14 Oct, 2019
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Instagram tends to be synonymous with artists, models, chefs, and photographers – pretty much any industry that thrives on imagery. But that doesn’t mean your small business account can’t succeed on the platform if it falls outside of those categories.
In fact, we previously created an entire post dedicated to the type of shareable content followers love to see from their favorite brands regardless of industry.
As you can see, there’s plenty of options that your business Instagram account can use to create content. The next step is making sure it gets views – to do that, you need to find them through targeted hashtags.
Hashtags help sift your content through Instagram’s 500 million daily users to the people who are most likely to like or engage with it. If you neglect them or choose the wrong ones, there’s a chance your posts may never even be seen at all.
That being said, proper Instagram tagging use does take some finesse and we’re here to take the guesswork out of the equation so you can get right down to business.
Keep reading to find the perfect small business hashtags for your account, tips for hashtag best practices, and to learn how using then incorrectly can actually do more harm to your account than good.
Remember that hashtags work by funneling your content to specific areas, so it’s important to choose hashtags that live in the categories where you want your content to appear in. That means you need to know the type of content your followers are looking for, be aware of the type of content you’re sharing, and have an idea of how your audience likes to browse Instagram.
On top of all that, Instagram also has rules on how tags should be used, and it has penalties if those rules are ignored.
That means there has to be a strategy to the way you use your small business hashtags, as opposed to throwing them in as an afterthought.
If that sounds a little more complicated than you originally expected, you’re not alone. In fact, the reason many small businesses’ social media accounts fail is simply due to lack of strategy and an unclear understanding of its audience. That’s why it’s important to have a good handle on your Instagram KPI’s and how to track them, before you even start posting.
Once your strategy is developed and you are ready to start posting, here’s how to determine the best ways to use small business hashtags for your Instagram account.
Sure you’re a small business owner. But are you a baker? Do you run a law firm? Are you a local contractor?
We’ve already talked about how using hashtags funnels your content to specific audiences. And as you can see, just being an entrepreneur isn’t specific enough to land your posts in front of people who are going to appreciate them the most.
So when you’re choosing hashtags, they need to relate as closely as possible to the subject matter of your content.
If you want to use #entrepreneur, you totally can. But keep in mind your accounting company’s post may very well be mixed in with a slurry of other posts that have nothing to do with yours, filled with users ready to scroll right past it without a second thought.
That’s why you’ll want to get as specific as you can. Find hashtags that aren’t just about business or entrepreneurship, but that are specific to your industry.
So instead of trying to have your post compete against 55 million other posts on a general business page, using a hashtag like #accountinglife will have fewer competing posts and more active users that fit your target audience.
We previously mentioned competing hashtags, but what does that mean?
Well, Instagram gets about 40,000 photo uploads per minute. That means there is A LOT of content out there. Not everyone is going to see it all, and plenty of content may never be seen at all due to the fast-paced nature of the platform.
To give your content its best chance at being viewed by a receptive audience, you need to make It easier to find – hence…hashtags.
But sometimes hashtags are so popular and so many photos are flooding into the same channels that a lot of content doesn’t get a chance to receive enough engagement before it gets pushed to the bottom of the Instagram feed.
Essentially, all of the content being uploaded to a specific hashtag wants a spot on its feed. But there’s just not enough room for all of the images being uploaded. This means that everyone’s content is competing against each other.
In cases where a certain hashtag has a huge following, typically only big accounts with their own established large audiences will stand a chance at competing.
So instead of focusing on the most popular hashtags where it may be harder for your posts to compete, try to rank on hashtag feeds that have a number of posts you can reasonably compete with.
You’ll want to choose small business hashtags that have 1000X the number of likes your content usually gets. This will help ensure that your content is viewed by a larger pool than your existing audience, but not so big that it gets lots before anyone has a chance to engage with it.
So now that you’ve got your social strategy together, you’re aware of your niche and the specific small business hashtags your content is aligned with, and you understand how to pick hashtags you can compete for, there’s only one thing left to do. Let’s start picking hashtags!
Three of our favorite general business hashtags
Men tend to lead the field in traditional “business” roles, so we love this hashtag because it gives businesswomen a place to be highlighted.
This is a great general hashtag to use for business related posts. We also really like this one because it sits at just above 1 million competing posts so it could be a potential good fit for larger-but-not-as-established accounts.
We couldn’t resist the versatility of this hashtag because it’s great for people looking for advice, but can also help generate good traffic for more experienced business owners willing to share tips.
Although we recommend pairing this one with a few more specific hashtags, we really like how straight to the point and versatile #smallbusiness is.
For brick and mortar establishments or businesses that serve a local community, #supportlocal is a great way to get the word out to your community and encourage their support.
Any time a hashtag has a specific day of the week in it is an easy opportunity to build a recurring post and help with batching your content. This one makes posting each Saturday a breeze.
Again, we’re into #entrepreneur for its simplicity and versatility. But definitely make sure you pair it with other hashtags since you may not have a lot of luck ranking there for very long.
Whether you’re looking for entrepreneurial tips, you’re the one offering tips, or you just want to get a taste of an entrepreneur’s life, this tag is a great option.
Again, we always love an opportunity for underserved communities to connect. This hashtag is a good option to target and connect with female entrepreneurs.
This hashtag is short, sweet, and relatable. It’s a good one to highlight your grit and work ethic.
If you’re an established business, we love the idea of creating infographics with a few tips and pairing it with this hashtag. It’s a quick way to provide value to your followers and attract a larger audience.
Looking for a place to display your bragging rights? Use this hashtag both to show people how far you’ve come, and to inspire others.
Quotes are a great example of popular Instagram content that doesn’t have to be a picture of something tangible. People especially love feeling motivated or educated.
Drawing a blank at the beginning of the week? Use #motivationmonday regularly to fill in gaps in your content calendar and provide value to your followers.
This hashtag is filled to the brim with business tips, success stories, and motivational posts. It’s a great place to browse for encouragement or offer advice to beginners.
An ideal hashtag to use for marketing, branding, and design businesses. Use this to show off your branding skills and to show people why branding is important.
If you’re a digital marketer or agency you’ll want to use this hashtag to attract clients by sharing tips and networking.
Another opportunity to learn and share. #marketing 101 is ideal for small business owners trying to learn more about marketing their businesses, and for established marketers to grow their following by offering free tips.
Now that you understand how and why tagging works and you have some good small business hashtags to use with your content, it’s time to start posting! But there are a few things to keep in mind as you build out your content schedule and prepare to start sharing your posts.
Make sure to read through our list to find the right small business hashtags for your brand. If you want to do more research, check out All Hashtag to see how different hashtags stack up against one another to find additional ones to use for your account. Instagram posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than posts without any.
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