Now Trending! 100 Popular Instagram Hashtags
Instagram’s features and algorithms are constantly evolving, but one component remains just as important as when it was introduced on Instagram back in 2010: hashtags!
Hashtags are a popular and key part of Instagram's social ecosystem; a powerful tool for growing on the platform; and an essential part of your Instagram marketing strategy. Hashtags play a pivotal role in expanding your reach, boosting engagement, and increasing your visibility - the right combination of popular hashtags can help you connect with a broader audience, amplify your Instagram content, get you on Instagram’s Explore page, and attract new followers who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
You can increase your chances of getting featured on Instagram’s Explore (featured) page by creating high quality content and using a solid set of hashtags.
Content creators, influencers, streamers, musicians, travelers, and business owners can all use trending Instagram hashtags as one of the most straightforward ways to boost your Instagram account, optimize your posts, and give you more chances to go viral. Whether you choose #PhotoOfTheDay, #InstaDaily, #TBT, or #FollowMe, let’s learn more!
All About Hashtags
Hashtags in general are a pretty basic premise. They’re just keywords or phrases preceded by the "#" symbol. You add them to your Instagram posts, and they’re then used to categorize and organize content on Instagram.
They become important when you use popular hashtags in your posts. This allows your content to be discovered by people who are interested in that particular topic or trend. The best Instagram hashtags basically create a bridge between your posts and users who are engaging with that same topic, making your content discoverable to a broader audience.
A few examples:
- #Travel helps highlight posts related to travel experiences, transportation, foreign countries, travel tips, and packing tips.
- #Food shows off content featuring both pro and amateur cooks, recipes and kitchen how-tos, restaurants, dining experiences, and food photography.
- #Fitness includes posts related to wellness, exercise workouts, walking and fitness goals, weight loss, and healthy living.
How Can Hashtags Help You Go Viral?
Hashtags help improve the discoverability of your posts by making them visible in Instagram's search results, Explore page, and relevant hashtag feeds. Trending and popular Instagram hashtags help give your post the potential to be more easily discovered by users outside of your own followers, which can significantly expand your reach.
For instance, if you use #FitnessMotivation in a post about your daily workout, your content can then show up in searches related to that hashtag and to fitness, which can lead to increased likes, comments, shares, and interaction; he more people engage with your post, the more chances it gets to potentially go viral.
Hashtags on Instagram can be placed right in your post caption, or in the first comment of your post. Both approaches work, but putting your hashtags in the first comment can keep your post looking more clean and visually appealing.
Instagram does allow up to 30 hashtags per post; but using between 5 and 15 tends to be more effective, keeping the hashtags readable and avoiding a spammy vibe. The best Instagram hashtags are relevant and aligned with the actual content of your post; irrelevant hashtags can be confusing to your audience, and may even reduce engagement.
And reach out to engage with other posts using the same hashtags on Instagram! Liking, commenting, and interacting with other creators in your content niche can help boost your Instagram visibility and build connections, as well.
The Three Main Types of Hashtags on Instagram
Hashtags on Instagram can be divided into three basic types, with practically endless variants:
- Generic Hashtags -These are widely popular hashtags like #PhotoOfTheDay, #Instagood, and #TBT (“Throwback Thursday,” for nostalgic images.) They’re seen so frequently that they come across as “trusted” hashtags on Instagram, attracting large audiences. But they’re also highly competitive hashtags due to how often they’re used.
- Trending Hashtags: These are hashtags on Instagram that are currently popular due to ongoing real-life events, viral trends, or Instagram challenges. These top Instagram hashtags can bring in a burst of activity and growth for your Instagram account - but time is a major factor, in that you have to start using them as soon as they start getting attention. (And they’ll often fade out just as quickly.)
Trending hashtags on Instagram are time-sensitive and change rapidly, like this #january tag - so your goal is to link your content to them fast, in order to take advantage of the trends!
- Branded Hashtags: These are unique hashtags on Instagram created for you as a creator, your brand, or your business. While most definitely niche - like Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke or Starbucks’ #RedCupContest - these hashtags help build audience loyalty, bringing people in to specifically focus on you and your brand.
100 Popular Instagram Hashtags to Help You Go Viral
Using the right mix of popular Instagram hashtags can significantly boost your chances of going viral! We’ve got 100 of the best Instagram hashtags all lined up below for you, divided into 12 categories to help you find the most relevant hashtags for your content.
1. Lifestyle - General hashtags for posts showcasing daily living and Instagram’s distinctively stylish photo collages.
- #LiveAuthentic
- #MyLife
- #InstaLifestyle
- #SimpleLife
- #DailyVibes
- #ThisIsLiving
- #LifestyleBlogger
- #LivingMyBestLife
2. Travel and Adventure - Popular hashtags for posts about traveling, travel photos, packing tips, and adventure trips.
- #Wanderlust
- #TravelGoals
- #ExploreTheWorld
- #AdventureAwaits
- #TravelDiary
- #TravelHacks
- #Globetrotter
- #TravelPhotography
3. Arts and Creativity - Hashtags that work for all types of art creation and inspiration, whether drawing, sculpture, sketching, painting, or fiber arts.
