Are you wondering why your Instagram hashtags are no longer working? Here are some well-known reasons and solutions for your Instagram failing to work.
Instagram is an excellent social media platform to create brand awareness. Explicit Instagram content cannot reach a broad audience. This is why you need an Instagram hashtag to improve your reach, and someone can easily search your brand using the hashtag.
But, there are some instances where Instagram hashtags fail to work. We are sure you would love to learn more about some of the ultimate reasons your hashtags are not working on Instagram today. Then keep reading, and in this article, we will even outline how to fix them.
It is good to learn how to fix Instagram hashtags not working. The hashtag helps you double the number of reaches. Let us dive into it and find out why your hashtags are not working, then know how to fix them. This article contributes significantly to Instagram marketing.
Your Instagram Account Settings
Instagram hashtags might fail to work for various reasons. When you buy an Instagram account, we recommend checking its account settings. Don't account for this step. But why should I consider the settings for the Instagram hashtag not working? You might want to have more audience through hashtags, and you all know there are private, and public Instagram accounts. When your account is private, you will not get more followers. And this might be one of the reasons why your hashtag might fail to work.
Most of the top influencers on Instagram use this approach to limit following and snooping. However, if you are still new with a small account, setting the Instagram account to private will not let you grow the audience base using a hashtag. This is because your account does not have enough followers, and it is among the most common mistakes people make.
Therefore, you should consider turning your Instagram account from private to public for more exposure using an Instagram account. First, when you turn an IG account to private, you command an Instagram algorithm that you aim to become famous. However, expect more direct messages, which might again be annoying. Second, avoid including no DMs on your bio, which tends to shy off some people. It's like limiting them not to interact with you.
You Have Been Shadowbanned or Flagged as Spam
This is one of the main reasons most Instagram hashtags do not work. Instagram has come up with stringent guidelines due to the rampant misuse of hashtags. Therefore, Instagram is now limiting spam activities while fighting to improve the user experience.
One of the consequences imposed due to misuse of the hashtags is a crackdown. But it hurts when you are not spamming intentionally. It becomes easy to commit such an offense as a spammy hashtag. This results in shadowban.
And when Instagram flags your Instagram account as spam, you will realize that it limits your post reach to your audience. you will only be in a position to interact with those following your profile. What this means is simple: you cannot reach a new audience using hashtags in this state. For this reason, it is also good to know some of the common hashtag mistakes so that you can avoid becoming a victim in the future.
Some of these widespread mistakes are using trending hashtags that are not relevant to your post, repeating the same hashtags on all posts, and utilizing banned hashtags. Try to avoid these at all costs. And in case you realize that your Instagram account is flagged or shadowbanned, you can still fix this in a few steps.
First, you should delete all the banned or used hashtags on the previous content and also refrain from using Instagram for a short period. After that, seek help from the Instagram support team. If the account is not fixed, you do not have any option other than starting all over again. Keen reading to get more tips. We are now going into details to help you avoid future mistakes and find a solution to your hashtags.
Hashtags are meant to help your post engagement and become highly coveted, increasing post reach. One of the things you should look for in response to a hashtag not working is to ensure that you employ relevant hashtags to your Instagram posts.
This is according to the current guidelines. However, previously, Instagram realized that most accounts gained popularity by only using a trending hashtag on any captions regardless of its relevance. Today, Instagram is cracking down on spam activities.
This tactic is no longer working today, and also, if you try using an irrelevant Instagram hashtag, it can change quickly red flag your account. The possible consequence is shadowbanning the profile. Avoid such mistakes as using unnecessary hashtags on a caption for your safety. a good example is using hashtags in words like #the. This won't increase your account reach or engagement. These are pointless hashtags since users are not likely to search and follow them.
We recommend that you only use hashtags relevant to your IG post or niche. This way, you can easily reach out to your target audience, improve engagement rate and even appear in search results to gain more followers.
Using the same hashtag now and then also impacts your profile. When you copy and paste the whole Instagram hashtag on all your posts limits your account reach. Instagram has an algorithm that works uniquely. Therefore, the algorithm notes everything by copying and pasting a hashtag on all your posts.
