Hashtags are one of the most effective ways to expand the reach of your IG posts organically—and, by extension, one of the best ways to grow your follower-count. (**𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝: 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 “𝙨𝙖𝙬” 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩.**) Personally, hashtags account for roughly 15% - 25% of my posts’ reach. So, theoretically, for every 1,000 of my followers who see one of my posts, I can bank on an additional 150 to 250 views by way of hashtags. Not bad!

Before I explain the categories, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

1. Don’t copy/paste your hashtags. IG may “shadow-ban” you (Google that :D). Instead, take the time to insert them manually.

2. Some people claim that 11 or some random number of hashtags is the optimal number but I’ve never come across anything conclusive to prove that idea. Bottom line is, IG allows up to 30 hashtags in a post. Use 10, use 20, use 30—whatever gets you the reach you want. Test and adjust.

𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 - Popular hashtags. E.g. #TBT. Heads-up, it’s best to use hashtags that relate to your post, otherwise you could get flagged for hashtag-spamming.

𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 - Neighborhood-, city-, or community-specific hashtags. E.g. in #Nashville, there’s a neighborhood called 12South. One of its popular hashtags is #12SouthNash.

𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 - Hashtags that describe the content of your post. E.g. #ComingSoon.

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 - Hashtags that describe a general subject of interest. E.g. #LuxuryHomes.

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 - Hashtags that connect to what a buyer or seller may be intending to do. E.g. #BuyingAHome.

𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 - Hashtags tied to specific brands that relate to the content of your post. E.g. #TomFerry. Again, don’t use a brand’s hashtag if it’s totally random.

Happy 𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜, folks!