- #ArtisticExpression
- #CreativeCommunity
- #InstaArt
- #ArtistOnInstagram
- #ArtOfTheDay
- #CreativeInspiration
- #ArtLife
- #ArtLovers
4. Music and Dance - Hashtags for musicians, dancers, producers, and more - you can create your own hashtags for different genres of music and dance, too!
- #NewMusic
- #MusicianLifestyle
- #DanceLife
- #Choreography
- #LiveMusic
- #DancersOfInstagram
- #NowPlaying
- #DanceChallenge
5. Fitness and Wellness - These are some of the best Instagram hashtags for those interested in fitness, health, and exercise pursuits.
- #FitnessMotivation
- #FitFam
- #HealthyLifestyle
- #WellnessJourney
- #WorkoutGoals
- #FitLife
- #KeepGoing
- #GymTime
6. Fashion and Style - Fashionistas unite with these popular Instagram hashtags for all things stylish.
- #OOTD (Outfit of the Day)
- #StreetStyle
- #Fashionista
- #StyleInspo
- #FashionGoals
- #InstaFashion
- #ShoppingHaul
- #SustainableFashion
7. Food and Drink - Foodies, chefs, and home cooks will make short work of these food and drink related hashtags.
- #Foodie
- #InstaEats
- #HealthyFood
- #Instafood
- #FoodPhotography
- #Yummy
- #FoodLover
- #TastyEats
8. Beauty and Skincare - These hashtags are particularly useful for the beauty niche, whether you're sharing a new makeup purchase or doing a glow up.
- #SkincareRoutine
- #BeautyTips
- #MakeupLover
- #GlowUp
- #BeautyInspo
- #CleanBeauty
- #BeautyCommunity
- #MakeUpTutorial
9. Tech and Gadgets - Trending hashtags in the tech category often include tags for specific pieces of tech gear, plus more general hashtags like these.
- #TechLife
- #FutureTech
- #Innovation
- #GadgetGoals
- #TechSavvy
- #DigitalTransformation
- #TechTrends
- #SmartTech
10. Business - From small businesses to big brands, these are some Instagram hashtags that are useful for entrepreneurs of all levels.
- #EntrepreneurLife
- #StartUp
- #BusinessGrowth
- #WomenInBusiness
- #BusinessGoals
- #SuccessMindset
- #SupportSmallBusiness
- #ShopLocal
11. Home Decor - Here are some of the best hashtags for all things home decor, from inspiration to interior design and decorating ideas.
- #HomeDecor
- #InteriorDesign
- #HomeInspo
- #DreamHome
- #HomeStyle
- #HomeDesign
- #DecorIdeas
- #InstaHome
12. And Even More Popular Instagram Hashtags!
- #Instagood
- #DoItForTheGram
- #Love
- #InstaDaily
- #MotivationMonday
- #ThrowbackThursday
- #SundayFunday
- #(YourLocationHere)Life (ie #CaliforniaLife, #AussieLife)
- #Happy
- #InstaLike
- #Selfie
- #FollowMe
Pro Tips for Using the Best Hashtags for Instagram
Use Hashtag Research Tools
Instagram Insights is your starting point for hashtag research, as it provides valuable data on which hashtags are actually driving traffic to your posts. Hashtagify and All Hashtag are other popular tools you can use to help discover trending hashtags in your niche. Tracking hashtag performance is essential to refining your strategy, and will help you continue to find the best hashtags and most popular hashtags for your posts.
Stay on Top of Trending Topics
Keep an eye on current events - trending hashtags related to newsworthy or pop culture happenings should be immediately used if you want to hop on those bandwagons. Using other regularly trending hashtags, like #PhotoOfTheDay and #PicoftheDay, are great ways to stay connected with your audience in between more specific posts and events.
Keep Your Hashtags Balanced
Combining those high volume “everyday” hashtags like #PicOfTheDay and #PhotoOfTheDay with niche-specific hashtags is a great way to balance your hashtag usage on each post. High competition hashtags like #Instagood can offer potentially big overall visibility, while niche hashtags can help your posts get seen by a more targeted audience.
Analyze Competitors in Your Niche
Do some browsing around Instagram in the name of research, and take note of the popular hashtags that are being used by successful accounts in your niche. Study the engagement levels of their posts to decipher which hashtags seem to be working best, and adapt their hashtag strategy in your own way, for your own content.
Organize Your Tags
To streamline your posting process and ensure that you’re using the most effective and most popular hashtags, keep a text file with groups of hashtags that apply to your different types of posts. For instance, if you’re an actor, you can have hashtag groups for your time spent rehearsing; auditioning; getting ready for your acting day; and being on set. Try different combinations of hashtags to see which ones work best for your audience.
Link Your Instagram to Fourthwall and Grow Even Faster!
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Fourthwall offers even more benefits to you and your Insta fans - you can sell them digital products, direct them to all of your other socials, treat them to your own fun mobile phone app, and offer them memberships to your exclusive behind-the-scenes content and bonus goodies.
Get started on Fourthwall today, and let Fourthwall help you grow your Instagram - now that’s #Instagood!