How You Should Be Using Hashtags on Instagram: Tips for Outdoor Enthusiasts
You’ve heard of Happy Hour… but do you know Mappy Hour?
What is Mappy Hour?
Mappy Hour is a collection of urbanites who meet up for outdoor adventures. These activities range from physical (rock climbing, cycling, hiking) to philanthropic (for example, a recent shoreline clean-up along the Hudson River in New York).
Like happy hours, many of the events kick-off or close at a bar or coffee shop. At present there are eight chapters across North America.
Mappy Hour’s digital presence is a great example of how outdoor enthusiasts and brands should promote themselves.
We’ve outlined some reasons why, and how they should inspire you to take your digital presence to the next level.
Their Instagram Hashtag Strategy is Robust and Tailored to their Goals
Mappy Hour has a solid strategy when it comes to their Instagram hashtags.
They use a combination of:
- A branded hashtag (#mappyhour)
- Region-specific hashtags (#mappyhourdc, #mappyhournyc)
- Related popular hashtags (#mappy, #getoutside, #exploring)
Additionally, the carefully crafted — or lucky — celebrity shout-out put #mappyhour in front of the 210,000 fans of professional climber @ashimashiraishi, seen here:
Use their Hashtag Strategy to Promote Discovery
Mappy Hour demonstrates a solid understanding of Instagram engagement best practices.
Take this image as example.
The image credit and three hashtags each serve a different purpose:
- Image Credit — By giving image credit by tagging the photographer (@moosestomp) this post will be visible to all of @moosestomp’s followers.
- Branded Hashtag — By using a related, branded hashtag in the post (#MappyHourDEN, for Mappy Hour Denver) they maintain their branding and lift visibility of a specific chapter.
- Trending Hashtag — Amplifying a trending hashtag (#eclipse2017) by inserting it into the image meant that the image would be included in conversations around that hashtag. This is especially potent tactic when used the day the tag is trending.
- Related Hashtag — Adding a popular, but still niche, hashtag keeps the potential audience focused to people who enjoy nature and exploring outside (#windriverrange)
Together, these tactics yield a post that is appropriately tagged. Each hashtag serves to elevate the brand’s exposure.
The hashtags introduce the image, and by extension Mappy Hour, to new audiences. Fewer hashtags ensures that the image doesn’t look spammy.
These hashtag tactics are completely free to use, but what if you have a promotional budget?
Use Mappy Hour’s Strategies to Promote Engagement with Hashtags
Here are some additional ways to boost exposure and engagement on Instagram.
1. Sponsor an Instagram post
Sponsoring your post creates an ad that’s visible in Instagram users’ feeds.
Compared to a typical post, a sponsored post will be shown to more people — so, it’s a particularly great way to boost brand awareness or conversion efforts.
How Instagram Ads are shown to your audience
The image is marked “sponsored” but otherwise remains in the same editorial space.
User will be shown your sponsored post (in their feed) and they’ll have the option to click directly to your sales page. Or a specific blog post. Or anywhere else you want to send them.
You can also target the types of people you want to see your post so that you’ll only pay for users who are likely interested in your content or brand.
Why paid ads?
If you learn how to use Facebook ads, you’ll know how to use Instagram ads — since they’re both published through the Facebook Ads dashboard.
Taking the time to understand the interface, targeting capabilities, etc., is an extremely worthwhile investment that can result in huge traffic and/or engagement increases if done well.
Slowly pepper paid ads into your content and brand strategy.
You’ll find that learning about what’s possible with digital advertising will spark many creative promotion ideas that you can try out for little cost.
2. Sponsor a post with Instafluentials
Instagram has its own universe of specialized celebrities. Find one that will represent your brand and approach him or or her with an offer.
Lesser known influencers will usually work in exchange for samples. Better known influencers and outright celebrities will require formalized payment and contracts.
How paid sponsorships with influencers is disclosed is still a point of discussion and debate. There is no firm answer so brands will need to determine what level of disclosure is most ethical.
Hilary Milnes at Digiday wrote two years ago of a popular ‘grammer: “Her account follows a common formula for Instafluentials: Full sponsorship disclosure on the blog, vague verbiage on Instagram.”
When in doubt, supply influencers with copy drafted by your legal team. This will protect you against claims that disclosure was not made.
3. Create a Story
Instagram Stories — just a year old — has promising returns.
The service, which offers a brief storyline of images, is popular with individuals and businesses alike. Instagram’s internal research shows that more time is spent in the app interacting with Stories compared to individual photos.
Further, one in five businesses posting a Story receives a direct message from users, reports Business Insider.
Combine Hashtags for Best Results
All Instagram users benefit from strategic use of hashtags.
A little time spent researching the best mix of branded and community-driven hashtags will yield the best exposure.
Those businesses and individuals with bigger budgets should consider producing regular stories, leveraging paid ads, or enlisting a celebrity influencer to maximize audience reach.
Mappy Hour is a fine example to get started!
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