Hell or Hashtags, What's Worse?

Right, so you've created a beautiful image for your instagram or an extremely witty tweet and you've added a couple of hashtags. *clicks post.
Job done, right?
Ermmm...nope. Read on to find out what else you should be doing.






First you need to be sure your hashtags are relevant to your content.
You also can't assume that your customer will automatically click on a hashtag and come across your post.
One exercise I found quite effective was to like  a few photos under a hashtag I had used to draw attention to you.
For example, when I was a freelance nail artist I wanted to increase my following on instagram. I would look in the hash tags  #newnails #lovemynails #nailart and like photos that were there. In those days I had a twenty-seven minute walk home from my old job and in that time  I would like as many photos under each hashtag as instagram would let me which was about 200. This would then direct traffic to my insta account and by the time i got home I would have gained at least ten extra followers and 50+ likes on my photos.
Think about what hashtags your customers are using and use them. Go find your clients using them.
It literally that easy. Its even better to comment on photos as well as like them as you'll be noticed by their followers.
Note: On instagram, you can't copy and paste a comment on each photo. Instagram picks up on this. You have to type a slightly different comment on each photo.

You can also target your competitions customers in this way.

Last year I created an instagram account that featured accessories that were holographic, iridescent and pastel goth. In order to find my audience I researched what retailers cater to this aesthetic and found their accounts on instagram.
I started this account as I wanted products that consumers would happily post photos about and hashtag them appropriately. Among others, the main retailers I used were Cyberdog and Skinnydip London.
I consistently posted 3 photos a day and then liked as many photos as I could using #cyberdog #lovecyberdog #skinnydiplondon #loveskinnydiplondon. I also like every photo that had been tagged the retailers locations.
My account had an interesting name so to receive an alert that it had like a post would cause curiosity.
I gained 170 followers in 2 days, I also receive a request from an independent designer to feature one of their products.
You have to be pro-active in this way when using hash-tags, you can't just add a couple to your post and then wait and see. If you struggle to think up appropriate ones there's an  app called HASHTAGGER that will come up with 30 relevant hashtags.

Not using hash tags is like selling in the dark. You know you are there but nobody else does.


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