Instagram hashtags: How to find best hashtags for Instagram [+ list]

In today’s competitive social media landscape, simply posting and hoping for the best isn’t going to cut it. Instagram hashtags can be the difference between your brand getting lost in the feed or reaching new customers.

Hashtags on Instagram can help your posts reach a target audience, gain new followers and increase brand engagement.

In this guide, we’ll explore the secrets of Instagram hashtags and help you unlock their full potential. We’ll also share the best Instagram hashtags for 2024, introduce you to some of the top hashtag generator tools‌ and provide expert tips and strategies for optimizing your hashtag game.

What are Instagram hashtags?

Instagram hashtags are clickable keywords preceded by the # symbol that categorize your content and make it discoverable to users searching for those topics. They connect your posts to relevant audiences beyond your followers and help Instagram’s algorithm understand and distribute your content.

Here’s an example of what an Instagram caption with hashtags might look like:

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How Instagram hashtags work

Hashtags do more than just label your content—they’re direct signals to the Instagram algorithm. They tell the platform what your post is about and, more importantly, who needs to see it.

When you use relevant hashtags, you improve your content’s discoverability. This means your posts show up on the Explore page, dedicated hashtag pages and even in the feeds of users who don’t follow you yet but are interested in your topics.

A smart hashtag strategy ensures the algorithm works for you, putting your content in front of a high-intent audience that’s ready to engage.

How to use hashtags on Instagram

Strategic hashtag use grows your account and organizes your content. Hashtags require ongoing optimization—monitor performance and adjust based on engagement data.

Here are four proven methods to maximize your hashtag impact:

1. Research relevant and popular hashtags for your brand

Start by identifying hashtags that are relevant to your content and target audience. You can do this by exploring posts within your industry, analyzing competitor hashtags‌ and using Instagram’s search function to find trending and related hashtags.

A mix of broad and specific hashtags is the key to success. While popular tags can boost your visibility, more specific ones can help you zero in on a more engaged audience. For example, if you’re in a Chicago-based restaurant, consider pairing a broad tag like #restaurants with more targeted ones like #chicagorestaurants or #glutenfreechicago to draw in a more focused following.

2. Place hashtags within the caption or in the first comment

You can either include hashtags within the caption of your post or add them as the first comment. While there’s no significant difference in terms of reach or engagement, some users prefer to keep their captions clean and concise by placing hashtags in the first comment. Of course, we recommend you test which hashtag placement is most effective for your posts.

3. Use the right number of hashtags

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, but that doesn’t mean you should use all of them. In fact, using too many hashtags can‌ decrease engagement. Aim for 3-5 relevant hashtags per post, and don’t forget to include a mix of general and specific hashtags (See tip #1 above).

4. Monitor the performance of your hashtags and adjust your strategy

Keep an eye on the performance of your hashtags by checking insights and analytics. See which hashtags are generating the most reach, impressions‌ and engagement. Use this information to fine-tune your hashtag strategy and optimize your posts for better visibility and engagement.

Using an Instagram growth tool will help you monitor and scale your marketing efforts.

Bonus resource: If you’re looking for a way to streamline your Instagram post creation, templates are a great place to start. Use our template collection (with guidance for tweaking colors, typography and icons) to start expanding your content library today.

Download the templates

Instagram hashtag research strategies

Finding the right hashtags isn’t about guesswork. It’s about a repeatable process that connects your content to the right audience.

Building a research-driven hashtag strategy requires three core approaches:

• Competitor analysis: Study competitors’ high-engagement hashtags to identify patterns, but adapt their approach rather than copying directly
• Platform intelligence: Use Instagram’s native search suggestions to discover how the algorithm categorizes content in your space
• Influencer insights: Follow industry leaders to identify proven niche and community hashtags that drive authentic engagement

Benefits of hashtags on Instagram

Hashtags should be a major part of your Instagram marketing strategy. There are many use cases for them—but also many benefits. Let’s cover five major benefits that hashtags can provide.

1. Increases exposure and discovery

First and foremost, hashtags are known for increasing exposure and discoverability for posts. They’re good for overall brand awareness. Think of hashtags as digital gateways that connect your content with a broader audience, not just your immediate followers.

