Should You Use Only 3-5 Hashtags on Instagram?

Last week, the creators community page on Instagram stirred up some drama when they stated that they now recommend that only 3-5 hashtags be used for Instagram posts. Three to five hashtags? Really?

We wanted to catch you before you start changing your entire Instagram strategy and stressing about which hashtags you’re going to use. So, let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. Recently, Instagram has reiterated that using generic hashtags that have no relevance to your image will not be helpful to your reach. We’ve seen this in practice! If you use a hashtag that doesn’t make sense for your image, you’re not going to get the reach you want. But only 3-5 hashtags per post? Seriously?

Let’s Take a Look

How can we interpret this new suggestion and implement the information in a way that makes sense? We can acknowledge that Instagram wants you to use extremely relevant hashtags for your image! We can read this as Instagram tiring of users using hashtags that have no rhyme or reason to them. It’s only natural then, that they want to make sure that people are using only relevant hashtags.

This is a wakeup call. A way to get people to pay attention to the hashtags that they use. There doesn’t appear to be any serious change in the way that hashtags work. Data pooled by content creators shows us that accounts are still ranking on more than 5 hashtags per post and that hasn’t stopped since this recommendation was published. It begs the question: why would you want to only use 5 hashtags when you can reach more accounts by using more hashtags?

So, what do we think? We think you should focus on these common-sense practices:

• Use only relevant hashtags
• Use hashtags that make sense for the size of your account
• Make sure your content is high quality and attention-grabbing

Try lots of different hashtag combinations, numbers, and strategies, and step up your game when it comes to what works for you, your business, and your account. Instead of panicking and thinking you need to completely change your strategy: experiment! Find out which hashtags are going to work best for you and your business. The more you understand and dive into the hashtags that are actually helping your content perform well, the better your hashtag strategy will be and the more your content will reach people.

Do You Need to Change Your Hashtag Strategy?

This depends on whether or not your current strategy is working for you. If you’re using 25-30 hashtags and seeing great results, we don’t recommend that you change anything. That said, it doesn’t hurt to look at the hashtags you’re using before you post so you can remove any that aren’t actually relevant to the content of your post. You can also try using fewer hashtags, if you want to, and track what happens.

I Don’t Know What To Do!

Well, it’s going to take some time for the gods of Instagram to put together real data and start seeing solid trends, if any. So, try not to let one account’s post move you away from what you know works for you. If your account is performing amazingly, using all 30 hashtags, keep using them! (This is still our recommendation, by the way.) If you want to try and test different hashtag numbers, you should do that.

What Hashtags are Best to Use?

No matter what you decide, it’s important to use a nice variety of hashtags. As for us? We’ll be using and recommending 30 hashtags until our stats and analytics tell us otherwise!