Is the Hashtag Era Over? What Socials Really Care About

Want to know what’s really going to work on socials? Step back and look at what they’re promoting.

Hint: It's not hashtags.

The great debate of social media today: Are hashtags dead?

Ryan Magan says, yeah, they are. And we (mostly) agree.

They still exist. People still occasionally search them. They aren’t going away anytime soon. But they definitely don’t help engagement (Instagram’s CEO says so himself).

One peak at Instagram and TikTok reveals everything you need to know about growing your audience and engagement. With hashtag searches buried beneath extra clicks and pages, this is what you should be focusing on instead:

✅ Keyword optimization — Relevancy is the #1 driver of reach & engagement.

✅ Pay attention to ranking signals, they differ depending on account size & platform.

✅ Consistency — Platforms reward those who come back again and again. Leverage the social media snowball effect.

Not ready to let go of your hashtags? Here are some ways you can use them to your advantage:

➡️ Categorize — This is the true purpose #’s were created. Organize your page using # categories for easy searches

➡️ Appeal to the ‘discover’ pages — the only place hashtags are being pushed is to audiences who have never viewed your content. Optimize for new eyes.

A few words to the wise:

✅ Get specific, limit yourself. Spammy, generic #’s will send your business page to the grave.

✅ LinkedIn works a little differently. Stick with 3 or fewer highly relevant hashtags.

Your turn: Our social media experts stopped using hashtags and have seen no effect on engagement. Are you still using hashtags? Have you noticed any changes in engagement?