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How TikTok Hashtags Work - Complete Guide

How TikTok Hashtags Work - Complete Guide

Hashtags have been an integral part of the social media strategies of brands, content creators, influencers, and businesses. They are essential tools for reaching new audiences and boosting your content’s visibility. 
Hashtags work the same way on TikTok as any other social media platform. Incorporating them in your content makes it more discoverable for a larger number of users. This can help your profile grow exponentially in terms of follower base and engagement rate, increasing the chances of your videos going viral. 
Let’s explore more about TikTok hashtags in this guide and learn how to put them to good use to generate optimal results. 

How Hashtags Impact Your Profile

Hashtags play a vital role in the placement of your profile on TikTok. In this section, let’s discuss how using appropriate hashtags can impact your profile.

Enhanced Visibility

Adding relevant hashtags to your content enhances its visibility as it is categorized under those topics. When someone searches for those tags, your videos can surface in the top results. This way they become visible to users who have not even followed your account yet. Moreover, using popular and trending hashtags increases the chances of appearing on the Discover page. 

Making Your Profile Discoverable

As a result of enhanced visibility, your profile and videos can become more discoverable for people unaware of them. Hashtags allow newer people to discover your profile who contribute to enhancing your TikTok followers. Users searching for topics relevant to your niche can land on your profile and benefit from the content you have created for your target audience. 

Higher Engagement

When more and more people come across your videos, there is a great chance a considerable percentage of them will engage with it. Be it in the form of likes, views, comments, or shares. This boosts your engagement levels to quite an extent, kickstarting the journey to making it big on a platform like TikTok. 

People Sharing Common Interests

Using hashtags relevant to a specific niche or subject helps group similar content together. This phenomenon helps gather people sharing common interests to build a community. It can be leveraged to promote branded hashtags through user-generated content where they talk about your brand and become the carriers of your message. 

Discover and Partake in Trends

You can find new trending hashtags by browsing through the app. Pick those that relate to your content and niche and use them in your content. Participate in trends and challenges to add an element of fun to your profile and spice things up for your audience. It also helps strengthen your presence and get you featured on the For You Page

 Finding the Right Hashtags

Using hashtags is great but finding the right ones is even more important to drive optimal results for your profile. Here are a few ways you can look for appropriate hashtags to include in your posts. 

i. Niche Topics

Look for hashtags related to your niche. These should include both broad ones that define the particular category as well as the ones narrowed down to a specific topic. This helps categorize the content and group it with similar content to make it convenient for users. When they search for topics that relate to your niche, your content is likely to be featured in the top search results which depends on other factors as well.

ii. Competitor Analysis

The profiles of content creators, influencers, and businesses working in a similar niche as yours should be analyzed. Observe the hashtags your competitors have used in their content and analyze their growth metrics. Look for the combination of relevant and popular hashtags they have used and how it impacts their overall reach and visibility across the platform.   

iii. Keyword Research

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about what kind of keywords they would be searching for if they were looking for the type of content you create. Type those keywords in the search bar and analyze the search results in the Hashtags section to find out if your content fits in well within them. If it does, incorporate those keywords as hashtags in your content and grow your visibility. 

iv. Trending Topics

Go to your Discover Page to find out trending topics, videos, sounds, and challenges. Identify the hashtags that are relevant to and align with your niche and content themes. Incorporating trending hashtags can significantly boost your visibility. Using a balanced mix of relevant and popular hashtags is a great strategy to work with.  

v. Hashtag Research Tools

There are plenty of hashtag research tools available online to help you with finding the appropriate hashtags for your content. You can find both free and paid options depending on your goals, budget, and the features you are looking for. Some tools provide additional metrics as well such as hashtag view counts, reach, and more. 

How to Use Hashtags for Optimal Performance

Now that we know the significance of hashtags and how to find the appropriate ones to incorporate in your posts, let’s discuss how you can use this powerful symbol for optimal performance. 

i. Incorporate Relevant Hashtags 

It’s essential to include hashtags that define your niche and the topics you talk about in your videos. This helps in grouping the content with similar topics making it more discoverable for new followers and viewers. 

ii. Combine Popular and Relevant Hashtags

While it’s tempting to leverage the most popular hashtags, it’s essential to create a balanced combination of relevant and trending ones. Popular hashtags offer a broader reach while niche hashtags bring forth a highly engaged audience who will show genuine interest in your content. 

iii. Create Branded Hashtags and Challenges

Come up with a branded hashtag or challenge as this strategy works pretty well on TikTok. The users on this platform love to participate in challenges and engage with branded hashtags. So it’s safe to say that TikTok is one of the most effective platforms for using branded hashtags. 

iv. Search Less Competitive Ones

Look for low-competition hashtags as it’s easier to make your content stand out in their results. Once you start performing well in a small hashtag, it becomes easier to get featured in a popular one. This is why, it’s recommended to use a combination of both, 

v. Use the Optimal Number of Hashtags

Don’t stuff your posts with too many hashtags. It is recommended to use between 3 to 5 hashtags per post which is an optimal number for TikTok. This also helps you stay within the character limit and pair an engaging caption with appropriate hashtags. 

vi. Measure Hashtag Performance

Measuring the performance of the hashtags you use is an essential aspect of determining which hashtags work best for your content. Using different hashtag combinations is a better strategy than using similar ones in each post. Identify the ones that bring in more engagement and followers and make sure to use more of them in your posts. 

Wrapping Up

Hashtags are an essential tool that helps you garner higher engagement, increase your potential of going viral, and make your profile more discoverable for a larger audience. We have shared tips on finding the right hashtags to incorporate into your content and making the most of them. An optimal hashtag strategy is the means to growing exponentially on a platform like TikTok.