Choosing the perfect Instagram hashtag for your promotion!

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!