Do you stick to often limited hashtags and thus may lose potential followers, or do you use too many hashtags as if begging for attention? Instagram guidelines recommend using 3-5 hashtags per post, while thousands of social media marketers fill captures with 30 tags available. This scenario creates a lot of confusion over which approach is best to achieve the most massive results among creators and businesses.

Instead of making an educated guess or following someone else’s advice, let’s look at the findings of research from 2024 and see what they have to say about hashtags. However, knowing the basics of hashtags might make a huge difference when posting normal posts or when creating reels in terms of visibility.

By analyzing millions of Instagram posts and their performance metrics, we can finally answer the question in your mind: how many hashtags should I use on Instagram?

How Do Hashtags Work on Instagram?

Hashtags used in Instagram serve as effective filters for the content, which means that any user can see the posts belonging to a particular category, topic, or discussion. If you include a hashtag in your post, it is placed in a category and is visible to those who search for that particular topic even if they do not follow you.

Hashtags help Instagram learn about the context of your content and serve in your feed to people on Instagram they wouldn’t normally follow but may find your post of interest in their explore feed. To make it easy for Instagram to categorize your content and deliver it to those who are most interested in it, think of hashtags as virtual folders.

Instagram's Official Stance vs. Reality

Instagram caused quite a lot of controversy in the sphere of social media marketing with its suggestion to use no more than 3-5 hashtags in one post. This advice, which goes against what most marketers would expect, flows from the company’s commitment to only featuring the best content. However, the reality often tells a different story:

• Instagram permits the use of as many as 30 hashtags in a single post.

• The latest algorithm updates focus on quality, yet employing more specialized hashtags always helps.

• The study also revealed that posts containing over five hashtags tend to be better than those adhering to Instagram’s recommendation.

The key lies in finding the sweet spot between Instagram's best practices and what actually drives results for your specific audience.

What Are the Benefits of Using Hashtags on Instagram?

Optimizing hashtags can go a long way in helping you maximize the potential of your Instagram brand and achieve greatness. Thus, the hashtags—if employed correctly—are valuable assets of your social media strategy.

• Increased Discoverability: The use of hashtags increases your content reach since relative subscribers will be able to find your post.

• Enhanced Engagement: When people are on the lookout for specific hashtags they are more likely to come across your posts.

• Community Building: Using hashtags associated with the brand can give people with the same interest a kind of fellowship.

• Competitive Analysis: Using industry hashtags, is easy to view trends in the industry, as well as strategies employed by the competition.

• Campaign Organization: The specific hashtags let you monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the separate marketing initiatives.

Top 24 Most Popular Instagram Hashtags in 2024

Choosing the right Instagram hashtags can be confusing, although knowing which are the most effective can be a real game changer. Although recognizing the trends cannot be your only guide in choosing your hashtags, it is still useful to be informed of the trending ones. Presenting you the top research-picked Hashtags of the Year that have been worked out after studying a lot of data and their impact.

#love: 2.1 billion uses #instagood: 1.8 billion uses #instagram: 1.3 billion uses #fashion: 1.1 billion uses #photooftheday: 1.1 billion uses #art: 1.1 billion uses #photography: 1.1 billion uses #beautiful: 849 million uses #nature: 824 million uses #reels: 809 million uses #travel: 751 million uses #picoftheday: 734 million uses #follow: 734 million uses #happy: 720 million uses #instadaily: 710 million uses #cute: 682 million uses #style: 674 million uses #trending: 638 million uses #tbt: 588 million uses #repost: 568 million uses #summer: 568 million uses #followme: 558 million uses #beauty: 556 million uses #instalike: 555 million uses 

Most Effective Ways to Use Hashtags on Instagram

For you to optimally use hashtags on Instagram, it is not just enough to choose famous hashtags. Here's how to optimize your approach:

Strategic Placement

While Instagram recognizes hashtags in both captions and comments, placement can impact the user experience. Testing shows:

• Caption placement: Increases the speed of getting noticed by an audience

• First comment: Maintains professionalism in the captions

Pro tip: Hide hashtags in captions by using line breaks or dots to continue and keep everything looking neat.

Diversify Your Hashtag Mix

Create a balanced hashtag strategy using:

1. Branded hashtags (#YourBrandName) - Build community and collect user-generated content
2. Industry hashtags (#DigitalMarketing) - Reach engaged, topic-focused audiences
3. Location tags (#LondonCoffee) - Target local customers and improve regional visibility
4. Trending hashtags - Tap into current conversations, but ensure relevance

Timing and Tools

• Post when your audience is most active – this is usually on weekdays from 9 AM – 3 PM.

• Track hashtag performance using analytics on Later or Sprout Social

• Assesses the performance data of the hashtag sets and updates it frequently

Common Hashtag Mistakes to Avoid

Don't let these common errors derail your Instagram strategy:

1. Irrelevant Hashtag Usage

Instead of using tags that reflect everyday conversation or even some random ones, they may receive more views in a shorter time but lose people’s trust and activity. This might also be seen by Instagram’s algorithm as spam-like behaviour.

2. Hashtag Repetition

If the same hashtag set is used for all the posts, reach is reduced and posting goes to Instagram’s spam protection. However, it is better to create several sets for different types of content to ensure that all of them are optimized for search engines.

3. Overusing Popular Hashtags

Hashtags with millions of posts signify a high level of competition coupled with early sinking into feeds. Use both popular hashtags and specific keywords for your niche to increase the visibility of your content.

4. Failing to monitor performance

If you do not pay attention to how all your hashtags are performing, then you are just guessing. It is crucial to monitor which tags produce the best results and adapt your approach to using them.

Conclusion

Instagram hashtag controversy is all about the quality of hashtags as opposed to the quantity of the used hashtags. Instagram officially advises that the optimal number of hashtags to be used in a post is between 3 and 5, the current study found that using 15-20 specific, niche hashtags would greatly improve the possibility of the post’s exposure. The idea is to experiment with various strategies, monitor their effectiveness, and analyze them according to the web page audience and content relevance. As the platform develops over time, concentrate on the quality of the content you are posting initially while employing hashtags as an impactful boost.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 3 hashtag rule on Instagram?

The “3 hashtag rule” is a guideline from Instagram that states that it is best to post 3-5 hashtags per post. However, this is a general rule but not applied consistently in all cases. From our study, we were able to deduce that using thoughtful, or more appropriate hashtags yields better performances.

Is 8 hashtags too many for Instagram?

No, eight hashtags are not too many for Instagram. Contrary to the recommendations by Instagram that one should use 3 to  5 hashtags, Instagram allows the user up to 30 hashtags per post. While the number is ideal for each social media network can be different depending on your content, audience, and industry. More emphasis on relevance and wise choices instead of concentration on the number.

Is it good to use a lot of hashtags on Instagram?

While it is beneficial to use many hashtags, they must be relevant and used strategically. The difference is, it is quality over quantity. While influencers have often been seen using up to 30 hashtags on a post, try using 15-20 tags that are very relevant to your content and the target audience. Use community hashtags, specialty hashtags, and branded hashtags to maximize the number of views.

Is there a limit on Instagram's 5 hashtag recommendations?

The 5 hashtag recommendations that Instagram has are a suggestion, not a rule. The platform enables up to 30 hashtags for a single post. Despite what Instagram recommends about limiting the number of hashtags, many popular accounts use over 5 hashtags efficiently. The point here is to have hashtags, or more correctly, to have relevant hashtags, no matter how many.