The Ultimate Hashtag Formula for Authors
EPISODE SIXTY THREE
Hashtags have changed a lot over the years - from how we use them to how many we actually use in our posts. So what is the best way to use hashtags? How many do we use? In this episode, I'll share with you a hashtag formula that you can put to work today.
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Transcript
Hashtags are a hot topic, mainly because the way that we use them and the way that people present them on social media keeps changing. The truth is, is that hashtags are still very important and very relevant to your overall success on social media. How do you use them? How many do you use? Where do you put them? All that good stuff is always being asked of me when it comes to seeing success on social media, so I thought I would share with you my ultimate hashtag formula that will answer this question once and for all.
My name is Jenn Hanson-dePaula, and I'm the co-founder of Mixtus Media. The purpose of this channel is to empower and educate authors with the best book marketing, social media, and newsletter information available. I am really good at helping authors find their ideal readers, specifically on social media, and helping to simplify the process. If this sounds good to you, be sure to hit like and subscribe.
What hashtags ultimately do is it tells the algorithm who to put your posts in front of. Hashtags are also still used to find relevant information that your ideal readers might be looking for. This is especially true on TikTok. When we talk about what groupings or what hashtags to use, I like to go by a three-group system. We're going to be breaking that down so you'll know exactly what kind of hashtags to use and how many to use as well.
The first grouping of hashtags that you want to focus on are people that you want to connect with. Start to think about descriptive words that describe these people that you want to connect with. This might be hashtag readers, hashtag bookish, hashtag book fans, book lovers, that kind of thing. Thinking about these descriptive words is a really great way to start to figure out the keywords that will be used within these hashtags. Start with just a simple research. Use a hashtag with a descriptive word, and then see what pops up. From there, look at the top three to five hashtags.
Now, I know on Instagram you can use up to 30 hashtags, but the key here is, is to focus on quality rather than quantity. Start off with three to four hashtags for this grouping, and then you can go from there. I would really try to keep it as minimal as possible within really focusing on the relevance of those hashtags. If you're looking for hashtags on TikTok, the same applies. Thinking about three to maybe five within this grouping of hashtags, and then adding them to your list.
The second grouping of hashtags is what your post is actually about. Look at what you are talking about in your post. Maybe it's about your book, maybe it's about a service that you provide, or maybe it is about a topic that your book actually covers. Thinking about these subjects and these descriptive words, do the same thing. Go into the search bar, type hashtag, and type in that descriptive word. Maybe it could be romance novels, maybe it could be about your writing process.
If you write a non-fiction book on legal advice, you can type in hashtag legal advice. Thinking about what it is that this post is about, and finding those keywords, again, those descriptive words that describe it, is another grouping of hashtags that you can use. Again, I would go with three to five within this grouping, focusing on the quality of the hashtags rather than the quantity.
The third grouping is, thinking about hashtags that describe who you are. This could be hashtag romance writer, hashtag book marketing expert, hashtag legal expert. Thinking about, again, descriptive words that describe you and the information or the type of book that you provide is what is going to be within this third grouping. Again, three to five hashtags within this group is going to be just ideal. Thinking about if there are multiple layers to the services that you provide, or if you write in multiple genres, you can also include those in this grouping as well. This grouping can really be the same for many different posts that you share.
You can really just do a little bit of research in what relevant hashtags are that describe who you are and the books that you provide or the services that you provide. You can use those over and over again. Once you've done this research and you have looked up these different groupings, you'll have a great collection of hashtags, up to about 15 hashtags if you use up to five within each group. You can reuse these hashtags within the different content buckets that you use throughout the week. Now, when we talk about the hashtags that are specifically about what post you're sharing, this might change up a little bit.
Reusing hashtags is totally fine, but you want to make sure that the hashtags regarding what your post is about is relevant within the hashtags. Keeping an eye on that and not just blindly reusing hashtags is going to be key. A big mistake that people often make, especially when it comes to hashtags, is they just find a bunch of really popular hashtags and then they just blast them out. For example, the hashtag FYP, the For You Page, is one of those hashtags that might get you in front of a bunch of eyeballs, but are they your ideal readers? Are they actually going to take action and want to buy your book? Probably not.
This is another great reminder that just because you might get views, or you might get certain likes on a certain post, it does not really translate into sales. Focusing on creating hashtag lists that are specifically for your ideal readers is going to be more beneficial for you, not only within who you're connecting with, but in the long run to actually drive them to purchase your book because they're interested in what you have to say.
When it comes to where you should put your hashtags on an Instagram post, I get a lot of questions on should they include it in the first comment, or should they put it in with the caption? The way that the algorithm works is that it is most likely going to draw the information from the caption section. Putting it in the first comment might be a little bit more aesthetically pleasing, but that isn't where the algorithm is drawing information. So, I would highly encourage you to add it into the actual caption section of Instagram.
To recap, the formula that you want to use for your hashtags is, first of all, you want to think about the people that you want to connect with. Second, you want to focus on the information or what the post is actually about. Third, focus on what it is that you write about or provide as an author. Pick three to five hashtags for each of these groupings and then you have a great collection of hashtags for your post.
If you still have questions about hashtags, or still a little hazy about what to include or how to research them, be sure to let me know your questions in the comments. I would love to address them for you. Or feel free to reach out to us on our social media outlets, or at mixtusmedia.com.