools that take the guesswork out of hashtag research.
If you’ve ever wondered why your posts aren’t getting traction (even when the content is great) your hashtag strategy might be the missing piece. Let’s fix that.
Table of Contents
What Are Hashtags on Instagram?
Hashtags are like keywords for Instagram. They are single words or phrases preceded by a # that get included in the caption of a post or reel.
This is a hashtag: #hashtag. So is this: #alsoahashtag.
Hashtags can be searched, followed, and categorized—just like Instagram accounts. For example:
Hashtag Search: When I’m refreshing my balcony for the summer, I often search #balconydecor and look at the top photos for ideas.
Hashtag Follows: When I planned my first trip to La Saladita, Mexico, I followed the hashtag #saladita so my feed was filled with content to help me discover activities and get excited.
Hashtag Categorization: Instagram uses hashtags to categorize your post. They help Instagram understand what your content is about and who the platform should recommend it to.
Hashtag searches, hashtag follows, and recommendations based on categorization are all crucial for getting your content exposure on the platform—especially if your account is new and you don’t have many followers yet.
The trick is, you have to choose the right hashtags if you want to get results.
How to Choose Hashtags for Instagram
Most people choose hashtags one of two ways:
They randomly choose words and phrases that they want to associate with their content.
#viral (including this won’t make your post go viral)
#justkidding (this does little to tell users or Instagram what your content is about)
They choose big broad terms that get used as hashtags often.
#fashion (1.1 billion posts)
#nature (771 million posts)
#travel (685 million posts)
Neither approach will help you grow a new Instagram account. The first approach is just useless because it doesn’t help people discover your content. The second approach will only work if you already have a very popular Instagram account that can compete on very competitive hashtags.
Remember, the point of hashtags is to help your content get exposed to more Instagram users. If your account is smaller, you can’t compete with the big ones yet and need to work smarter instead.