Instagram has billions of monthly active users, making it the perfect platform for businesses and individual content creators looking to grow their brands.

However, it’s as competitive as it is popular. With millions of photos and videos going up every day, you need to do more than upload high-quality content to reach your target audience and capture their attention.

That’s where Instagram hashtags come into play. These seemingly simple phrases can be the difference between getting lost in the sea of content on Instagram and reaching your target audience. As such, they should be a priority when developing your Instagram strategy.

This post takes an in-depth look at Instagram hashtags, exploring everything from what they are and why they matter to how to use them effectively to boost your content’s performance.

What Are Instagram Hashtags?

Instagram hashtags are clickable keywords (terms, phrases, numbers, or combinations of these elements) preceded by the # symbol. Think #instagram, #happy, #10thanniversary.

There are various types of Instagram hashtags, including:

• Niche hashtags: Target specific audiences, industries, or interests (e.g., thriftshopping).
• Trending hashtags: Are based on viral moments (e.g., #ThrowbackThursday).
• Location hashtags: Target Instagram users in specific regions (e.g., #NYCrestaurant).
• Community hashtags: Created to help connect like-minded individuals (e.g., #foodie).
• Product (or service) hashtags: Relate directly to your offering (e.g., #ProductX).
• Campaign hashtags: Associated with specific marketing initiatives (e.g., #BlackFridaySale2025).
• Branded hashtags: Unique to your brand, often carrying your business or user name (e.g., #XCompanyChallenge).
• Event hashtags: Specific to the concerts, festivals, workshops, or gatherings they’re created for (e.g., #XConcert2026).

Benefits of Instagram Hashtags

Hashtags can be one of your greatest Instagram assets. Here’s why:

• Help the algorithm categorize you: They hint at what your content entails, helping the algorithm categorize your posts.
• Boost visibility: They make it easier for the algorithm to match posts to users’ search queries and interests. This can enhance their discoverability and exposure in search results and users’ feeds.
• Targeted reach: They help surface your content to users who are truly interested in what you have to offer, increasing your chances of driving engagement and conversions.
• Community building: They help connect people with shared interests. For example, if you love food content, you can search #foodie to connect with other food lovers.
• Surface user-generated content (UGC): Branded hashtags can help you find brand-specific content from your audience.
• Performance tracking: Custom hashtags, such as campaign and branded hashtags, can help you gauge your marketing initiative’s reach by providing measurable data. For example, if you introduce #BrandYSale26 as your hashtag, you can track its usage (via Instagram’s search bar) to monitor audience participation in your campaign.

How to Use Instagram Hashtags

Not sure how to use Instagram hashtags effectively? Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Find Relevant Hashtags

The first step is to identify hashtags that are relevant to your niche, content, and target audience. There are various ways to do this, including:

• Use hashtag generators: Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, Ahrefs and Veed can speed up hashtag research by suggesting relevant tags based on your content and target keywords. If you’re also looking to improve how your captions perform alongside hashtags, it’s worth checking out guides like Best Instagram Caption Generators, which break down how AI-powered tools can help you write captions that align better with platform algorithms and audience intent.

• Look at what competitors are using: Identify the top-performing content, creators, or brands in your niche, and examine the hashtags they use.
• Use Instagram’s search function: Enter your niche’s keywords in the search bar, then head to the hashtag section to see popular variations.

Evaluate Post Volume

Once you make a list of relevant hashtags for your content, check their post volume on Instagram to decide which ones to keep and which to drop. A good strategy is to mix popular, middle-ground, and niche hashtags. If you only use options with millions of posts, your content may get lost in all the noise. And, if you focus entirely on lesser-known tags, you may not get the kind of visibility you hope for.

Checking post-volume is pretty straightforward. Go to your app’s Explore tab, type each hashtag in the search bar, and tap the # icon.

Incorporate Chosen Hashtags Into Your Content

Once you’ve settled on relevant hashtags, add them to your content. You can do this by including them in your caption or the comment section.

The Instagram algorithm crawls both when assessing content, so it’s totally up to you to decide where to incorporate them.

How Many Instagram Hashtags Should I Use?

Instagram allows users to add up to 30 hashtags per post. However, adding this many tags can make posts look spammy and distract your target audience from your captions and comments.

What’s more, you may end up using irrelevant hashtags if you focus entirely on quantity. This can, in turn, confuse the algorithm, making it harder for it to categorize your content.

A good rule of thumb is to use 3 to 5 hashtags per post. In fact, Instagram has already started limiting some accounts to five hashtags per post.

Take the post above as an example. Instead of stuffing the caption with dozens of generic tags, it focuses on a small set of highly relevant fitness and local hashtags. This keeps the content clearly categorized for the algorithm, while avoiding the over-optimization that can dilute reach.

