The Hashtags Guide For Instagram and TikTok (Because They Are Different!)

Hashtags can be powerful little things! They are what help people find you, help categorize your company or product, and boost your traffic. And by now, you already know how important it is to be using them. But did you know that not all hashtags do what is intended, and not all hashtags are created equal when it comes to different platforms? This is especially true when it comes to differentiating the use of them between Instagram and Tiktok.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

The first big one is the character allotment. So it’s a great idea to have a list set up for Instagram and a list set up for Tiktok based on your limit.

Instagram

• They allow for 30 hashtags per post.
• Feel free to use all 30, but make sure they are relevant and that they are for the right audience.

TikTok

• They only allow 2,200 characters in total, so a good rule of thumb is to stick to less than 10 hashtags since you have a limit on how many characters you can use.

SO HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH TAGS TO USE?

Using relevant hashtags is so important. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out this podcast episode of mine with Matthew Pierce of Hashtagslayer.com about how to optimize your hashtags and make sure they are relevant. In it, he shares his 3 pillars of hashtag strategy.

• Hashtags that describe your business/industry
• Hashtags that are specific to your content or traffic
• Hashtags that describe your audience/location

Now, these tips are great, but how do you figure out what actual hashtags you should be using, and how do you start actually building a list for yourself?

There are several ways to hone in on the ones that are best for your business and for each platform.

• Research - What are your keywords? Do you know yet? Figure out what words you want to have tied to your product or business. See if they already exist and are being used. See how they are performing elsewhere. Start building your list based on this.
• Keeping up on trends - Take a look at trending hashtags on both Instagram and Tiktok, and see if they are relevant to your brand/business. Are there any you can use? If so, start adding them to your list.
• Refine your list - Now that you’ve got a good list going, start checking out their popularity. This will look different on Instagram than it will on Tiktok.
• For Instagram, you’ll want to make sure the popularity is falling in the 10,000 - 20,000 uses range. Why? Because you don’t want to use hashtags that aren’t getting used since they won’t get you noticed, but you also don’t want to use the insanely popular ones or you will get lost in the crowd. And you are also going to want to get a bit more specific with your tags, rather than being generic.
• For Tiktok, the opposite is true. Here, you’ll want to find the ones that are the MOST popular. If you can find some with millions of uses, that’s going to be your best bet. Also for Tiktok you may be better off going the more generic route when it comes to tags.
• Change them up - Now that you’ve nailed down your perfect list, you may want to use the same ones over and over. This is great for those specific followers that you want to keep reaching, but be sure to change them up depending on what you are posting or for new audiences that you may not be reaching yet, what is trending, and what is popular. The only way to continue to get found by new people is by trying new ones out and keeping your list fluid by updating it regularly.

So do you have your perfect list nailed down yet and are you using those hashtags as they were meant to be used? If not, we can help with that!?