Hashtags are essential for growing your audience on Instagram. If you don’t use hashtags, you’re only speaking to your unique (and probably small) audience, rather than to an entire network of users who may be searching popular hashtags. 

Hashtags can be tricky though! 

While it’s tempting to use hashtags you know will bring in followers and likes, the technique can eventually hurt the credibility of your business. And while it’s also tempting to only use hashtags that are unique to your business, they probably won’t be searched by anyone outside of your network. 

How can your staffing firm use hashtags intelligently?

Below are a few tricks to use hashtags on each of your Instagram posts to meet your goals of building followers or boosting your brand.

Hashtags for Followers and Likes

Pros:

Hashtags for followers (and likes, and popularity) are a great way to bring in new followers and build your network.

Cons:

The followers will not be targeted and may not be relevant.* 

Examples include:

#me #tbt #instagood #iphonesia #picoftheday #love #cute #instamood #photooftheday #igdaily #happy**

*To be seen as a credible business, never use hashtags that encourage spam, for example: #like4like, #followers4followers, #l4l, #f4f, #followback #likeback

**Notice not one of these tags directly relates to staffing; however, some can be spun, like #photooftheday, #tbt (Throwback Thursday), #picoftheday

Hashtags to Boost Branding

Pros:

Hashtags to boost branding bring in more targeted followers and build a community of similar interests, increasing awareness in your local area.

Cons:

Followers will grow at a slower pace which can be frustrating, especially with new accounts.

Examples include:

#staffing, #recruiting, #staffingandrecruiting #staffingsolutions #staffingagency #staffingfirm #staffinglife #recrutinglife, #recruitingnow, #nowhiring

Include hashtags unique to your location. For example, Haley Marketing Group is located in Williamsville, which is a suburb of Buffalo, NY. These are the top hashtags in Buffalo and surrounding areas: #buffalo #buffalony #buffalove #buffalonewyork 

Unique Hashtags

Pros:

Help your business branding.

Cons:

Very few people will be searching for them.

Examples include:

I’ll use Haley Marketing Group as the example here. On every Instagram post, I use #haleymarketing. The reason I use this and not Haley Marketing Group is because most of our clients, and our internal team, refer to us as Haley Marketing. I regularly search this hashtag during conferences and events that we attend to see if we’re being tagged in other businesses’ posts. I do not expect this hashtag to grow our followers or produce likes. To do those things, I also include #marketing, #staffing, #digitalmarketing, etc.

Instagram makes it easy to see how popular specific hashtags are. Simply start typing a hashtag into your post and the numbers of times that hashtag has been used will display next to the term. I recommend using the most popular hashtags (as long as they are relevant) because it’s more likely to be searched, thus it’s more likely your post, and business, will be found. 

Need help with your social media strategy?

For more information on hashtags and strategies for Instagram, contact the Social Media team at Haley Marketing.

About Haley Marketing Group

Haley Marketing provides website development, email and content marketing, social media marketing and strategy consulting to the staffing industry. We provide services to more than 1,200 staffing and recruiting firms throughout the world, ranging from solo recruiters to larger staffing and recruiting organizations with regional, national and international offices. Our mission is simple: to make great marketing more affordable!

Editor's Note:

Michelle Sears, Social Media Marketing Advisor

With an MBA and an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Michelle finds exactly what customers want and delivers it in a fun, effective way. Michelle is excited to be a part of the Social Media team at Haley because her role involves her two favorite aspects of marketing – client interaction and social media. She starts each day by setting goals for her clients (and herself) and isn’t satisfied until they are achieved. In her free time, Michelle volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County by hanging out with her Little Sister and serving on fundraising committees. In that little time leftover, she loves being around her family, friends, and two pets – a rescued cat and a spoiled Pomeranian.