When creating and posting content on social media, what are your chances of choosing the right hashtags? They’re probably higher than you think, which is a good thing because hashtags actually are just as important as everyone says—but using them correctly? That’s a whole different story.

Let’s demystify some of the ideas surrounding using hashtags on social media and how to use them to find new fans and engage existing ones. Because hashtag use is a little different for every platform, it’s important to understand how to use it in each space and the different rules between them all. Not using hashtags optimally could make or break your social media strategy, so let’s get to it!

Facebook

Hashtags on Facebook have grown to not mean much of anything. Using them does not make or break your post, and in fact, adding them can create a cluttered look to your post that looks unprofessional at best or like you don’t know what you’re doing at worst. The better strategy here is to join Groups that fit into your niche and start interacting and building community. Don’t let anyone tell you Facebook Groups are dead either! While Facebook itself ebbs and flows in popularity and usefulness, finding the right groups both for fan building and other artist support is still a great way to grow your audience.

Quick tip: If you are interested in including hashtags, limit yourself to 3-5 (but no more than 15) per post.

Instagram

Instagram’s hashtags can hold much weight on the app. When researching this, you’ll find a lot of advice for if hashtags are better off in the comments or in the caption. I can say through my own research I honestly haven’t seen it make a huge difference either way, although the latest word on the street is that it depends on your follower count, and if you have under 100k followers, it should go in the captions. Doing this means you’re in line with about 87% of brands doing the same. My advice? Put your hashtags wherever it feels like it make the most sense for you. The important thing is just that you are using them and that when you do use them in the comments you put some space between your caption and the hashtags. For example:

[Witty/clever/inspiring caption goes here]

.

.

.

.

#HashtagsGoHere

You can use up to 30 hashtags, but we recommend between 3- 5, which is the sweet spot for Instagram’s algorithm. Try to keep it relevant to what is in your photo and caption. For instance, if it’s a photo of you on stage, don’t caption #CandyApples that doesn’t make sense. Or, if it’s a photo of the band at a pizza shop, tagging #NashvilleMusic if there’s also nothing about Nashville or music in the caption likely won’t be favored by Instagram’s algorithm.

Ultimately, these are just guidelines. The real key is creating engagement for your audience so they want to interact and use Hashtags as a tool rather than a complete strategy.

Quick tip: While doing endless hashtags in Stories was once a thing and can still be done, it’s not as worth your time crafting an engaging post. Feel free to tag relevant brands or people in your stories and even use a few hashtags, but don’t go crazy. A few will do! (if any).

Choose hashtags that don’t have ginormous followings—between 10K—and 300K each. This way, you will hit a targeted audience instead of throwing grains of sand onto the beach.

TikTok

Tiktok is a giant hub for new music and endless promotion possibilities. Hashtags work (again) when you use them well, but they are much more beloved on this platform than on Instagram.

TikTok is all about hashtags, and every single one has a page full of popular and recent videos, so you might get a lot of views if you’re using the right hashtags. If a hashtag is trending, you will want to create a video that fits that niche and post it ASAP – as people will be scrolling through the hashtag for hours. Unlike Instagram, TikTok hashtags are best used quickly and in conjunction with existing trends rather than being used with the idea that people will stumble upon them later. And we suggest between 3- 5,

Like Instagram, you want to use relevant hashtags for your video. The more you post with those hashtags, the more followers, likes, and comments you’ll get. Plus, you’ll be building your community! TikTok limits captions to 100 characters, so keep the caption short and share the most essential hashtags first. 

Using the Discover tab is essential for seeing what hashtags are trending.

Quick tip: Combine trending, popular, and niche hashtags to increase visibility and awareness.

X (Formerly Twitter)

Now, when it comes to Twitter (or X as we’re now calling it), we all know the importance of Hashtags. We all know that Twitter relies heavily on hashtags. They perform as mini-forums to host every tweet ever made using the hashtag. That being said – Twitter favors tweets with minimal hashtag use. One or two in a tweet is fine.

You can also use Twitter’s “Explore” tab to see what hashtags are trending and curate your tweets surrounding those topics.

Are you interested in finding more ways to up your social media game? Click here to learn about our Social Media Total Tuneup!