Let me preface this by saying I am not an IG expert! I’m just sharing what I noticed since I came back from my Instagram break this summer.
Hashtags have always been tricky for me to master, and I had planned on updating mine after my break, but two weeks in, I chucked them for my photo posts altogether. It’s always bothered me my posts weren’t getting to my followers - the people who chose to be there. When I started posting again in July, I noticed that it finally shifted. My community is the group of people who see what I post (yay).
My first four posts back accompanied by their analytics.
The places people may find you outside of their home feed are from hashtags, their explore page, your location, and maybe if someone shares your post. When I came back to the app, I checked on my analytics, and no one found my posts through hashtags. I popped up most on everyone’s homepage.
My current goals for Instagram don’t include growing my following. Instead, I want to connect deeper with the people that are already within my community. That means less frequent posts but higher quality content. Searching for the “right” hashtags to use for my industry feels like a complete waste of time when they aren’t working for me on my posts.
So go ahead and check your analytics! Where does your audience come from? Is there a way for you to post differently that will better suit your time and resources?
While I’ve decided to ditch hashtags for my photo posts, I’m keeping them for reels. Right now, Instagram is pushing for more people to use that feature, and it seems to work better for discovering smaller accounts vs. bigger ones. Unfortunately, analytics for reels are severely lacking. I have no idea how people come across mine, which is why I’m still adding hashtags to them (it can’t hurt).
Everything will probably change at some point. I doubt things will stay as they are, so my advice is not to get too comfortable. Be as adaptable as you can with these platforms, and always do what works best for you!
I offer a Social Media Intensive through my coaching program if you need some help in the strategy/social planning department. We’ll go over where to find your analytics, what they mean, and how to plan out your social, so it’s not too overwhelming.