From the editor. Those who follow the pictures and haiku on my Facebook page have probably noticed that the pictures are reposted from Instagram. This is a non-commercial account, just posting photos - that's what Instagram is for.
Last week I checked in to a couple of airports, I was in Moscow and St. Petersburg. After that, I was followed by several airline bots, pilots and flight attendants who adore the sky (one photo plus a stupid slogan in the profile). After a trip to Kaliningrad, I collect followers from there - hairdressers and spas, delivery services and bars. You put the tag #Minsk - hello to the city portals, they are right there. You put a tag in Latin letters and a couple of bots from Latin America or India come running. And “promoters”, as without them. One per day.
Remember the SMM mantra that was repeated a couple of years ago at every conference? Make attractive content, then follow people, they will see that you are so cute and will start following you back.
Does not work.
Do not do it this way.
The magic of hashtags is no more
And you can't convince me of this in simple words about what is written about hashtags in every article about promotion on Instagram. I have already written about the numerous guide articles that each author collects from the top three articles in search results. They infuriate me, they stress me out and in general.
But we’re not talking about them, but about the common myth “About the mandatory presence of hashtags under every post,” they say they won’t find you any other way. What kind of nonsense is this? We destroy myths right now, for free and without SMS.
Myth 1. By placing photos in the top hashtags, you get new subscribers
A very common misconception among many “promoters and bloggers” on Instagram. Over the past month, about 20-30 photographs have been published in all regional tops of my small but proud country called Belarus. Not all photos were included in some tops, while in others every post was included. And guess what? This had no effect.
There are no more likes, the coverage between posts “in the top of tops” and without them is no different. Yes, most likely a dozen likes come from there, but there’s really no point in worrying about it, getting quick likes and the like.
Let me explain my position a little. When promoting a business tied to a specific region or a regional blogger, I am always in pursuit of only target subscribers who live in this area. Therefore, if residents of neighboring countries start subscribing to my accounts, then this is of course a good thing, but such happiness is not needed for free.
Therefore, hashtags in our work are used only with a geographical reference. They are somewhat less popular than some #selfies, but can theoretically provide a target audience. But they don't give it.
I’ll make a reservation, if you run an account about cats, then you simply must use all existing formats of cat hashtags, because cats can and are searched for. But if you are an online store that posts a photo with a cat, even if you sleep on cat hashtags, the target audience will not come to you from there.
Myth 2. Hashtags will get your photos more likes.
This is not a myth, this is the truth. Stupidly, due to the abuse of mass liking, you inevitably attract the attention of algorithms.
I conducted an experiment and started new account. Over the course of a week, I posted one photo at a time and used hashtags as much as possible. The photo received a maximum of 60 likes and there were no real people there. All “get hair extensions now” and “special price pillow bag.”
Therefore, people will inevitably like you, and like them a lot, but do you need such activity?
You can also buy bots/likes on numerous exchanges, or complete tasks for points and then buy likes on them.
When you grow a normal account, you need real indicators and real subscribers, and not ephemeral attention from numerous bots. Don't trap yourself.
Myth 3. Users constantly search for posts using hashtags
Have you ever done something like this? As a user, I have never followed hashtags. As a SMM specialist, I do this from time to time and I’m not embarrassed to talk about it out loud.
Other users behave in the same way. Well, what's the point in searching for something using the hashtag #dress #sunset and the like? What relevant information can be found in this dump?
The exceptions to this whirlpool of information are:
- Animal hashtags. Our little brothers have been looked upon, are looked upon and will continue to be looked upon. But this will not help in promoting your business.
- Hashtags flash mobs. Here you have a chance to get included in collections on entertainment sites, and you can get a lot of likes.
- Hashtag events.#Rio2016 #SmartSales and some similar movement always generates a large number of target and interesting content, where like-minded people can find you (especially if it concerns various kinds of forums and master classes).
Instagram is not Twitter (wow!), users don't need to search Additional information, they scroll through the feed and look at their friends relaxing in the country. And everyone looks at the cats. But going beyond the tape usually proves problematic.
Myth 4. It's fashionable
Nonsense. Sometimes I hear things like this and see things like this. When a person strives to put a hashmark #before #every #his #word #in his #signature. It hurts the eyes and irritates, there is no fun in it.
Myth 5. You need to look for the most popular hashtags on Instagram and use them
Holy heavens, what's the point? Top hashtags are growing with hundreds and thousands of new photos every minute, and only stars and millionaire bloggers can get at least some reaction from them.
Particularly infuriating are the selections from “30 popular hashtags,” copy and paste, copy and paste. In most cases, they are all in Latin, which further destroys the chances of a wonderful meeting target audience profile with your post.
