Instagram Story Hashtags [Masterclass 2024]

Introduction

Instagram Stories have become one of the platform’s most popular features since launching in 2016. They allow users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours.

Unlike regular Instagram posts, Stories offer a more casual, “behind-the-scenes” look into a user’s daily life. They also include interactive elements like polls, questions, location tags, hashtags, and mentions.

Stories have experienced rapid growth and engagement since their debut. Currently, over 500 million Instagram users access Stories every day. They have become an integral part of Instagram’s user experience and content strategy.

Many influencers, brands, and public figures now consider Stories vital for connecting with their audience. The ephemeral nature encourages more frequent posting and authenticity.

Given their immersive full-screen format and popularity among users, Instagram Stories provide a major opportunity for views, engagement and connecting with your audience. Using them strategically along with features like hashtags can be a key growth driver.

What Are Hashtags?

Hashtags are words or multi-word phrases prefixed with the “#” symbol. On Instagram, hashtags serve multiple purposes:

Categorizing content – Hashtags organize posts into specific topics and make them discoverable by users interested in those topics. For example, tagging a photo of a beach with #beach or #summervacation associates it with those categories.
Increasing reach – Using popular hashtags can expose your posts to a broader audience, including users searching for those tags. The more relevant hashtags you use, the more opportunities for people to find your content.
Engagement – When people search and tap on hashtags, they can view a feed of recent posts using that tag. This provides a way to engage new users who may be interested in your content.
Analytics – You can click on hashtags you’ve used to analyze engagement and reach. This helps determine which tags resonate best with your audience.

On Instagram Stories, hashtags work similarly and can help increase views, engagement, and profile discoveries. Unlike feed posts, hashtags on Stories are clickable stickers that users can tap on to explore related content.

Why Use Hashtags on Stories?

Using hashtags on Instagram Stories can greatly increase your content’s visibility and reach. When someone searches for a hashtag or clicks on a hashtag from a post, your story will appear in the results if it contains that hashtag. This gives your content the potential to be seen by many more users who are interested in that topic.

Some key benefits of using hashtags in Stories:

Reach new audiences – People who don’t already follow you can discover your content if they search or click on a relevant hashtag. This is a great way to expand your audience.
Increased engagement – When more people see your story, you have more chances for likes, comments, shares, etc. Hashtags help get your content in front of interested users.
Show up in relevant searches – Using niche hashtags ensures your content appears when users search those terms, increasing discoverability.
Highlight key topics – Hashtags make your content more visible in focused areas, helping you stand out to users interested in those subjects.
Track campaigns and trends – You can easily monitor the performance and reach of branded hashtags or campaign hashtags you create.

Overall, hashtags in Stories give you access to expansive new audiences and increased visibility. This opens up many more marketing and engagement opportunities.

How Many to Use

When using hashtags in Instagram Stories, it’s important not to go overboard. Instagram allows you to add up to 10 hashtags per story post. However, using the full 10 hashtags looks spammy and clutters up your content.

The ideal number of hashtags to use is 2-5 per story. This provides enough relevant exposure without overtagging. Anything more starts to degrade the user experience.

Stick to a maximum of 5 hashtags per story. This gives you enough room to target relevant topics and reaches new audiences, without overwhelming viewers.

Most Popular Story Hashtags

Hashtags are powerful on Instagram Stories because they make your content more discoverable. Using popular hashtags allows you to reach broader audiences beyond just your existing followers.

Some of the most widely used story hashtags that can help maximize views include:

#tbt – Throwback Thursday is a popular hashtag where people share nostalgic photos from the past. Including #tbt allows you to tap into this engaged community.
#ootd – Outfit of the day is ideal for fashion and style-related accounts to showcase daily looks.
#foodie – For cooking, restaurants, and food businesses, the #foodie hashtag draws food lovers.
#travel – Anyone sharing vacation photos, landscapes, or city guides can use this ubiquitous travel hashtag.
#beauty – From makeup tutorials to skincare, #beauty performs well in the style space.
#fashion – Style influencers and brands frequently use #fashion to highlight the latest trends.
#fitfam – For gym rats, personal trainers, and health foodies, this fitness hashtag hits the target demographic.
#dogsofinstagram – Pet owners go crazy for this popular hashtag featuring cuddly canines.
#couplegoals – Those sharing romantic relationship photos or travel often add #couplegoals.
#kids – From parents to kid influencers, #kids captures a family-focused audience.

Leveraging these widely used hashtags that align with your niche is an easy way to expand your reach and get content in front of new engaged audiences. But you’ll also want to incorporate niche-specific hashtags…

Niche-Specific Hashtags

Targeting a niche audience is a great way to get your content seen by the right people. Here are some examples of popular niche hashtags on Instagram Stories:

#Bookstagram – For book lovers and readers. Some popular variants are #YaBooks, #Bookworm, #Bookish.
#Fashion – For the latest styles and trends. Try #OOTD, #StyleInspo, #WhatIWore.
#Foodie – For amazing recipes and food pics. #FoodPorn is a favorite.
#Travel – For wanderlusters and travelers. #TravelGram, #TravelTuesday are widely used.
#DIY – For crafters and makers. #Crafts, #MakerCommunity and #Handmade are good options.
#Gardening – For green thumbs and plant lovers. #GardenersOfIG, #UrbanGarden are popular.
#Fitness – For gym rats and health nuts. #FitnessMotivation, #GymLife, #FitFam are common.
#MomLife – Relatable content for moms. #Motherhood, #MomLife are widely used.
#DadLife – Funny and engaging content for dads. #DadJokes, #Fatherhood are popular.

