Founder and managing director of My Superconnector Jennifer Corcoran explains why hashtags are important for Instagram posts.

The first thing that a retailer needs to consider when starting out on Instagram is their bio.

Your bio is key to giving off a great first impression for potential followers. You want to tell people who you are, who you work with and how you can help them.

Your bio should also include a call to action to encourage followers to engage and take action when they arrive on your account.

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Instagram is undoubtedly a visual platform however the biggest mistake that I see business owners making is their use of hashtags.

You are allowed to use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram so I say use them all! Hashtags are THE way to grow your following and increase brand exposure on Instagram.

So what is the perfect hashtag formula?

• 5 hashtags focused on your products and services
• 10 hashtags focused on your ideal audience
• 10 hashtags focused on your niche / community
• 5 hashtags focused on your photo content

If you put any hashtag in the search box you will see the number of posts (uses) below.

Imagine hashtags as if they are a big craft fayre and every photo that you post is a stall selling products. If you walk into a craft fayre with 5 million other stalls setting up every minute, do you think you are going to get noticed?

Sure, there are 5 million people at the fayre but there are even more people shouting to get their attention.

If you go to a fayre with 300,000 other stalls, you are far more likely to get noticed before a bunch of other stalls push you out of the limelight.

I recommend using hashtags between 30,000 and 300,000 uses in order to get properly seen.

I strongly recommend to use no more than 5 hashtags with 1 million+ uses. This helps boost your post’s reach and give you a little exposure but still allows you a further 25 hashtags to focus on your engagement – getting your likes, comments and follows up.

So there you have it – my top tips are to inject some personality in your bio and investigate the keywords aka hashtags associated with your product or service.

Pictured – Jennifer Corcoran