Finding Hashtags for Your Handmade Business Instagram Posts

Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

We are gearing up for the Your Blooming Business Challenge, which starts on July 23rd!

To get you ready to rock your social media, I have some quick tips for finding hashtags for your Instagram business posts.

Hashtags on Instagram still play a role in getting eyeballs on your posts. But you can’t throw any hashtags on your post and hope they work.

Take some time to research and find the most relevant hashtags for that particular post, and you’ll see the best engagement.

Niche Hashtags Equal More Eyes On Your Posts

Rather than using super popular hashtags, such as #beautiful, which has over 750 million uses, look for smaller, niche hashtags. These smaller tags will give you a greater chance of being seen on the hashtag’s page. 

Just for kicks, go to Instagram and search #beautiful, then tap it so you see the hashtag page. Tap “recent”, and make a note of the picture that shows up at the top left. Wait about 20 seconds, then refresh the page...and poof! That picture is gone. 

Now, search for #handmadejewelryforsale, tap it so you see the hashtag page, and tap recent. Look at the top images, wait 30 seconds and refresh the page….even wait another minute or two, and refresh the page again. Notice how these images stay at the top for a while? 

This is the power of niche hashtags!

How to Find Hashtags for Your Handmade Business

Use Instagram’s search tool and dive into related hashtags for ones in your niche.

Let’s keep working with our #handmadejewelryforsale hashtag. If you type #handmadejewelry into Instagram’s search bar, you’ll end up with a list of suggested hashtags:

Now, Instagram doesn’t always give you the total number of posts using that hashtag, but most of them have this information. 

You want to pick hashtags that are between 10K and 500K uses.

These are niche hashtags that don’t get too many uses so your posts won’t get buried, but are used enough to get eyeballs on them!

Try this method with a few hashtags for your products. For example, if you crochet, start out with #crochet in search, then see what related hashtags come up that are within the 10K to 500K range, and are related to your post. When I search #crochet I see the following possibilities:

#crocheters

#crochetart

#crochetgram

#crochetaddicted

#crochetdesigner

Another method for finding hashtags is to see which hashtags your audience and your competitors are using.

Take a look at competitor posts that have good engagement (comments, likes), and see what hashtags they used. Then, search those hashtags in Instagram to see if they have posts in the 10K - 500K range and give them a try. 

The third way to find good hashtags for your business posts is to use a third party app, such as Flick. These apps cost money, usually a monthly fee (Flick is about $30/month), but they gather all the relevant hashtags for you quickly and easily, and rank them in terms of engagement and competition. 

How Many Hashtags Should You Use?

Instagram has recently stated that you do not need to use 30 hashtags on your posts. Your best bet is to find 5 hashtags that are relevant to your business, 5 hashtags that are specifically relevant to the post itself, and if you are a local business, then use 2 hashtags that are specific to your area. (If you are online, then choose 2 hashtags specific to your online shop). 

12 hashtags seems to be the "magic" number right now, but of course this will probably change (as does everything with social media). Following some social media accounts such as @latermedia is a good way to keep on top of all the changes.

Okay, now you have a way of finding good hashtags. How do you know if they're working?

Use Instagram Insights to see how your posts are doing with engagement. Do you see more activity from non-followers? Do you notice you're getting more views, maybe more engagement? Then you're on the right track!

If you're not seeing any changes, keep testing. Be as specific as you can with your hashtags - they should be directly related to the post. Over time you will find the group of hashtags that work best for you.

Now that you have your hashtag game down, it’s time to join the Your Blooming Business Challenge! 7 days of tasks to get your social media focused and optimized so you can get your business in front of your Perfect Customers.