Hashtags won’t save you on Instagram
Written by Scott Colley
Recently, we had a discussion in our office about the current importance of hashtags in social media… a discussion that got a little heated.
Because I hate hashtags.
Not because they’re useless, but because these days they’re often used without any thought.
No one seems to consider what they should be, or how to use them effectively and most people don’t even track their performance anymore. They’ve become a social media “must-have” without anyone asking why.
But even if they were used correctly… would it even matter anymore?
This is “Then, Now, Next…”, a series where I’ll reflect on my 10+ years in social media, exploring the changes I’ve seen and discussing why you should stand firm but never still.
In each blog, I’ll observe one social media tactic/trend and examine how they started, where they are now and what’s coming down the line (these might be wild guesses, but time will tell if I’m right!).
And up first under my microscope, it’s the hashtag.
I miss the days when you could steal a picture from Google, add a few hashtags, and get 1,000 likes.
Once upon a time, hashtags were simple tools. They categorised content and helped users find topics of interest. Hashtags became powerful, driving trends and conversations. They connected people globally, made content discoverable, and even sparked movements.
#FoodPorn, #Wanderlust, #SelfieSunday—these were the keys to the castle.
But now, we’re stuck using them because people still believe they increase engagement or attract followers. But it’s simply not true.
Hashtags won’t save you or your brand.
Launching in 2010, Instagram is officially a teenager now and it’s going through changes (cue Black Sabbath).
Does it still like hashtags? Do they still serve a purpose?
We often debate their effectiveness in the office and I’m on the fence—hashtags have their limitations…
First, there’s over-saturation.
The sheer volume of posts using popular hashtags makes it difficult for individual posts to stand out. Using generic hashtags like #food or #travel just isn’t effective anymore; the hashtag feeds move too fast for anyone to notice your post.
In that sense, they’ve become the junk mail of social media, cluttering posts with so much noise it’s hard to hear the message.
Brands and influencers slap them on everything like digital duct tape, hoping to stick to the latest trend but often missing the mark. They become both a megaphone and spam filter of the internet—use them wisely, or risk turning your content into word soup.
Then there are the dreaded algorithm changes… engagement, content quality, and relevance are now more important than hashtags. Even Adam Mosseri says hashtags won’t help your distribution.
“Content quality,” they whispered, “is the new king.”
Instead of hashtags, you need to focus on the quality of your content for the audience. As Allie Mason, an Instagram expert and coach once said:
“Your content didn’t get improved reach because of the hashtags you used. This is a correlation but not causation. What caused the post to do well in hashtags was the content itself.”
In short, a bad post with great hashtags is still a bad post.
So what should you do to increase the quality of your content?
Personally, I like to use the 4A framework. It’s simple and means you’ll be taking what works, but presenting it in a new way. The idea being that you don’t need 1,000 new ideas to be prolific. It’s about finding a small amount of core ideas (through testing and learning), and then running them through four different lenses.
If you don’t know the 4A framework, here’s a simple breakdown. I’m using food and cooking as an example here (we are a food and beverage agency after all)…
Actionable: This is where you give practical cooking tips or techniques. For example, “Here’s how you can improve your knife skills” or “Try this quick hack to make your pasta taste better.”
Analytical: This approach looks at the data or science behind cooking. For instance, “Here’s the science behind why letting your meat rest makes it juicier” or “These are the nutrients you get from cooking vegetables this way.”
Aspirational: This is about motivating and inspiring people to cook. For example, “You can become a great cook, even if you’re a beginner—here’s how I did it” or “Learn how to create restaurant-quality dishes at home!”
Anthropological: This is about understanding the cultural or historical reasons behind cooking practices. For example, “Here’s why certain spices are key to traditional Indian cooking” or “This is why family recipes are passed down through generations.”
And there you have it. The 4A framework!
But if you insist on still getting a leg-up from the ‘power’ of hashtags, let’s take a quick look at how to improve those too…
Flick is one of the better Instagram tools for hashtag writing. You can track which hashtags are driving engagement on your posts, and how that post ranks among others using the same hashtags.
I don’t own a time machine, but let’s take an educated guess at what’s next and how you’ll be able to drive more engagement through your content.
- AI-Driven Keyword Recommendations: This is already happening, but expect it to become even more important in the future. Advanced algorithms will use machine learning to understand the context and meaning of posts, providing users with more accurate and personalised content recommendations without the need for hashtags. This means you’ll need to ensure keywords are prevalent in your captions, your alt-text and even your added subtitles.
- Visual and Voice Search: An increase in visual and voice search capabilities will allow users to discover content without relying on text-based hashtags.
- Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): AR and VR experiences will create new ways for users to interact with content, further diminishing the traditional role of hashtags in content discovery.
I won’t pretend hashtags haven’t played a pivotal role in social media evolution, but as far as I can see, their influence is waning in favour of more advanced and intuitive content discovery methods like the ones mentioned above.
So don’t be afraid to drop the hashtag and experiment. It could be just what your brand needs!
#TheEnd
About The Author
Scott is Brilliant’s Senior Social Media Manager and bad penny (he keeps coming back), having worked at the agency from 2014 to 2018 before returning in 2022.
A bit of an all-rounder, Scott developed the strategies for Tate & Lyle Sugars, Fox’s Biscuits and S&B Golden Curry, helping drive growth on these accounts. He’s a big fan of Bruce Springsteen, but not of hashtags.
