Today I wanted to briefly touch on the importance of using effectively using hashtags on your business Instagram posts and some guidelines for creating those hashtags.
THINK LIKE YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER
It’s important to think like your consumer when creating hashtags. For example, if you’re the owner of a dog grooming service and you post a picture of Scruffy during bath time, the hashtags you would most likely think of on a personal level would be something along the lines of #cute #dog #cutebutsmelly #lovemyjob #butisitfiveyet. Those are some great hashtags, but they have absolutely no appeal to your target consumers, especially your potential consumers. Which leads me to my next point…
SEARCHING INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS
Say I just moved to a new city and my dog badly needs a bath and I don’t have the time. I had a great dog groomer in my last city and I'm now looking for someone to fill those same shoes. I will check the usual suspects like Google, Yelp and Facebook but I also want to take a deeper look into the business I’m going to be giving my money to, and most importantly, who I will be leaving my dog with. I head to Instagram and start searching hashtags like #denverdoggroomer #denverdoggrooming #doggroomerdenver, etc. Not only am I seeing some of the same business I saw when Googling and Yelping, I’m now seeing a very visual result of my search. If the two or three businesses I’ve narrowed it down to are also on Instagram, I’m also getting a behind-the-scenes view, which ultimately makes my decision easier as I decide to go with the businesses that I have the most information on.
To circle back to the first point, if you’re using hashtags to promote your business posts on Instagram, great! But you have to make them count by thinking like your potential consumer. Think like someone who is new to the city and looking for a new dog groomer. What are they going to search? I think it’s safe to say they won’t be searching #cutebutsmelly.
Hashtags aren’t used to just add words or taglines onto your caption, they are there for people to find you!
Think like your consumer and try to leave your mind out of it. What hashtags will they be looking for when searching for your service?