You’re ready to take the plunge and start researching hashtags! You might be unsure of which hashtag categories to use but I’ll give you three must-haves for posts when hashtagging Instagram.

As a business owner, you work hard to develop that marketing plan and execute your social media. In our previous blog post, I gave you a few tools to research hashtags so it’s only natural that we talk about the categories of hashtags you should include as well, in your research.

Location, Location, Location!

Stand out in your own backyard! Research your business using hashtags. For example, I live in Bend, Oregon and in doing my research I’ve found #inbend, #bendoregon, #centraloregon to be the best hashtags to use. Don’t forget to tag the location in your post as well. Instagram users search “Places” and engage and interact.

Dream On!

Your dream clients use hashtags so make sure that you research and take note of those hashtags. If your market are women business owners, start with tags such as, #womeninbiz, #workingmomlife, #womenownedbusiness.

Details Are Important!

The subject of your caption can also include a hashtag or a few. I talk primarily about marketing, I’ll niche down to the actual topic and search those tags. Since I’m talking about Instagram on my posts, I’ll look up #instagramtips, #socialmediatip, #instagramhacks, and use those.

Action step: Block 1 hour for research and keep your hashtag categories in a spreadsheet or notes on your phone. You’ll want to make a mark on the hashtag posted tags numbers so that you can use a variety in your posts (see previous blog on how many to use).