Are Hashtags Overrated And Overused? The surprising effect Of Social Media #’s

by means of Marko Saric November 20, 2015

November 20, 2015

Some people use way too many hashtags in their social media posts. Some brands use none at all. Many businesses usually are not certain how hashtags can help. Can hashtags lend a hand in any respect?

For this study we wished to take a look at what number of manufacturers use hashtags of their posts, what number of hashtags they use per publish and what the engagement fee is relying on choice of hashtags used.

All this in order to can help you determine what the best way to head is for your personal model.

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We checked out each Instagram and Twitter. We checked out three months of information from August 1st to October thirty first 2015. The engagement charge displays the number of people that either click on on like or remark (or retweet on Twitter) on the person post as the percentage of the whole followers.

the consequences shocked us. Let’s take a look.

Instagram

We checked out more than 1,500 energetic Instagram debts that posted one hundred thirty five,000+ posts in the three-month length and had 300+ million followers combined.

What did we discover out? 13.8% of all posts didn’t embrace any hashtags. The engagement charge is absolute best (3.03%) in posts that use three hashtags. 2nd absolute best and most effective rather decrease engagement fee, three.02%, is on posts with no hashtags in any respect.

Many manufacturers overuse hashtags on Instagram. forty nine% of all posts embody 4 or extra hashtags even supposing the engagement price declines after hashtag number three.

right here’s the full knowledge:

zero 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-15 sixteen-20 21+ % thirteen.eight 17.2 10.7 9.three 7.three 5.eight 5.1 3.6 3 2.2 1.7 6.6 4.6 9.1 ER 3.02 2.9 2.93 three.03 2.seventy two 2.6 2.four 2.13 1.eighty three 1.7 1.6 2.3 1.6 1.8

Twitter

On Twitter we looked at greater than 1,300 debts which have 60+ million followers mixed and that posted nearly 600,000 tweets in the three-month length.

Twitter could have made hashtags mainstream but 55.eight% of all tweets didn’t embody hashtags in any respect. Twitter differs from Instagram by means of having the 140-persona limit, which contributes to only four.seventy five% of all tweets having three or extra hashtags.

fantastically, adding a hashtag doesn’t lead to any boost to the engagement charge. Tweets without hashtags outperform tweets with hashtags.

here’s the whole information:

zero 1 2 3 4 % 55.8 24.forty five 15 three.thirteen 1.62 ER 1.9 1.eighty four 1.2 0.four zero.19

how many hashtags should I embody in my put up?

As you’ll find in these numbers hashtags may not essentially be the reply to getting more attain and engagement.

Why is this?

● Discovery on both Twitter and Instagram may be damaged to start with.
● too much content material being posted at any time may well be one other reasons.
● an excessive amount of spam and irrelevant content being tagged may well be another cause.

● people not using both of the platforms to mission out of doors of their own feeds will be the lead to too.
● brands using irrelevant hashtags of their posts is a risk too.

however what should a brand do? Following are our recommendations.

So what’s the advice for Instagram?

Be comfortable to move without hashtags when there’s nothing related and fitting. you’ll now not lose out on further engagement.

center of attention on the quality of content itself. Your content must be attention-grabbing. It must be remarkable. It must be humorous. pleasing. Inspirational. Motivational. Informational. Even educational.

to find ideas that work. check out your earlier efficiency to see what form of imagery and movies labored highest. Analyse your opponents thru a device reminiscent of Locowise as a way to determine what performs for them and get inspiration from their work.

for those who do discover a related hashtag or two, feel free to incorporate them. however don’t go over three hashtags per post. Any advantage of the usage of hashtags decline after three hashtags.

Hashtag recommendations for Twitter?

Twitter could also be well-known for hashtags however they don’t seem to contribute much to your engagement. don’t spend too much time fascinated about the best hashtag to use to your tweet. advice to focal point on the quality of content counts for Twitter too.

If there’s a hashtag that’s related and that stands out, do feel free to make use of it now and again. don’t use more than one hashtag per put up too steadily though because the engagement rate drops dramatically.

just like on Instagram, always think about what hashtags suit your brand. You must now not embody any irrelevant hashtag into your posts. that’s spammy behaviour a good way to be very negative to your model and will result in a decrease engagement.

interesting in exploring hashtags somewhat additional?

that you may also Locowise to discover totally different hashtags. Our Hashtag instrument permits you to see how many individuals use a hashtag, the attain of a hashtag and the trending use of a hashtag over a time frame.

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