Instagram Hashtag Best Practices

Want to maximize your performance? Here’s a look at the key best practices to keep in mind when using hashtags:

Prioritize Relevance

While it may be tempting to use hashtags like #instagram and #love because of their popularity, doing so might hurt, rather than help, your numbers. Such popular hashtags have intense competition, which could limit your content’s visibility. Further, they’re too generic and therefore do not help the algorithm understand posts.

To improve your performance, use hashtags that align with your niche and directly describe your content. For example, if you’re a fitness content creator, you can use #fitness, #homeworkouts, and #beginnerexercisetips as your hashtags.

Mix Hashtag Types

Use a mix of different hashtags in each post to improve your discoverability and engagement quality. For example, you could use industry-specific popular hashtags and niche options, such as #fashion and #sustainablefashion. This enables you to reach a broad, targeted audience.

If you have a physical location, include location hashtags as well. And, if you’re currently running a marketing initiative, add campaign and branded options.

Think of Hashtags as Keywords

Instagram has evolved into a discovery tool for users, with some searching full phrases when looking for content or information (just like they would on Google). So, don’t just treat it as a social media platform; optimize your content the same way you would on standard search engines.

One of the best ways to optimize content is to identify terms and phrases your target audience types to find information, and use them as your hashtags.

Create Branded Hashtags

While branded hashtags don’t get as much post volume as other types of tags, they can introduce your brand to more people. So, don’t be quick to shoot them down.

Create brand-specific tags and use them in relevant posts. Also, add them to your Instagram bio and include a call to action (CTA) inviting profile visitors to use them.

Monitor Hashtag Performance

The truth is, it may take a few tries to get your hashtag strategy right.

Test different keywords, volumes, and placements (comment section or caption), and monitor your performance to see what works best. For reliable results, keep all other factors, such as content format and post timing, constant. Also, test one hashtag element at a time.

Lean on GeeLark when testing your hashtags. GeeLark is an antidetect platform that enables you to create and isolate multiple Instagram accounts. With the solution, you can test different hashtag elements simultaneously, thereby reducing your testing duration.

GeeLark offers multi-account browser and cloud phone profiles, each with a unique digital fingerprint. This makes it appear as though every account originates from a different device. So, you don’t have to worry about Instagram linking your accounts.

Instagram Hashtag Examples

Here’s a look at worth-considering hashtag examples for different niches:

Food & Beverage

• #foodie
• #yummy
• #delicious
• #drinkstagram
• #vegan

vegetarian

• #foodphotography
• #breakfast
• #coffee
• #wine

Fashion & Beauty

• #styleinspo
• #outfitoftheday
• #instafashion
• #streetstyle
• #womenswear
• #skincare
• #makeuplover
• #beautyinspo
• #thriftedstyle
• #inclusivefashion

Travel

• #wanderlust
• #travelblogger
• #adventure
• #bucketlist
• #travellife
• #vanlife
• #roadtrip
• #travelbug
• #solotravel
• #traveltheworld

Fitness

• #workout
• #athomeworkout
• #gymlife
• #healthandwellness
• #cycling
• #swimming
• #bodybuilding
• #weightloss
• #personaltrainer
• #gymmotivation

Tech

• #digital
• #technology
• #innovation
• #techlover
• #techreviews
• #techlife
• #technews
• #ai
• #coding
• #software

Business

• #smallbusiness
• #ecommerce
• #entrepreneur
• #marketing
• #digitalmarketing
• #startup
• #branding
• #sales
• #b2b
• #businessgrowth

Pet

• #dogsofinstagram
• #catsofinstagram
• #petlove
• #furbaby
• #frenchbulldog
• #rescuedog
• #goldenretriever
• #catlovers
• #catphotography
• #catselfie

Entertainment

• #funnymemesdaily
• #comedyvideos
• #justforlaughs
• #memes
• #cinema
• #popculture
• #standupcomedy
• #film
• #satire
• #parody

Elevate Your Instagram Hashtag Strategy

Relevant Instagram hashtags can improve your content’s performance by enhancing its discoverability and visibility. Hashtags help the algorithm understand your posts, resulting in better categorization and ultimately, recommendations to users’ feeds.

However, a great hashtag strategy will only improve your performance when paired with other tactics, such as posting high-value content, engaging with users, publishing posts at high-engagement timeframes, and staying consistent.

GeeLark can help with some of that. The platform not only offers antidetect solutions but also automation tools.

With GeeLark’s post-publishing templates, you can schedule your content to go live when users are most active, thereby capitalizing on their engagement. You can also automate posting at scale, making it easier to maintain consistency across multiple accounts.

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