Want to level up your Instagram efforts in an effortless way? There is a simple tactic that could help you accomplish this: putting hashtags in your first comment.
Understanding Hashtags
It is first important to note that there is still a need to add hashtags in your Instagram captions. This is because they allow your content to find niche audiences and establish branding within a highly saturated platform that has about 95 million photos and videos shared daily. However, when required to add at least 3-5 hashtags in addition to a caption, the small space provided becomes cluttered and overwhelming for viewers to comprehend.
Since it is likely that hashtags are serving a secondary purpose of categorizing your content, it is best to add them in a discreet place. This allows the important messaging of the caption to stand alone in the caption space. And the best part is, this doesn’t affect the hashtag’s ability to help Instagram users locate your post.
Using the Hashtag First Comment Feature
The way hashtags appear if you are using the first comment method is under the caption box, as a comment by the account. See the example below of a Digital Stack client, Club Pilates, demonstrating how this feature can be put to use.
For most Instagram users, adding in hashtags to the first comment takes an additional step once the post is shared. This is because you have to go and comment on the post yourself after it has been published to paste in your desired hashtags.
However, with Digital Stack you are given the option to use the first comment feature when scheduling out your Instagram posts. Instead of adding hashtags to the caption box, you put them in the hashtag box and select “first comment” denoting where they should appear, as shown in the example below.
This feature takes away the need for that additional step of adding hashtags at a later time after the post has been published.
For corporate marketing teams, you can also create distinguishable hashtag sets within the platform. This will allow you to give franchise owners some hashtag set options, making their post more identifiable to the parent brand when published on Instagram. Learn more about the special hashtag features Digital Stack has to offer by visiting our website HERE.
