Choosing the perfect Instagram hashtag for your promotion!

Abi Roman

Everyone knows that a good hashtag can make or break a social media post and when it comes to Instagram promotions, prize draws and competitions it’s even more critical to get it right. Using the right Instagram hashtags correctly will help your post get more coverage and hopefully engagement with your promotion.

The current top 50 Instagram hashtags are;

  1. #love
  2. #instagood
  3. #photooftheday
  4. #fashion
  5. #beautiful
  6. #happy
  7. #cute
  8. #tbt
  9. #like4like
  10. #followme
  11. #picoftheday
  12. #follow
  13. #me
  14. #selfie
  15. #summer
  16. #art
  17. #instadaily
  18. #friends
  19. #repost
  20. #nature
  21. #girl
  22. #fun
  23. #style
  24. #smile
  25. #food
  26. #instalike
  27. #likeforlike
  28. #family
  29. #travel
  30. #fitness
  31. #igers
  32. #tagsforlikes
  33. #follow4follow
  34. #nofilter
  35. #life
  36. #beauty
  37. #amazing
  38. #instamood
  39. #instagram
  40. #photography
  41. #vscocam
  42. #sun
  43. #photo
  44. #music
  45. #beach
  46. #followforfollow
  47. #bestoftheday
  48. #sky
  49. #ootd
  50. #sunset

These should give you an idea of what people like posting about on social media and ideas for promotions. Use them for inspiration combined with promotional hashtags such as #promotion, #competition #contest #winitwednesday or #win and following Instagram’s new update, an @mention to ensure all entries are pulled into your feed.

However, you must remember the top hashtag tips:

Be original – Check that your hashtag isn’t already taken or being used for other reasons. Gilette’s #GoddessLegs promotion linked their product to more questionable content.

Be clear – Does your hashtag make sense and can it be read in more ways than one? The hashtag for the Black Hat eBook #blackhatebook looks very different when the spaces are removed. And the internet will never forget the disastrous hashtag for Susan Boyles album party #susanalbumparty

Have spirit – Sum up the essence of your promotion simply to make a memorable hashtag #PringlesPartyTour #ShowUsYourOats and #AutoTraderGoals #are some good examples

Plan properly – make sure you have set up your promotion properly before you launch your promotion to ensure that all the entries are being captured and you are following the rules.

Instagram allows promotions to be run on their platform, however again ‘spammy’ behaviour is not permitted. You must not inaccurately tag content, or encourage users to inaccurately tag content. For example, asking someone to tag themselves or a friend in a brand’s photo in which they do not appear is not permitted and will put your account at risk. However, the use of hashtags is allowed (and necessary), and can create country/worldwide trends.

If you need help and advice with planning or implementing an Instagram or social media campaign contact us!