Salty Social Media Vocabulary: The #Instagram Edition
A few years ago many marketers were looking at Instagram as the next frontier. While it’s user base has yet to bypass Twitter or Facebook, Instagram is still a unique platform for reaching your audience. Here are a few common Instagram hashtags and trends every marketer should know, and advice as to whether or not they’re a good fit for brands.
#Instagood & #2instagood are popular hashtags that were originally used by IG eponymously-named accounts to feature notable photos. Unfortunately IG has become awash in these hashtags, making them almost useless unless you have an exceptional photo.
Should You Use It?
@Instagood clearly prefers to highlight photos from individuals, not brands. Unless your brand is photography-based, it would be best to avoid using the lest you be accused of hashtag abuse.
Related: #Instamood, #Instagramhub, #Instalike (and so on)
#FoodPic is, as the hashtag suggests, used to tag pictures of food. Not much more to say here.
Should You Use It?
If you (or your brand) have some stunning food pictures, by all means: hashtag away.
Related: #foodporn, #eat, #cooking, #food, and #foodphotography
#TBT (also #ThrowbackThursday) refers to “Throwback Thursday” (or sometimes “Throwback Tuesday”). We’ve talked about #TBT before; it remains a relevant and commonly used hashtag.
Should You Use It?
Of course. Assuming it’s Tuesday or Thursday, and your photo is a throwback.
Related: #FBF (Flashback Friday), and #WBW (Wayback Wednesday).
#LikeforLike and #follow4follow, and so on, are hashtags used to generate likes or follows in exchange for, well, a like or a follow. This means if you use these hashtags and someone likes your photo or follows you, in turn you should do the same for them.
Should You Use It?
As a brand, no: ultimately you want your brand to be influential and project expertise. There are also more efficient and less tedious ways to build a following.
Related: #Like4Like and #f4f
#[insert thing here]ofInstagram is popularly used across many categories—of particular note, #dogsofinstagram, #puppiesofinstagran, #catsofinstagram and #kittensofinstagram.
Should You Use It?
When relevant, absolutely.
Related: #[Anything]ofinstagram
That covers a few of the major hashtags. Which hashtags do you use on your brand’s social media? Have you had any success or failures with any of the above hashtags? Dive into our comments section and tell us about it. See you next week!