Should You Use a Free Instagram Hashtag Generator for Your Business?
Wondering if that free Instagram Hashtag Generator is actually good for your business?
What about Instagram hashtag generators that come at a low monthly cost?
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’?
Yikes, I know!
Free Instagram hashtag generators are actually hurting your business on Instagram, and here’s why.
While the idea of having hashtags at your reach in a matter of seconds sounds like an amazing solution to a problem, there is more to it than meets the eye.
Here’s what happens when you pull hashtags from an Instagram hashtag generator:
- High volume oversaturated hashtags are being spit out
- Auto-generated hashtags are not specific to your niche or your brand
- Auto-generated hashtags do not account for the informed buyer aka your ideal client
- Your content is not being reflected through the hashtags
There’s a whole lot to discuss in those 4 points, so let’s break it down
1) You are given a mish-mash of high volume, overreaching hashtags
Hey there auto-generating hashtag app, I need hashtags for my wedding industry business!
Instagram hashtag generator then replies with: #bride, #groom, #love, #wedding
Here’s the problem. Those hashtags are highly oversaturated.
Oversaturated hashtags are hashtags with an extremely high volume of usage.
Essentially, using those high volume hashtags is burying your content.
For example, #bride has over 60m uses (at the time of writing this blog post).
If you were to search #bride in the Instagram magnifier and click on most recent posts, here’s what that looks like.
When you pull down or refresh the most recent posts, 9 new posts will populate. If you pull down or refresh again right away, 9 more posts will populate again, and so on.
Content created under oversaturated hashtags is created at a rate faster than that of you pulling down to refresh.
Bonkers!
I don’t know about you, but if I worked hard to serve up value-packed content to my audience, I want to be damn sure they actually see it.
Ranking your posts and positioning your content in a way that makes sure it is served up to your audience, does not include oversaturated hashtags.
2) Auto-generated hashtags are not specific to your niche or your brand
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that your business has a specific niche.
Look at that – no crystal ball needed!
Whether your niche is in the service you provide, or even just your message, there is no denying that it exists and it has to be honored, and that includes your hashtags.
Finding niche-specific hashtags is something that needs to be drilled down into, refined, and built up as you grow your business on Instagram.
Niche-specific hashtags typically have a lower volume of usage and therefore do not show up on the radar of Instagram hashtag generators.
3) Auto-generated hashtags do not account for the informed buyer that is your ideal client
I’m going to let you in on a little Instagram selling secret.
By the time your ideal clients are searching hashtags to browse your business, they are already in the beginning steps of making a buying decision.
Finding your business, your content, and your message is the final step in leading them into making a purchase.
Want your content to rank on Instagram and close the sale of that primed buyer? You need to land in top posts all the way!
Niche-specific hashtags with lower volume usage is where it’s at.
If you are looking for Instagram hashtags to position your value-packed content while driving your content to top posts in order to create visibility, then this is the sweet spot!
4) Your content is not being reflected through the hashtags
Did you grab an awesome shot of yourself traipsing about the city on your last vacation?
Your hashtags need to reflect the content depicted in your actual photos. #cityphoto, #vacationinparadise, or #locationofthiscoffeeshop.
Or, if the speaking point in your caption changed from content marketing to Pinterest marketing, then your hashtags for that post need to reflect your current topic, Pinterest.
So it’s #pinterestmarketing all the way for you!
Here’s where we do a bit more work because our content changes from post to post, including photos and graphics as well as caption speaking points.
Going back & forth to an Instagram Hashtag Generator for every single post is sucking your precious time.
However, you don’t have to individually source a crazy amount of hashtags on your own either!
Audit your old Instagram content!!
You’ll be able to flush out a common thread and use that to create your very own branded hashtag library!
Do you need some niche-specific hashtags to help boost your creative business’s visibility on Instagram? Download my copy of 100 hashtags for creative entrepreneurs below!
