Hashtags are an important part of any social media strategy, especially when it comes to finding your audience. Learning the best way to use hashtags for your content on TikTok is simple once you do a bit of research on your niche. In this post, we’ll go over how to use hashtags on TikTok, best practices, and mistakes to avoid.
How to use hashtags on TikTok
TikTok’s platform is extremely hashtag friendly. It allows you to search for specific hashtags, add them to the description of your videos, filter search results by tags, and click into tags on a video to browse all the content using it. On top of that, when you search for a hashtag or go to add one to your video, TikTok will also show you the number of videos using it.
How to add hashtags to your TikToks
To add a hashtag to your TikTok when you’re posting it, you can type in the # symbol into the description, then start typing to see a list of suggested hashtags. Alternatively, you can tap the grey #Hashtags button, which will automatically add the # symbol and show you a list of recently used or suggested hashtags.
Best practices for hashtags
When it comes to hashtags on TikTok, there’s a few best practices you should follow. Following these will make sure that you’re maximizing the reach of your videos while also still going after the right audience for your content.
1. Do your research first
Before you add any hashtags to your video, you need to research the right ones that you should be using. The best way to do this is to search for a topic or kind of content you make on the platform. For example, if you make videos about photography, you should search for that keyword, then click into the top videos and note what hashtags those creators are using.
Then, you should also switch to the hashtag tab in your search and make a note of what hashtags have the most videos under them. Those are good options to include on your posts, especially ones that overlap with the top videos you’re seeing from other creators.
How many hashtags should I use on TikTok?
While there’s no set number of videos that you should be looking for with a hashtag, try to choose a mix of the most popular and ones that have a bit less videos. The hashtags with lower numbers will be less competitive, which could lead to more views.
Once you do that research, you should have a list of the best hashtags to include with your videos! Be sure to switch up the hashtags you use and avoid using the same ones with every single video.
2. Use popular hashtags at your own risk
Ideally, your hashtags should be relevant to the kind of content that you’re creating. What some claim to be the “best hashtags for TikTok” are really just extremely common hashtags with broad usage that might help boost your video’s visibility beyond your core audience. #foryou, #fyp, and #viral are the best examples of this, with billions of videos under each one.
However, keep in mind that using these doesn’t always guarantee more visibility. After all, tons of videos are posted under these hashtags every day. So yours could easily get lost in the crowd.
But if you’re just starting to create content or aren’t seeing results using more niche hashtags, these popular ones could help give you a boost. If you try using them, make a note of how videos using those hashtags perform compared to ones that don’t. If you see a noticeable difference, that’s a good sign they could be impacting your video’s reach.
3. Take advantage of (relevant) trends
Trends on TikTok change quickly, but hopping on one can be a great way to help get your videos more attention. Not all trends have a specific hashtag associated with them, but when they do, using that hashtag (and actually following the video trend) can be a worthwhile effort to help expand your audience reach. Just make sure you post your video while the trend is still popular!
You can also find trending hashtags on TikTok through their creative center, which allows you to sort by industry, time period, and whether or not the hashtags are new to the top 100. Trending hashtags give you an idea of what kind of topics or content your audience want to see.
Why are hashtags important for content creators and marketers to use?
If you create content or videos online, whether it’s for yourself or a brand, hashtags should be a part of your strategy. The majority of the major social media platforms use hashtags as part of their algorithm, especially when it comes to short-form video. So if you use them in your content, it makes it more likely to get boosted as a result.
The specific hashtags you use allow the platforms to better understand the content that you’re creating and your intended audience. If you’re a creator who talks about Taylor Swift’s fashion, using hashtags like #Swiftie will help your videos find the other fans who will be more likely to engage with your content.
On top of that, adding hashtags to your bio helps with social media SEO, increasing the chances that your content is shown in search results. Now, let’s dive into how you should be using hashtags and best practices for the top social media platforms for video.
Common hashtag mistakes to avoid on TikTok
Don’t use too many
With hashtags, the biggest mistake that people make is overusing them. This happens when you either add the same one to every single one of your videos or include a million different tags into your description. You want to be selective about which ones you use, which is why researching other creators and keywords in your niche is so important.
Stick with the most relevant ones
On the same note, you should also avoid using irrelevant or overly broad hashtags. We touched on that with some of the most popular hashtags on each platform, but just because a tag is popular doesn’t mean that it guarantees views.
While it’s tempting to add a trending hashtag that isn’t related to your video to boost its reach, this can easily backfire. Remember, people use tags to find content related to specific topics. So if your video doesn’t fit with that topic, they’ll just scroll past it.
Add your hashtags when you post your TikTok
Unlike other social media platforms, you can’t edit your TikTok’s description after you post it. So if you want to edit your TikTok video hashtags after posting, you won’t be able to. Your only option is to delete your TikTok and re-upload it with the new hashtags or description added in.
Know what they mean
Finally, always be sure to research what hashtags mean. Just because popular creators use a certain one doesn’t mean you should add it to your video without looking into what the tag is for. And if you can’t find anything that explains what it means, you’re better off not using it at all.
Final thoughts
The key to using hashtags successfully and finding the best hashtags for your TikToks is understanding your audience, researching the right tags to use, placing them in the right spot in your videos, and continually measuring how the ones you’re using are performing. If you’ve done all that, you’ll find that hashtags are an amazing way to boost your TikTok performance and find the right audience for your content.
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