The algorithm, accordingly, assumes that you are using that particular hashtag only to increase the number of followers instead of sharing valuable content to the audience that searches that specific hashtag. Instagram, therefore, ends up evaluating your entire Instagram post as spam. You all know that Instagram hates anything related to spam activities. The consequences are well known.
Immediately Instagram notes that you are utilizing a spam hashtag, you are grouped as a spamming user. It automatically shadowbans or flags your Instagram profile as well as the posts. To evade all these, ensure that you constantly switch up your hashtags to get more new followers.
A good step is to at least come up with a list of roughly 50 hashtags relevant to your niche. Then rotate each for any post on your Instagram. If possible, create a spreadsheet to help you mix up these hashtags. This will keep your profile safe and diversity your post reach in the long run. It becomes easy to discover more vital hashtags when you attract more audiences.
The next thing why your Instagram hashtag is not working is possible because you are using a banned hashtag. The more you use hashtags on social media platforms, the more it is detected on your Instagram content. For this reason, most social media platforms end up putting a cap on these hashtags as in where you need to use them and where you should avoid including them.
To make it worse, social media platforms, and to be specific, Instagram can ban hashtags, especially when you use them with irrelevant content. This plain statement means when you use a banned hashtag on your Instagram content, it can quickly get your profile in trouble. We, therefore, advise you first to research before you decide to use a hashtag on your content. Ensure that your hashtag is not flagged for it to work effectively.
Most platforms like Instagram show you a notification message indicating that the hashtag is hidden when banned. Meaning Instagram makes it easy to research and work out a hashtag. You can do everything using a search bar and look up a particular hashtag. Therefore, do thorough research to know if a hashtag is in trouble or before use. Otherwise, the banned hashtag does not work.
Come to think of it what happens when you use a too-long hashtag on content shared by millions of influencers or business marketers? The outcome is evident that only using a prominent hashtag on your content pushes your post down to the bottom among the recent posts.
These posts are made by the same people inside that particular hashtag niche. Your post will be swept down in a sea of content that will quickly sink in the long run. There is no hope that your hashtag will get you, new followers, our audience for this situation. This means you should avoid using a broad hashtag.
Again, when you use a popular hashtag, it is true that we believe it will get you a new audience, but in reality, very few people will read your content. Therefore, it is good to focus on using it to read the content. Also, note that small hashtags are easily searchable. This is applicable among people searching for a specific niche using hashtags.
This makes it easy for them to come across your content when attached to such a hashtag. In the long run, these smaller hashtags improve your account engagement. It is one of the best steps to reach out to the new audience and get target followers. They end up following your profile and interacting with your content whenever they see your new content.
But also using too small hashtags has a negative impact. Some people are not looking for too small niche hashtags. And if you are not keen, you may record a low hashtag reach while using too small a hashtag.
This is like using a too broad hashtag covered in the previous topic. Using too competitive hashtags also can be the cause of your Instagram failure. This is because, for instance, too competitive a hashtag slows down your Instagram profile growth.
And in contrast, a significant p[ercentage of people believe that using a popular hashtag is a good idea, especially in increasing the post reach and Instagram growth. While there is some truth in it, you're probably mistaken.
A good instance is here – an image you are using a competitive hashtag that millions of people are utilizing simultaneously; there are very low and almost zero chances that your post will stand out. Well, the post might pop up on the news feed of some people for a short time, and then it sinks in the sea in a few seconds.
Upon sinking to the bottom, your target audience won't spot your post to interact with them. This is why some of the competitive hashtags fail to work. Get a targeted hashtag that is specifically relevant to your niche, and then go for a small fry one.
Though it might not give you the expected engagement, at least it gives you d increases the chances of getting reasonable engagement on your profile. This means you should go for a niche balance among two- trending and less popular. When you manage to garner this, it becomes easy for the target audience to reach out to you using hashtags.
Instagram is a popular social media platform. Different people use different methods while manipulating their success or account growth. These manipulated services include growth metrics like buying followers, comments, likes, or even faking your account sponsorship. There is no shortcut here and if you try it, only go for a genuine one to jumpstart natural growth. But it hurts when you want a quick win.
Hashtag recycling is one of the games people use. With this, we mean that people utilize the maximum number of hashtags to get their targeted likes, followers, and the rest, then delete it from their newsfeed. But also, other groups of people it in another way. For instance, they delete hashtags on posts and go back to re-add trending hashtags to the same Instagram content.