The key is finding hashtags already popular within your niche community. This allows you to tap into an existing audience interested in your content. Always make sure hashtags are relevant to your niche and content.

Creative Ways to Use Hashtags

Hashtags don’t have to be just plain text slapped on your stories – you can integrate them into the visual design in creative ways to enhance your content. Here are some tips:

Use shapes, frames, or stickers to highlight your hashtags. Circle them, box them, or place them inside an arrow or starburst shape. This makes them pop on the screen.
Scatter hashtags around the edges of your image or video instead of clumping them in one spot. This spreads them out visually.
Write hashtags by hand on physical props, signs, chalkboards, or other real objects in your story. The handwritten look lends authenticity.
Display hashtags on computer or phone screens within your shot. For example, have a laptop open with a document that lists relevant hashtags.
Show hashtags on real printed materials like flyers, posters, or brochures. Film or photograph these print assets with branded hashtags.
Use emoji or special characters creatively within hashtags, like #foodie🍴 or #dance♫♩. This adds visual flair.
Animate your hashtags with kinetic text, meaning they move around on screen during a video. This keeps things dynamic.
Lay hashtags over blurred or color-tinted backgrounds to make them stand out clearly in your stories.

The key is integrating hashtags seamlessly into your visual content in clever ways that enhance the look and reinforce your brand identity. Avoid just plastering a block of hashtags in the corner – make them feel purposeful.

Third-Party Tools

There are several third-party tools and apps that can help you find the best hashtags to use for your Instagram Stories:

Ritetag – This app has a Stories Hashtag Finder tool that analyzes your niche and interests to generate hashtag ideas specifically for Stories. It also tracks the performance of hashtags you use to recommend top performers.
Display Purposes – Their Instagram analytics platform includes a tool to research and discover high-performing story hashtags based on your handle and keywords. It provides data on estimated reach, engagement, and overall efficiency of each hashtag.
Storyly – This Instagram analytics app lets you search for story hashtags and see data on historical views and engagement for each one. You can compare different hashtags to find ones likely to get the most visibility.
Hopper HQ – While mainly an Instagram scheduling tool, Hopper also has a robust hashtag research section. You can search for story-specific hashtags and sort by overall popularity or monthly views.
Ingramer – This suite of Instagram marketing tools includes an auto-generated list of hashtags specifically for Stories based on your profile and keywords. It provides data on potential reach and past views for each hashtag.

Using one of these tools is an easy way to quickly find relevant, high-performing hashtags to use in your Instagram Stories and get them in front of more viewers in your target audience. The data they provide allows you to optimize your hashtag strategy.

Measuring Performance

When using hashtags in your Instagram Stories, it’s important to track their performance so you can determine which hashtags are driving the most engagement for your account. Here are some tips on measuring hashtag success:

Check Story Views – Instagram provides analytics on the total number of views your Stories receive. If you use the same set of hashtags consistently, you can get a sense of which perform better by comparing total views when using different hashtags.
See Who Viewed – You can swipe up on your Instagram Stories to see a list of who has viewed them. If certain hashtags result in more views from your target audience, it’s a good sign they are working well.
Use A/B Testing – Try alternating different hashtags in your Stories and compare performance. Test small batches of 3-5 hashtags at a time and stick with what delivers the best results.
Track Mentions – See if you get more profile mentions or tags when using certain hashtags. This shows they are prompting engagement.
Monitor Traffic – Use a URL tracking tool like bit.ly to track clicks from your Instagram bio link. See if particular hashtags drive more website traffic for your brand.
Check Insights – Instagram Insights provides data on your top performing posts. Look at which Stories with specific hashtags got high reach/engagement.
See Link Clicks – If you add hashtags to swipe up links or stickers in Stories, check the number of clicks they receive in Instagram Insights.

Carefully monitoring performance data from your hashtag use will reveal which ones resonate most with your followers. Focus on those hashtags in future content to maximize your Story engagement.

Pro Tip: Check out the Story Saver to download trending stories and sprinkle in some creativity with original ones for maximum impact!

Conclusion

Using hashtags strategically on Instagram Stories can be a great way to increase engagement and reach new audiences with your content.

Throughout this article, we covered the basics of how hashtags work on Stories, tips for choosing the right hashtags, creative hashtag uses, and tools to analyze performance.

The key benefits of using Story hashtags include:

Increased exposure outside your current follower base
Attracting users interested in specific topics or niches
Engaging viewers by prompting reactions and responses
Measuring which hashtags resonate best with your audience

Aim to choose a mix of popular and niche hashtags relevant to your content. Get creative with hashtag placement and use tools like StoryView to gain insights.

Most importantly, focus on providing Story content your audience will genuinely appreciate and want to engage with. Hashtags should enhance user experience, not detract from your content.

With a thoughtful hashtag strategy, you can expand your reach and create more memorable, shareable Stories!

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