When you use relevant and trending Instagram hashtags, users who are looking for content about those topics will find your posts. This will increase your chances of attracting new followers and, ideally, customers.

2. Encourages audience interactions

Hashtags are a powerful tool for encouraging engagement and interaction on Instagram. When users find your content through relevant hashtags, they’re more likely to engage with your posts by liking, commenting‌ and sharing. This increased engagement not only boosts your post’s visibility but also helps to build a stronger relationship with your audience, creating a sense of community and loyalty.

Branded hashtags are a custom tag specifically crafted for a brand or social media campaign. They can be used as a rallying point for both the brand and its followers. Having branded Instagram hashtags encourages users to share their experience with your products or service and could be seen as a type of brand advocacy.

3. Competitor analysis

How much digital space are your competitors taking up in your market? Chances are that you and your competitors will have overlapping hashtags, especially if you’re using industry and location hashtags.

With a social media competitive analysis, you can analyze the share of voice, sentiment and engagement of those posts.

Instagram hashtags can help you analyze the content strategies of your competitors. By observing the hashtags used by your competitors, you can see what they post, how often they post and the engagements of their posts. This insight helps you identify trends and successful content that appeals to your target audience.

4. Content research

Instagram hashtags aren’t just for show; they are a treasure trove of performance indicators. By keeping an eye on the reach, impressions and interactions linked to your chosen hashtags, you can gain valuable insights into what makes your audience tick.

Hashtags can also help you research different content ideas. What seems to be working for similar brands? Is there a certain style or caption that’s trending now?

This data-driven approach allows you to fine-tune your hashtag game, optimize your content calendar and tailor your posts to better connect with your followers.

5. Connects digital and IRL campaigns

Whether shopping online or in stores, chances are you’ll come across a hashtag marketing campaign. These types of campaigns gets in front of in-store customers and offers an easy way to connect digital and in-real-life (IRL) campaigns.

Remember, you want your customers talking about your brand positively online, and the incentive needs to be visible to them outside of Instagram.

Top Instagram hashtags in 2024

If there’s one rule to keep in mind when using Instagram hashtags, it’s to always keep them relevant to your business and the content you’re posting. However, there’s nothing wrong with using popular hashtags in your industry—so to help you find those, here are some of the top Instagram hashtags of 2024 for a variety of different industries.

To discover hashtags specifically for Reels, we recommend checking out our article on Instagram Reel hashtags.

Top 50 Instagram hashtags in 2024

1. #love (2.1B)
2. #instagood (1.8B)
3. #instagram (1.3B)
4. #fashion (1.1B)
5. #photooftheday (1.1B)
6. #art (1.1B)
7. #photography (1.1B)
8. #beautiful (849M)
9. #nature (824M)
10. #reels (809M)
11. #travel (751M)
12. #picoftheday (734M)
13. #follow (734M)
14. #happy (720M)
15. #instadaily (710M)
16. #cute (682M)
17. #style (674M)
18. #trending (638M)
19. #tbt (588M)
20. #repost (568M)
21. #summer (568M)
22. #followme (558M)
23. #beauty (556M)
24. #instalike (555M)
25. #fitness (549M)
26. #food (530M)
27. #photo (514M)
28. #like4like (481M)
29. #music (476M)
30. #life (462M)
31. #me (460M)
32. #friends (453M)
33. #family (454M)
34. #selfie (451M)
35. #smile (445M)
36. #girl (431M)
37. #motivation (399M)
38. #design (383M)
39. #model (378M)
40. #handmade (372M)
41. #lifestyle (369M)
42. #artist (342M)
43. #sunset (337M)
44. #likeforlike (326M)
45. #dogsofinstagram (325M)
46. #beach (304M)
47. #drawing (300M)
48. #cat (298M)
49. #instamood (294M)
50. #amazing (288M)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for B2B