As a reminder, I'm still talking about targeted likes from targeted followers. If you just need to get more interactions, spend 50 rubles and buy yourself 1000 likes. I can give you a link.
Where can hashtags really be useful?
There really aren't that many places.
If you provide “female services”, for example, work with nails, then the hashtag #nails is insanity. People from hundreds of cities post there and your target audience is not there. But the hashtag #nogtimsk may already be more useful and even lead to you ordering.
Advice. Create a category in your profile, with unique hashtags for each category. The user can, if desired, find all your posts by a specific parameter.
Create your own hashtag to generate user-generated content. Then you can repost it to your profile and enjoy free posts.
Perhaps you can suggest other options for using hashtags with maximum benefit, but that’s all I have for now.
Let’s summarize the above: there is nothing terrible about hashtags and you can use them, it certainly won’t make things worse. But manically chasing to get to the top, getting likes and praying for subscribers to come is not the best option.
UPDATED!
New rules regarding hashtags recently came into force, but the previous restrictions still apply.
Hashtags work, but the way they work has changed.
If previously newly uploaded photos using any hashtags were displayed by the date/time of upload, now they are displayed by the date when the photo was taken.
That is, if you put the hashtag tohography on a photo that you just uploaded, but it was taken a year ago, you will have to turn the hashtag feed back a year.
Your photo will be there.
____________________________________________________________
Some users have problems with hashtags working on Instagram.
But fortunately, it can be solved once and for all.
To bypass hashtag blocking on Instagram, you need to edit the post by changing its tags and indexing will resume.
In order not to have problems with hashtags working on Instagram, it is enough to follow a set of rules:
1. Hashtags must be set manually, not copy-pasted
2. Don’t write the same hashtags under every new photo
Here you can also record mass following of the same signature (comment) under the photo
3. Use hashtags based on what is shown in the photo
4. Put no more than 30 hashtags under one photo
In general, now there is such a trend that it is better not to use more than 5 hashtags under a photo, especially if you have been blocked before.
If one of the above points is not followed, you may be able to follow and unsubscribe from users, likes, but the hashtags will be under the Instagram filter.
And if you were complained about, you used cheating likes or subscribers, then your account will be blocked and deleted without fail!
In this case, only a new account and compliance with Instagram rules will help.
One of the options if you have hashtags don't work, try:
1) Delete hashtags under your photos (if they are written in the comments), or the photos themselves with hashtags, if the hashtags were written immediately upon publication and are in the caption to the photo.
2) Re-install hashtags, but only those that relate to the photo
If your account is deleted or blocked, create a new one and do not violate the rules of use of Instagram.
A ban (blocking) occurs when you write the same hashtags on all photos, that is, you are spamming.
For me and my friends on Instagram, hashtags work without problems, maybe because we do not violate Instagram rules.
A hidden ban on Instagram (Shadowban) is a restriction of user actions in such a way that the user himself is not aware of it. There have been cases on Reddit, Twitter, and even Facebook where a user could see their own content but others could not.
Now this can happen on Instagram too. Your profile status changes to private without your knowledge, regardless of whether you changed your settings.
And you don’t see it yourself, outwardly everything works for you!
Are your Instagram posts not getting likes?
I've been experimenting quite a bit with Instagram. When you create a new picture or video on Instagram, just like on any other platform social media, you use hashtags.
If you have broken any rules or your account is blacklisted for any reason, your hashtags will not be searchable.
Only you and your followers will be able to see your posts using hashtags if you are banned from Instagram. New users who do not follow you will not be able to log into your account and certainly will not be able to like you!
How to find out whether you are banned or not?
Create a new post using a hashtag that is not very popular. Login to another account, or ask someone to help you.
IMPORTANT: The second account should not be subscribed to the first.
Now start searching for this tag. If your post appeared under this tag, then everything is OK. If this is not the case, it means you are banned. But why?
There are several reasons why your Instagram account was banned.
Reasons for banning an Instagram account
Have you recently used a bot or app to optimize your follower count? Have you recently used hashtags that might be on the blacklist? For example, hashtags with obscene words.
Have you recently launched mass likes and comments and acted like a bot? Have you used the same set of hashtags for many of your photos?
All this leads to a ban!
By the way, most applications in App store, which were designed to track unfollowers and statistics for your profile, simply stopped working. Coincidence? Don't think.
How to get rid of a ban on Instagram?
Unfortunately, even after a long search, I did not find any solution.
Users who encountered this problem did everything they could - they tried to deceive Instagram using a proxy server and logging in from another country in order to reset the account, deactivate the account for a week, contact technical support by phone, Twitter, but received no response. Someone tried to connect Instagram to Facebook and send new posts from there, disabling any third party applications associated with an Instagram account. Nothing works!
Don't spam and you won't be banned, friends!