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Are you struggling with engagement on your instagram? Whether you don’t have enough likes or comments, or you feel your account isn’t reaching as many people as you’d like, a great way to have better results is through Instagram hashtags.
According to a study by Later, which analyzed over 18 million Instagram posts, using up to 20 hashtags can significantly improve your average reach rate. This means hashtags aren't just decorative—they're critical for optimizing your Instagram strategy.
Adding hashtags to your posts can be a simple yet effective way to increase your reach and engagement in an organic way. In this article, we’ll explore proven methods to discover trending hashtags, including using Instagram Explore and Hashtag Analytics Tools.
You'll learn how to select hashtags tailored to your niche—whether you're in fitness, fashion, or food blogging—and how they interact with the Instagram algorithm to maximize your reach and engagement.
Trending hashtags on Instagram are hashtags that gain significant popularity within a short period. They often reflect current events, popular culture, viral challenges or seasonal trends. Hashtags are used to label or categorize content, making it more discoverable on social media applications.
Some examples are hashtags related to holidays (#Christmas), social movements (#BlackLivesMatter), or trending topics (#WorldCup).
According to Later, Hashtags can be categorized in five categories:
Trending hashtags are a key part of Instagram’s engagement strategy. These popular keywords or phrases, prefixed with #, allow your content to appear in search results and attract a broader audience. Whether you’re a content creator, influencer or business, using trending hashtags can help you:
Hashtags start trending when more ports than normal start using it. This often happens with viral content, social trends or a current event.
For example, when there was the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial, there were several hashtags trending showing support for one or the other like #JusticeForJohnnyDepp, or #IStandWithAmberHeard.
There are other hashtags that are popular regardless of the season or event, think of #grwm (Get ready with me) or #otd (Outfit of the day)
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how do trending hashtags work:
Hashtags act like labels, categorizing posts by theme or topic. When you use a hashtag, your post appears in the public feed for that hashtag, making it discoverable to users interested in that topic.
Trending hashtags attract a large audience because many users actively search for or follow them. Including a trending hashtag in your post increases the chances of it being seen by people outside your immediate followers.
Instagram's algorithm may highlight posts with trending hashtags in the "Explore" section or higher in the hashtag feed, amplifying their reach.
Trending hashtags often create a sense of community. For instance, using #ThrowbackThursday (#TBT) connects users posting nostalgic content.
By leveraging trending hashtags, your posts become more relevant in real-time conversations, improving engagement rates.
Explore: Best Practices to Add Music to Instagram
Adding hashtags is a great way to make your profile more discoverable. But to optimize your reach, it’s key that you use hashtags strategically. So, how can you ensure you’re choosing the right ones? By staying informed about trending hashtags within your niche, you make it easier for users to discover your content.
To help you get started, here are 7 effective ways to find trending hashtags on Instagram:
Instagram’s explore page offers users a collection of posts generated by their reactions (likes, comments, shares), followers and accounts they follow. If, for example, you’re a foodie and love exploring pages about food, likely your Explore page will share accounts similar to your interests.
The Explore page can be a great place to find what’s trending on Instagram, however it’s a more manual approach.
For example, if you’re making content related to pottery, you can use keywords to see what other accounts are doing. Type “Pottery”, in the search and many posts will appear:
You can explore the top posts, and browse through the hashtags they are using.
Besides browsing through recent or popular posts using a hashtag, Instagram’s hashtag search tool also allows you to check what hashtags are more popular and relevant. Post volume is a key metric when it comes to choosing what hashtags to use.
If a hashtag has been used in millions of posts, it's likely that your posts won’t stand out. Similarly if the hashtag has not even a hundred posts, this means no one is actually using it. So an effective solution for this is to blend generic and popular hashtags with more specific ones.
Let’s say that you’re a skincare influencer. Using Instagram’s hashtag search tool, can help you discover the popular hashtags to use:
You can use popular hashtags like #skincare that has 131 million posts, #Skincareroutine (31.3M posts), or #skincareproducts (12.8 million posts), and then add more specific ones related to your video or even the products you’re using.
Doing a competitor analysis is not only about the content influencers make but also how they promote it, and in this case, make their content more discoverable. It’s useful to follow relevant influencers in your niche as this can help you find trending hashtags on Instagram.
For influencers, their content and how this content reaches users is key. They need to maintain their relevance, and good engagement rates so it makes it easier for them to establish brand collaborations and more. So, because of this, they always know which hashtags work for them and frequently use them in their posts.
For example, Hanadi Diab is a fashion and lifestyle influencer with over 662K followers on Instagram.
Depending on what type of content she makes she uses hashtags to make it discoverable, so even users that don’t follow her can check her content.
By following relevant influencers, you can know what hashtags work within your niche.
Looking to partner with brands but don’t know where to start? Explore our guide on finding brand opportunities for small influencers and begin turning your platform into a source of income.
Another way to find trending hashtags on Instagram is through Hashtag search tools, as these provide real-time data and insights that help you discover the most effective ones to use.
StarNgage offers a free Instagram hashtag search and tracking tool designed to help marketers enhance their social media influencer campaigns. It provides detailed analytics to evaluate hashtag performance and discover influencers using specific hashtags.
Key Features:
BrandMentions is a comprehensive hashtag tracking tool that provides real-time analytics across multiple social media platforms and the internet. It offers insights into a hashtag’s impact, mentions, and trends across social media, news sites, forums, and more.
Key Features:
Inflact is a free hashtag generator tool specifically designed for Instagram. It generates targeted hashtags based on keywords, photos, or post URLs, helping you improve your content's discoverability.
Key Features:
Instagram also allows you to follow hashtags that are relevant to your audience or industry. This is useful to track emerging trends and also adapt your content strategy to what’s currently popular.
Additionally, when you follow niche hashtags, you'll see content from others who share similar interests or belong to the same community. This is a great opportunity for engagement, whether through likes, comments, or direct messages, helping to build connections and grow your following organically.
You can follow hashtags, by searching for those relevant to your niche or industry. For example, if you're in the fitness industry, you might search for hashtags like #YogaForBeginners, #FitnessMotivation, or #HomeWorkout.
Once you find a niche hashtag you’re interested in, click on it to explore the content under that tag. If you find it relevant, tap on the “+” sign at the top of the hashtag feed. This will ensure that content using that hashtag appears in your feed.
Besides researching what hashtags are trending on Instagram, it is also important that you make sure that the ones you use, regardless of their popularity, are working for you. With Instagram Insights (for business accounts) you can review your analytics and see which hashtags drive the most engagement on your posts.
Here’s how to access your Instagram data from the app:
You can access a list of trending hashtags on instagram for a specific niche. There are two ways to do this: Doing your own analysis (checking competitors, explore page, etc), or through a quick search online.
There are many blogs and resources online that always keep updating lists of popular hashtags used by millions of users.
According to Shopify, these are the most popular hashtags for 2025 (divided by category):
Before using a hashtag, evaluate its popularity to ensure it aligns with your goals:
While trending hashtags can amplify your reach, they must be relevant to your content and audience. Consider the following:
Finding hashtags is just the beginning. Here’s how to use them effectively:
Trending hashtags are the pulse of social media, connecting communities, amplifying messages, and driving engagement. Whether you're a small business owner, a content creator, or simply looking to share your passions with a broader audience, leveraging the right hashtags is a game-changer. By aligning your content with trending and niche hashtags in your industry, you can increase visibility, foster connections, and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Remember, the key to success isn’t just about following trends but strategically choosing hashtags that resonate with your brand, audience, and goals. Stay authentic, stay relevant, and let your hashtags tell your story.
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