1. #b2b (3.6M)
2. #work (152M)
3. #smallbusiness (143M)
4. #business (123M)
5. #entrepreneur (109M)
6. #marketing (52.7M)
7. #branding (47.8M)
8. #digitalmarketing (39.9M)
9. #sales (22.3M)
10. #ecommerce (17.1M)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for fashion and beauty

1. #fashion (1.1B)
2. #style (674M)
3. #beauty (556M)
4. #ootd (445M)
5. #makeup (414M)
6. #hair (253M)
7. #fashionblogger (171M)
8. #shopping (162M)
9. #outfit (159M)
10. #fashionista (140M)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for fitness

1. #fitness (549M)
2. #gym (283M)
3. #workout (231M)
4. #fit (198M)
5. #health (174M)
6. #training (152M)
7. #fitnessmotivation (155M)
8. #bodybuilding (144M)
9. #fitfam (125M)
10. #gymlife (84.6M)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for food, beverage and restaurants

1. #food (530M)
2. #foodporn (310M)
3. #foodie (258M)
4. #instafood (244M)
5. #yummy (205M)
6. #delicious (154M)
7. #foodstagram (126M)
8. #foodphotography (117M)
9. #foodblogger (90.1M)
10. #foodlover (83.2M)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for technology and software

1. #technology (30.2M)
2. #tech (22.8M)
3. #innovation (18.1M)
4. #engineering (17M)
5. #programming (7.7M)
6. #coding (7.3M)
7. #electronics (6.9M)
8. #software (6.9M)
9. #developer (5.9M)
10. #technews (2.4M)

Top 10 Instagram hashtags for travel

1. #travel (750M)
2. #explore (673M)
3. #travelphotography (245M)
4. #travelgram (183M)
5. #vacation (160M)
6. #wanderlust (154M)
7. #adventure (152M)
8. #instatravel (131M)
9. #traveling (96.1M)
10. #travelblogger (90.9M)

Types of Instagram hashtags

Strategic hashtag usage requires understanding nine distinct hashtag categories, each serving specific marketing objectives:

• Branded hashtags: Unique to your company or campaigns
• Campaign hashtags: Tied to specific marketing initiatives
• Product/service hashtags: Describe your offerings directly
• Community hashtags: Connect with like-minded users
• Location hashtags: Target geographic audiences
• Holiday/daily hashtags: Leverage trending moments
• Niche hashtags: Reach highly specific audiences
• Event hashtags: Connect with event attendees
• Trending hashtags: Capitalize on viral moments

Branded hashtags

Branded and product hashtags are hashtags that you create that are unique to your company or campaign. These types of hashtags might include your brand name, product names or specific taglines.

Branded hashtags are a great way to build community around your brand and encourage user-generated content.

Here’s an example of a branded hashtag from Grove Collaborative and their hashtag #GroveHome. With this hashtag placed prominently in their Instagram bio, they’re encouraging their followers to participate and share their products.

Campaign hashtags

Campaign hashtags are used for specific marketing campaigns. If you’re running a promotion, a contest‌ or launching a new product, campaign-specific hashtags can help track participation and engagement. These are typically used for a limited time.

One example of a campaign hashtag is the #EssenceFestxTarget one used to promote their collaboration. For all posts related to this campaign, both Target and Essence Festival, and any influencers they work with, will use the unique hashtag.

Campaign hashtags don’t need to be tied to a product or sales. REI’s #OptOutside campaign encouraged people to go out rather than shop on Black Friday and wasn’t centered around purchasing.

Product or service hashtags

Product and service hashtags describe what you offer in a straightforward way, like #EnterpriseSoftware or #MarketingSolutions. They are practical and descriptive, making your posts searchable for users specifically interested in those products or services.

Community hashtags

Nearly every brand community has at least one hashtag that connects like-minded users around a specific subject. They are broader than branded hashtags and can be used to reach a wider audience interested in related topics.

To find yours, head to some popular community and industry influencer posts and check out their hashtags. Many of these hashtags are simple.

For craft beer enthusiasts, several exist: #CraftBeerLover, #CraftBeerLife and #CraftBeerNotCrapBeer are just a few of them. All three of these are pretty straightforward and natural to create and include in posts for relevant brands.

