How to Use Hashtags in Social Media
Hashtags used to be one of the biggest talking points in social media marketing.
Every post seemed to end with a long list of them.
Some people used ten. Others used thirty. There were even tools that generated hundreds of hashtags at the click of a button.
Things have changed.
If you’re a small business owner wondering whether hashtags still matter, the answer is yes, but probably not in the way you’ve been told.
What Is A Hashtag?
A hashtag is simply a word or phrase with a # symbol in front of it.
They’re used to help social media platforms understand what your content is about and to help users find content on a particular topic.
For example:
#SmallBusinessMarketing
#LocalSEO
#NorthWalesBusiness
The idea is simple. If someone is interested in that topic, they may discover your content.
The Biggest Hashtag Myth
For years, people believed that adding lots of hashtags would increase reach.
That led to posts packed with endless hashtags that often had little to do with the content itself.
The problem is that social media platforms have become much smarter.
Today, platforms like Instagram pay much more attention to your content, captions, keywords, engagement and user behaviour than they do to large collections of hashtags.
In other words, hashtags alone won’t make a poor post perform well.
Why Businesses Still Use Hashtags
Although hashtags aren’t as powerful as they once were, they can still help.
A good hashtag can:
Give platforms more context about your content
Help organise content around a topic
Support local visibility
Make branded campaigns easier to track
Help users discover niche content
Think of hashtags as signposts rather than traffic generators.
They help point people in the right direction, but they don’t do all the hard work.
Don’t Make The Mistake Of Using Generic Hashtags
One of the biggest mistakes I see is businesses using hashtags that are far too broad.
For example:
#Business
#Marketing
#Success
#Entrepreneur
Millions of posts use these hashtags every day.
The chances of your content being discovered through them are extremely slim.
Instead, focus on hashtags that are more relevant to your business, location and audience.
Local Businesses Should Think Local
If you’re a local business, location based hashtags can still be useful.
A plumber in Cheshire, an accountant in Manchester or a florist in Chester should consider hashtags that relate to their area and services.
Examples might include:
#ChesterBusiness
#ManchesterAccountant
#NorthWalesMarketing
These hashtags provide extra context and can help connect your content with people searching locally.
Hashtags Are Not A Replacement For Good Content
This is where many businesses get it wrong.
They spend more time researching hashtags than creating useful content.
In reality, people don’t engage with posts because of hashtags.
They engage because the content is interesting, useful or entertaining.
A great post with a few relevant hashtags will almost always outperform an average post with dozens of hashtags.
How Many Hashtags Should You Use?
This depends on the platform.
Instagram has moved towards recommending a small number of highly relevant hashtags rather than large lists. Quality is now far more important than quantity.
For most small businesses, I’d focus on:
- Three to five highly relevant hashtags on Instagram
- One or two on Facebook if appropriate
- Three to five on LinkedIn
- Relevant topic hashtags on X when joining conversations
The goal isn’t to use as many hashtags as possible.
The goal is to use the right ones.
What Matters More Than Hashtags?
If you really want better results from social media, spend more time on:
- Creating useful content
- Writing stronger captions
- Understanding your audience
- Using relevant keywords
- Posting consistently
- Engaging with followers
These things will have a far greater impact than spending hours building hashtag lists.
Hashtags aren’t dead.
They’re just not the magic marketing trick they were once made out to be.
For small businesses, hashtags should support your content rather than drive your entire social media strategy.
Focus on creating helpful content for your audience first.
Then use a handful of relevant hashtags to give that content extra context.
Get that balance right and you’ll be ahead of many businesses that are still relying on social media tactics from five years ago.