This is not only wasting time. It still does not impact your post or the aims of the business. When you edit an old post, do not make a hashtag work on them. Do not be this manipulative on social media platforms, wasting time.
The Audience is Not Interested in Your Content
When the audience is not interested in your content, any hashtag you use does not make them come and interact with your posts. The Instagram algorithm assumes when you do not get engagement in the first few hours. Your posts become less valuable and are taken deep down to the bottom of other posts.
One of the possible causes of the audience losing interest is your poor quality. Therefore, you need to work on your content correctly to attract them. Understand the need and expectations of the audience, then work on them to come up with entertaining content. Avoid average content; instead, post attractive posts.
We all know that quality beats quantity in all ways. When you have high-quality content and combine it with relevant hashtags, nothing prevents your post from appearing on the explore page. Sometimes, you might attract many audiences, but they fail to interact with your audience. There are two solutions here.
First, you change your area of interest to accommodate and adapt these new followers according to their preferences. Ensure you take advantage of their presence online. Secondly, you can revamp your strategy then focus on attracting an ideal audience. It would help if you had more time to actualize this step.
User Error or Technical Difficulties
User error is the last reason your Instagram content might fail to work. This means that, before using your hashtag, always ensure that you check it and confirm the spellings. This makes it easy for people to look it up on the search bar. When it does not have any error, you are likely to achieve your target as people find you on the research results.
Also, technical difficulties such as using a broken link bring issues when working with a hashtag. Ensure that your link is not broken, especially hashtags involving punctuations. And sometimes, Instagram itself might also be the issue why the hashtag is not working. This is not your fault. To solve such cases, you should get in touch with the support team to help you solve such errors.
- Post Consistently
sometimes, your Instagram hashtag does not work if you do not value it. It would help if you always used your hashtag consistently. Never take a break, instead post regularly. We insist on regular posts because inconsistency is among the reasons why hashtags abruptly stop working on Instagram.
The thing here is to play and beat the Instagram algorithm. This means that when you do not use your hashtag consistently, the algorithm does not show your content to a broad audience since you have broken the pattern.
Get your posting frequency based on your daily routine. The post ranks reach the target audience and give you new followers. This way, your audience can guess when to expect new content from your profile. They are likely to be present to start engaging immediately and, you know, the algorithm game here.
- Do Page Analysis
Hashtag efficiency is critical, and it is good when you evaluate it. You can use different third-party tools to do your Instagram page analysis. These tools include Sprout Social and SocialPilot. They give you well-detailed analytic reports, which are vital, especially when you want to improve the efficiency of your hashtag.
It is simple to do the evaluation or analysis of your hashtag. First, you should get the Instagram page started with the popster tool. You can also use the page of your competitor to do an analysis. Then generate two charts indicating the performance of different hashtags.
Consider the hashtag that gave you high the est engagement. You can use this data to get your audience's niche. Besides, it also filters hashtags so that you can select the one which is efficient in generating traffic to your content on Instagram.
- Improve the User Experience
Another thing that indicates that you value your hashtag is to improve the user experience. Using a great wall of hashtags kills the user experience. Therefore, you should only use a hashtag where necessary. Ensure that your hashtag works and does not interfere with the audience's experience while reading your posts.
For that reason, use periods when breaking up the caption with a hashtag. After creating your caption, tap 123 keys for you to enter periods correctly. As usual, you should know that Instagram caps off caption immediately after 3 likes. You should create a visually pleasant experience so that your target people can read it without experiencing hashtag clogs.
You can also consider using the hashtag in the comment sections. This is only if you find it annoying to type in periods and asterisks. However, you should ensure that the hashtag is on the first comment.
Otherwise, it won't be viewable. When you use such visually impressing methods, you should rest assured that your customer experience is improved. You efficiently use the hashtag in generating traffic to your post and let them read the posts without struggling.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, there are many reasons why your Instagram hashtag is not working. In this article, we have highlighted some of the common causes. And additionally, we have provided some of the possible solutions to help you use hashtags maximumly.
It is worth trying the above solutions, but most important, use the relevant hashtag to your Instagram post to beat the algorithm. Get multiple hashtags pertinent to your niche. It gives your Instagram profile higher chances to succeed, gets new followers, and improves engagement.
