Get More Views for Instagram Reels With Hashtags: The Ultimate Guide 2023

Have you noticed how everyone seems to be a Reels enthusiast these days? With so many active Reels creators, I think we’re all feeling the “bigger competition” on Instagram, and getting likes and views isn’t as easy as it used to be. That’s not just because of the algorithm - there have been so many more Reels daily fighting for that attention and engagement.

You want to grow your profile organically and get more Reels views, but everything you’ve tried just doesn’t seem to be working. It can get so frustrating! Trust me, I’ve been there, too.

So what can YOU do to stand out and explode your Reels?

Many marketing specialists hype up hashtags for their ability to drive traffic to their video content. I can’t agree more. Hashtags are a powerful tool in your Instagram arsenal! It’s how the almighty Instagram algorithm identifies what your Reel is about and who might be interested in watching it. Hashtags are also essential for helping new potential followers discover your content via search.

I’ve made it my today’s mission to help you create the most straightforward Reels hashtag strategy, and optimize your hashtags for maximum exposure. Please, read this guide to find out how important hashtags are to your Instagram Reels marketing strategy, and how to use them the right way.

💡We’ll discuss the following:

• How hashtags work when it comes to Reels
  
• Why shouldn’t you forget about hashtags when posting your Reels?
  
• How do you know which hashtags are right for you?
  
• How do you find the right hashtags to use? How to research trending hashtags for your Reels?
  
• How many hashtags should you use when posting a Reel?
  
• How to tell if your hashtags work? How to analyze your Reels insights?
  

Sound like something you’re interested in? Hope so! Let’s go!

How Hashtags Work When it Comes to Reels

Rule number one, just as a quick reminder: hashtags have this # symbol followed by a word or a phrase and don’t contain any spaces or punctuation. They’re super helpful, especially for new Reels, because they help easily get them to the top of the search results page/Explore page. While hashtags on Instagram Reels may work a bit differently from static posts’ hashtags, they are widely used to help find relevant Reels.

However, many Instagram creators are totally overwhelmed with where to start and whether they should use 30 hashtags every time they post a new Reel. So, let’s break down using hashtags for your Reel posts, how it can help your business, where to get started and how exactly you can research the most effective, trending ones.

Why shouldn’t you forget about hashtags when posting your Reels?

If you’ve been on Instagram for a while, you probably remember the days when you could post a Reel with trending sound as a background and get 500 views in five seconds. And if you’re new to Reels world, gather ’round while the olds tell you of the golden days of the ‘Gram.

All jokes aside. Whether you were there to experience this fantastic Reels magic at the beginning, I’ve got bad news: those days are long gone.

So, let’s talk about a few concrete ways to boost your Reels with hashtags. To start with: why exactly should you use hashtags every time you post a new Reel?

Hashtags help your potential followers find your Reels.

What if someone is looking for Reels like yours on the ‘Gram? Well, you better pop up when they come searching, right?!

Hashtags are searchable on Instagram.

If you use the right hashtag for your Reels, it’s likely to end up on the right pages and be discovered by your target audience. The more often your eye-catching Reel is discovered, the more likely it is to appear high in the search results feed. As a result, your Reel will generate more engagement from people who wouldn’t have seen your video otherwise.

Hashtags help your content perform better (and rank high quicker)

The best part about using hashtags for your Reels is that they allow users to discover your content IMMEDIATELY. As a result, there will be an instant increase in views!
In that way, hashtags are a great way to get more traction on your Reels and even increase your chances of going viral.

How do you know which hashtags are right for you?

Instagram recommends you be specific and descriptive, and use words or phrases that describe the content in your Reel. May I elaborate on that? Wait, of course, I will!

Use hashtags that are relevant to your niche. Instagram is right -

of course - using specific and relevant hashtags helps you connect with users who are looking for exactly what you’re posting.

Avoid crazy popular, irrelevant hashtags. Many creators do this just to get some extra attention. Bad news: I know of one account that was banned from Instagram for doing this. Get an idea of how often the hashtag you want to use is used. If its hashtag page is filled with posts posted in the last 10 minutes, that tag feed moves too fast to be helpful to you.

Avoid super-niche hashtags with under 100 uses. While you shouldn’t use hashtags that are crazy vague and too popular, super niched hashtags with under 100 uses aren’t going to help you get found. They’re just too specific, and thus they generate too little traffic.

How do you find the right hashtags to use? How to research trending hashtags for your Reels?

There’s some solid evidence for suggesting that trending hashtags are more likely to end up on the Instagram Explore Page, so it can be worthwhile to watch for what’s currently trending and hop on the trend with related content (that’s still authentic to your profile and yourself, of course). While some Reel trends are more complicated than others, joining the movement is a smart way to get new eyes on your video content, and to show that you’re active on the app and willing to try out new things.

Now, let’s ‌look at where you can find trending hashtags for your Reels.

1. Manual research. Put yourself in the position of your potential followers, and people from your target audience, and think of what they would type in the search bar when looking for Reels. A good way to know which hashtags are currently trending is by looking at the Reels tab and Explore Page and trying to explore the patterns and discover new tendencies.
   

2. Save time and use one of the leading hashtag analytics tools to find hashtags that convert into higher Reels engagement rates. That’s a pretty broad topic, but I think IQ Hashtags is the front-runner among Instagram analytics tools for a reason: as an official Instagram partner it provides in-depth data analysis and arms you with practical features along with a hashtag research feature, banned hashtags checker (it will tell you if any hashtag you want to use or have used in your past posts is underused or banned on Instagram), your audience analysis, profile analysis, and HASHTAG PERFORMANCE.
   

IQ Hashtags offers a 7-day free trial on their complete toolkit. To get started, you can head over to their pricing page and select what plan you’d like to take for a spin. Getting your IQ Hashtags free trial is super easy, and I highly recommend it, as you’d get a chance to gather trending hashtags to skyrocket your Reels views and analyze your profile data like never before. Thank me later :D

How Many Hashtags Should You Use When Posting a Reel?

I’ve seen some people say to use 1-3 hashtags on your Reels, which makes me wonder: why even bother?
There’s no point in narrowing it down to less than 10! So I would suggest you try somewhere around 20 to 30. You can test it, though, and see if it works for your process.
Pro tip if you write a long enough caption, the hashtags will be hidden under “More”, so you don’t have to worry about your description “looking spammy”. Win-win.

How to tell if your hashtags work? How to analyze your Reels Metrics?

You’ve probably heard this before, but the analytics should become your best friend. There is a ton of data that you can tap into! First, start by paying attention to what types of Reels and captions perform better, then analyze if the hashtags you chose helped your Reels rank higher. How? We won’t reinvent the wheel - manual research takes ages, so using the Reels Analytics Tool is the best practice, at least in my humble opinion. IQ Hashtags introduced a feature called Reels Metrics, which can take your Reels Data analysis to the next level. Statistical analysis and their visual representation help you uncover and identify the most valuable data trends and patterns!

To wrap up!

Using hashtags is even more critical in your Reel posts because it’s one of the best ways to get your video content seen by users who don’t already follow you. Remember to use hashtags that your target audience is looking for and engaging in - I hope this guide showed you the way. It’s a challenging world out there on Instagram, I know. But hey, we’re resilient creatives! We’ve got what it takes to succeed.