On September 27, 2021, Instagram’s Creator account, @creators, posted a carousel about “Tips for Using #hashtags” (shown below). Within this post, they have a list of Hashtag Dos. The last item on that list — “Do keep the number of hashtags between 3-5.” In the next slide, they have a Hashtag Don’ts list. The last item on that list — “Don’t use too many hashtags — adding 10-20 hashtags will not help you get additional distribution.”
We wouldn’t take this news update too seriously. You may think, “it’s coming from an official Instagram source, so why shouldn’t we?” The answer is simple, if you use all 30 hashtags and your post ends up in 30 different tag feeds, that is going to cause higher distribution rates.
Think about it, would you rather end up in 3-5 saturated hashtags and have a hard time getting found, or end up in 30 hashtag feeds of varying popularity and be more likely to get found? We would personally pick the second option.
Every hashtag you use will show up in the Recent Posts feed of that tag. This feed will contain every post that uses that tag in chronological order, your posts will never be hidden, unless you’re using banned hashtags.
Some people believe that too many hashtags can hurt your engagement, however, it actually just gives more people the chance to engage with you and your brand. Have you ever not liked or commented on a post because of the number of hashtags that were used? The answer is probably not.
Finally, the utilization of all 30 hashtags can help your posts be found in various niche audiences you may cater to. When only using 3-5 hashtags, you have a higher chance of missing out on those niche audiences.
In short, using all 30 hashtags isn’t going to hurt your reach, engagement or your brand. Use however many hashtags you want, as long as they coincide with your post and your brand. You’ll only be able to hurt yourself with hashtags if you’re misusing them.