Location hashtags

Location hashtags are pretty self-explanatory. Most brands are based somewhere, and if you have a physical location, this is even more useful for you.

Adding a location to your hashtags can help you reach a local audience. Whether it’s a city, neighborhood‌ or venue, location hashtags are useful for businesses trying to establish a presence in a particular area.

One example is the above #ChiEats. This is one of those location + topic hashtags. The posts tagged with these are relevant for anyone searching for food recommendations or users in the Chicago area.

Holiday or daily hashtags

Participating in relevant social media holidays can be a fun way to engage your audience. Things like #InternationalSushiDay and #InternationalDogDay can be great for sushi restaurants and veterinary offices to post about.

The latter can be a great opportunity to highlight your team members’ dogs and create a more authentic and personal look into your brand.

Daily hashtags aren’t limited to Instagram, and they’re easy to find. These hashtags include the day of the week and a specified topic. There are generalized ones such as #MondayMotivation and #ThrowbackThursday.

Niche hashtags

Niche hashtags are used to reach a specific audience on Instagram. For instance, #VeganRecipes is a niche hashtag that targets people interested in vegan cooking. Niche hashtags can help you attract a highly engaged audience.

Event hashtags

These are used for specific events like conferences, festivals or workshops. They are a great way to connect with attendees and increase visibility for event-related posts. For example, #SDCC is a great example of an event hashtag for the San Diego Comic Con.

Trending hashtags

This type of hashtag is one of the more difficult ones to post because it requires keeping up with the latest trends as well as how to apply them to your brand. Using these can increase the visibility of your posts to a massive audience, but they are highly competitive.

For example, one of the trending memes last year was a superimposed video of Jennifer Lawrence from the Hot Ones wing-eating challenge crying and asking, “What do you mean?” on a loop. By searching for the hashtag #WhatDoYouMean, we can see many brands and creators using this meme for their content.

Keep in mind that memes and trends are short-lived. You need to catch on early to participate and reap the benefits of jumping on the trend. You may need to up your trendspotting skills for social media to get the most out of jumping on memes and trends in a timely and brand-relevant way that resonates.

How to track hashtag performance with analytics tools

You have a list of hashtags and you’re ready to get started on the new social strategy. What’s next?

It’s time to check in on how all these hashtags are working out for you. Tracking your hashtag analytics is important to ensure you’re improving performance with the ones you selected.

As you start to use the same hashtags, you’ll start noticing when you receive more engagement or more spam comments. To make sure that you’re using the right hashtags for you, find a social media tool that offers Instagram hashtag analytics.

How to analyze your Instagram hashtag performance with Sprout Social

Sprout Social provides robust reporting capabilities that offer clear insights into your Instagram hashtag performance.

To begin optimizing your hashtag strategy with Sprout Social, you first need to connect your Instagram Business Profile(s). If you don’t already have access to the platform, you can start a free trial using your business email.

Steps to connect your Instagram Business Profile to Sprout Social:

1. Log in to your Sprout Social account.
2. Navigate to “Account and Settings” and then “Connect a Profile.”
3. Select Instagram and follow the prompts to authorize your Instagram Business Profile.

Once connected, you can leverage Sprout Social’s dedicated reports to understand your hashtag effectiveness.

The Instagram Business Profiles Report offers a comprehensive overview of your profile’s performance, including key metrics influenced by your hashtag usage.

For a more granular view, the Tag Performance Report can track the performance of Tags you create for the hashtags you’ve used in your posts.

This report allows you to see which hashtags are driving the most impressions, reach and engagement, enabling data-driven decisions to refine your hashtag strategy. By understanding which hashtags are performing best, you can focus your efforts on those that genuinely expand your reach and connect you with your target audience.

Best practices for Instagram hashtags

Modern hashtag strategy requires precision over volume. These seven proven practices maximize hashtag performance:

1. Test how many hashtags to use on Instagram

How many hashtags should you use? This is a tricky question because the answer varies wildly.

Although Instagram allows for 30 hashtags per post, it’s best to use them sparingly. If you’re including them within your caption, stick to 3 to 5—like Instagram recommends. If you’re going to use the first comment for hashtags, then testing to use 30 hashtags could be acceptable.

But, remember to focus on using highly relevant and effective hashtags that will truly add value to your content.

2. Find the best hashtags for you

Make sure your hashtags are directly related to the content of your post. Don’t use generic or trending hashtags if they have nothing to do with your post. You want to attract a relevant and engaged audience that’s interested in your content.

There are several ways to find the best hashtags for your brand. Research and identify the most relevant and effective hashtags for your content.

The first and easiest is to look at the influencers and accounts you follow and note which hashtags they’re already using. Another way is to begin brainstorming various ones and type them into the Instagram search bar.

3. Use hashtags in the first comment

Too many hashtags in a caption can overwhelm valuable real estate and make posts look messy. Keep captions simple, and if you’re using more than a handful of hashtags, move them to the first comment.

With Sprout’s Compose box, you can schedule the first Instagram comment when you create your post.

4. Follow relevant hashtags

Instagram offers the ability to follow any hashtag, as they would another user. When you do this, these posts appear in your feed, alongside all the other posts from accounts you follow.

This is a good tactic to use for following industry or community hashtags because it helps you keep tabs on them. It should not be used as a solution for branded hashtags, though, because it doesn’t guarantee that every post will show up in your feed.

5. Encourage the use of branded hashtags

Once you’ve created your list of branded hashtags, make sure to start using them in every relevant post. The most general branded hashtags are often placed in the Instagram bio along with a call-to-action for using them.

Remember the #GroveHome hashtag we mentioned earlier?

6. Create a list of hashtags

Instead of copying and pasting the same set of hashtags for every post, divide them up into topical lists. For example, informational posts might have different hashtags than product announcement posts.

Instead of generating a new list for each post, keep different lists handy for the various types of content topics that you post.

Save these lists in Sprout’s Asset Library to make it easier to attach the right hashtags to each Instagram post.

7. Add hashtags to Instagram Stories

While Stories do disappear after 24 hours, don’t discount the use of hashtags on them. These show up in the search results, too, and are another easy way of getting more interested followers.

Have too many hashtags to put into a Story? Enter your text like normal and then hide them behind a gif or sticker.

Master your Instagram hashtag strategy

Data-driven hashtag strategy drives measurable business growth. The right approach combines strategic research, performance testing and continuous optimization based on real engagement metrics.

Transform your hashtag strategy from guesswork to growth engine. Start your free 30-day trial and see immediate improvements in your Instagram performance.

Instagram Hashtag FAQs

How many hashtags should I use on Instagram?

Instagram’s Creators account recommends using 3-5 hashtags that are relevant to the theme of your content. Use a mix of well-known and niche hashtags – even branded hashtags – to broaden your discoverability. On the flip side, Instagram suggests avoiding overly generic hashtags or hashtags that have nothing to do with your content.

Do hashtags work for Instagram?

Yes, you can use hashtags within a post, Reel or Story, and we highly recommend you do so. They can be used for collecting UGC, categorizing content and increasing the reach to your content.

What are the top 10 hashtags on Instagram?

The top 10 hashtags on Instagram include:

1. #love (2.1B)
2. #instagood (1.8B)
3. #instagram (1.3B)
4. #fashion (1.1B)
5. #photooftheday (1.1B)
6. #art (1.1B)
7. #photography (1.1B)
8. #beautiful (849M)
9. #nature  (824M)
10. #reels (809M)

Which Instagram hashtags get the most likes?

The most effective hashtags for likes are those most relevant to your specific audience and content rather than the most popular ones. Niche and community hashtags typically drive higher quality engagement than broad tags with billions of posts.

Are hashtags still effective on Instagram?

Yes, hashtags are absolutely still effective. They are a primary way for Instagram’s algorithm to understand and categorize your content. This is crucial for showing your posts to new, relevant audiences on the Explore page, in Reels feeds and on hashtag-specific pages.

How often should I change my hashtags?

Tailor hashtags for every post while maintaining core brand and community hashtag lists. Review analytics regularly to identify top-performing tags and continuously refine your hashtag collections based on engagement data.