How Many Hashtags to Use on Reels?

We don’t simply do social media experiments to kill time over right here at Hootsuite HQ: we do them to serve the folks. So when considered one of our readers asks us to determine what number of hashtags to make use of for Reels, we get to work.

Reels proceed to be considered one of Instagram’s top-performing codecs… however there’s no hurt in getting a little bit hashtag assist to succeed in even additional, proper?

The query, although, is what number of tags are literally useful? Whereas it’s potential to add as much as 30 tags in your Instagram Reels caption, extra isn’t at all times extra.

As we’ve found by rigorous abuse of my Instagram account, three to 5 hashtags is the candy spot for Instagram posts. Will the identical be true for Reels?

As at all times, there’s just one technique to discover out: submitting my Instagram followers to a barrage of hashtag-based assessments. However in my defence, that barrage of hashtag-based assessments will most likely contain movies of pancakes. So.

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Speculation: 3-5 hashtags on reels provides you an identical quantity of attain as 30

We experimented just lately with hashtags on Instagram posts, and found that sticking to a most of 5 is the place you’ll obtain probably the most attain. Although Instagram permits you to add as much as 30 hashtags to any given put up, in observe, doing it will simply make your content material look spammy, and may very well damage your attain.

Based mostly on this discovery, it’s cheap to imagine that three to 5 hashtags may even be the most effective wager for Instagram Reels hashtags, too, proper?

In any case, the Instagram Creators account explicitly recommends protecting the variety of hashtags at three to 5. (Although, to be honest, this put up doesn’t particularly reference finest practices for Instagram Reels hashtagging.)

Supply: @creators

However! Instagram Reels’ greatest creators typically transcend that 5 hashtag advice (@Gabe, with greater than 1,000,000 followers, appears to make use of 10 to 12 in his vids), so who is aware of what is going to truly be true?

Time to hit the lab!

Methodology

I made a decision to create six Instagram Reels, which I’d put up twice, every time with totally different quantities of hashtags. (I used inventory video footage, FYI!) That manner, I might precisely evaluate apples to apples — or, on this case, waterfall video to waterfall video.

Instagram Reels captions could be as much as 2,200 characters lengthy, however I stored the captions brief and candy, in order that I might attribute attain to my hashtag technique, and never key phrase search engine optimization. As a result of I’m a busy gal who likes to boss robots round, I tapped into the ability of the Hootsuite Owly AI author to compose the proper captions.

When it got here time to jam-pack my caption with hashtags I used a mixture of Hootsuite Composer’s AI hashtag ideas, hashtags from this record of the most effective Instagram Reels hashtags, and hashtags generated by aggregator Show Functions Solely.

I used the Hootsuite Planner instrument and scheduled these Reels to put up at optimum instances over the course of every week.

Then I checked again in with Hootsuite Analytics to see simply which hashtag depend reigned supreme.

The preliminary outcomes (and a revised methodology)

I used to be actually not anticipating the outcomes to be so devastating. I obtained zero views on something.

This was a real shocker. Not considered one of my #unbelievable #hashtags helped my content material get found?! However then I believed again to the whole lot I knew concerning the Instagram Reels algorithm and realized I’d made a horrible blunder by doing this experiment on my Experiments Solely Instagram account, @thereeldealxo.

Whereas this impersonal account is generally an awesome place to check issues out with out bothering my actual associates or infusing my followers record with paid spam bots, on this explicit case, I obtained burned unhealthy. Instagram was punishing me for my unhealthy ‘Gram habits as a result of, actually, I used to be performing like a scammer. I don’t have any actual followers. I don’t observe anybody in any respect. I put up not often and sporadically. I by no means work together with every other accounts. And as we all know, your interactions with different accounts is a key a part of the Reels algorithm.

So it was again to the drafting board with this hashtag experiment. (Please bear in mind: failure is a part of science! For those who’re indignant about it, DM the daddy of the Scientific Revolution, Sir Francis Bacon!)

For this second take, I logged into my private account and pulled collectively six extra Reels. Three featured minimal hashtags; three featured the utmost. (I attempted to check apples to apples by creating content material that was comparable for every hashtag group—for example, one extremely hashtagged video about professional wrestling, and one minimally hashtag video about professional wrestling.)

Then, lastly, I went again to Instagram to get some precise useful data to share with you all. Time to get off the #fringe of your #seat and into some outcomes!

The precise outcomes

TLDR: You want greater than only a nice hashtag technique to thrive on Instagram Reels. However for genuine, lively accounts, 30 hashtags appears to be only for increasing your attain with Instagram Reels.

This was a shock to me, contemplating we found the other was true with our Instagram posts experiment. However reviewing the attain of all six of my Reels, the most effective performing movies had 30 hashtags every.

As you may see, there are tragically no quantity of hashtags on the planet that would make anybody care about my cute journey to California with my child and bestie. (Impolite.) However my wrestling content material and Japan journey content material clearly thrived after I utilized the utmost quantity of hashtags.

So clearly, the content material must be fascinating to a variety of individuals for this to truly work, however if you happen to’ve obtained high quality, participating content material to share, it appears to me like there’s no hurt in going ham with these ‘tags.

What do the outcomes imply?

As regular, it’s essential to notice that this experiment doesn’t essentially supply an absolute conclusion, and your mileage could fluctuate relying in your particular social media technique. However based mostly off of my expertise, listed here are some key Instagram Reels hashtag observations to think about.

In the case of Reels, pile on these hashtags

Although Instagram posts appear to do higher when there are fewer hashtags, Instagram Reels apparently have extra attain with extra hashtags (I used the utmost quantity, however even upping your hashtags from 5 to 10 or 10 to twenty would possibly assist). In fact, it may need simply been a case of 1 or two key hashtags serving to with that discoverability, however it’s exhausting to know what these ones would possibly particularly be.

Attempt to be clear, genuine and descriptive along with your hashtags to seize viewers who will truly get pleasure from and interact along with your content material — tagging one thing particular like #indiewrestling will enable you to attain your audience, whereas #instagood is perhaps too obscure that will help you join with the fitting folks. And your reel might get misplaced in a sea of content material earlier than attracting any views.

Compelling content material issues greater than hashtags

Engagement isn’t one thing you could simply magically create with the fitting variety of hashtags. It calls for time, effort, and a considerate method.

Whether or not I included three hashtags or 30, the posts that did the most effective have been ones that provided one thing of worth to viewers. (Self-indulgent trip movies, regardless of what number of hashtags, obtained me crickets.) The lesson right here? Your time might be higher spent crafting nice movies or writing copy than furiously hitting “NEXT” on a hashtag generator.

Try our information to creating impactful visible content material right here, after which brush up in your enhancing ideas right here to make Instagram Reels with affect.

The remainder of your Instagram habits issues, too

As I discovered from my first try at this experiment, you want greater than only a handful of nice hashtags to succeed with Instagram Reels. The algorithm takes into consideration the remainder of your Instagram habits, too.

Do you’ve a sturdy following who likes your different content material? Are you interacting with different customers on the platform? Are you posting persistently? How a lot do folks interact with you?

The underside line is that Instagram needs to reward creators who’re participating with the app authentically, and bringing enjoyment or worth to others. For those who’re not doing that, all of the hashtags on the planet aren’t going to avoid wasting you. So examine up on the Instagram Reels algorithm and check out your finest to be a great Instagram Citizen as you’re placing your content material out into the world.

All proper, time for this courageous Instagram Reel hashtagger to hit the showers. But when this experiment has you hankering for much more social media exploration, take a look at the remainder of our Hootsuite Experiments right here.

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