What does Instagram’s label change mean for marketers?

Tag fillings are no longer as tasty as they once were.

This month, Instagram Ended the following hashtag functionality. Users can no longer follow a hashtag and have that content appear in their feed or reels. However, they can still search for the hashtag.

This move is certainly a problem for hashtag stuffers – spammers who will include any popular and trending hashtag, regardless of relevance, in order to get their content in front of more people.

But does the end of Instagram’s follow feature herald the future of hashtags for marketers?

Yes, according to several marketing experts who responded to CMI’s inquiry Qwoted Platform.

Forget quality appeal

Robin DiamondThe CEO and founder of marketing and innovation firm Fifth & Cor says the role of hashtags is constantly evolving. “There is now a tool to increase relevancy rather than increase mass awareness,” she said.

To optimize their use, she recommends using 5 to 10 broad and niche tags to expand reach and connect with more relevant groups.

Plus, learn other Instagram best practices like writing SEO-friendly captions and using popular news. Partner with creators or other brands to increase visibility.

“While hashtags can support your strategy, they are no longer core – authenticity and algorithm-friendly engagement are core,” Robin said.

Hashtags are counted in different ways

Saliha MalikThe founders of S-Squared agree that hashtags are still important, but not as important as they once were. She said marketers would be better off taking a holistic approach that focuses on engagement metrics, relevance and High-quality content inspires interaction.

“Once upon a time, hashtags were like an open-door invitation to the wider community. Using #Travel or #OOTD (Opinion of the Day) could push a post into the feeds of thousands of people who care about those topics,” Saleha said.

Now, Instagram prioritizes content targeted to users’ interests, so its algorithm is more interested in engagement and meeting preferences.

she pointed Sustainable fashion brand Reformation’s Instagram channel. It minimizes the use of hashtags in posts – many posts don’t contain any hashtags. This post even uses OOTD in the text of the visual post and offers three outfit options to be the life of the party – never using a hashtag.

Instead, the reform now focuses on encouraging user interaction through: Questions and Polls in Stories Improve its ranking in personalized feeds.

Take a TikTok-like approach

Instagram’s move reflects a shift toward becoming more like TikTok, algorithm-driven approach,explain Kavi Vadatfounder and president of RiseOpp (a fractional CMO services company).

“On TikTok, while hashtags help categorize content, the platform’s algorithm prioritizes user interactions (such as likes, shares, comments, and watch time) to determine a user’s “Recommended for You” page. content,” he said.

Liam TaylorA content marketer for performers and singers also noted, Tik Tokthe best strategy to attract a large number of users is not to use any hashtags.

But this is still not the best strategy for Instagram. “The more tags you use, the better you can target and reach specific users,” he said. Still, Liam recommends using no more than three hashtags to appeal to your target niche.

Kaveh said the most important thing for marketers to do is to create compelling content that resonates with their target audience and drives engagement, as this is more likely to be favored by the algorithms on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Back to a Google-like strategy

Kate SmoothFounder and Director of Webhive Digital says today’s social media users Take the Google approach Social media, use these platforms as search tools. Therefore, marketers should follow suit and use keywords to showcase their content.

Liam agrees. “You’re better off writing detailed headlines that engage users and encourage user interaction,” he says.

In the end, how many hashtags to use or not to use is not a question marketers should answer.

“The most important thing is to find room to experiment. What works today may not work tomorrow. What works for me may not work for you,” Liam said. “Whenever you try a new approach, be sure to measure the results and use that to guide your future strategy.”

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute