The 2025 Guide to Hashtags
It’s 2025, are we still using hashtags? Well, a lot of marketers and social media managers are very opinionated on the use of hashtags. The answer in a nutshell is yes, we still do use them. In order to still capture effective use of hashtags on social media requires strategic research based on your audience and industry, while staying aligned with your business objectives. This post will discuss the best strategies for using hashtags for 2025.
Hashtags tend to impact performance and help users find posts based on the topics and categories of the hashtag. The actual purpose of using a hashtag varies, but is mostly used today for campaigns, marketing, and in attempt to boost engagement. Sprout Social defines that the hashtag is used to “help bring order to the social media user experience. Hashtags group together similar conversations to help people find content that matters to them.” Using hashtags will connect your post to a specific topic or category. For example, if a business in Maine uses the hashtag #PortlandMaine, their post will be targeted to a certain community and target audience based in Maine.
Using Hashtags: Best Practice
Using a mix of hashtags will help increase content visibility, awareness, and reach new audiences. However, marketers and social media managers must be intentional with the choice of hashtags, because best practice could depend on the industry you’re in and brand objectives.
Branded Hashtags: These are unique for your business. For example, the Montreal Canadiens, as they use #GoHabsGo on almost every social media post, which has been helpful for building the online Canadiens fan community, fan engagement, and visibility and reach.
Industry Specific Hashtags: These type of hashtags are more broadened and relevant to your industry or focus of work. For example, if your business is the medical aesthetics industry, you would want to use hashtags such as #injectables, #medspa, #nurseinjector, etc.
Trending Hashtags: These hashtags are usuable for mostly all users and pages on social, they are popular in certain moments of virality, season, holiday, or from trending current events or news. Note that these can be time sensitive as trends come and go rapidly. For example, #BlackFridaySales, #NYE, #MarchMadness, #GoldenGlobes, #AprilFools would all be examples of trending hashtags that you would not use on a regular basis.
Community Hashtags: As stated earlier, community hashtags are a great way to target local audiences and communities. Use your location as a hashtag, as well as others such as #SmallBusinessOwner, #YourStateTravel, #YourStateFood, etc.
Always avoid using too many or spam hashtags such as #FollowForFollow.
Platform Specific Hashtag Use
Instagram: Stick to using 3-5 hashtags, relevant to your brand and content.
TikTok: Stick to 3-7 hashtags per post. Hashtags are highly recommended to be usedl for the platform algorithm. Always check the trending hashtags when posting.
Twitter / X: This platform is unique when it comes to hashtags, as X is much more conversational based on current events and live events. I would recommend checking the trending page, as well as using community based hashtags based on what you engage with on X. Stick to 1-2 hashtags per post. Here is an example of what the X trending page looks like. The American Marketing Association reports that hashtags can boost tweet engagement by about 50 for brands and businesses.
LinkedIn: Stick to 3-5 industry focused hashtags per post, as LinkedIn is an industry community platform.
Facebook: While not as crucial to use on Facebook, hashtags can help engagement and visibility. Stick to 1-3 hashtags per post.
Stats Don’t Lie:
Be sure you are checking analytics regularly to see which hashtags drive engagement. Experiment with different combinations to find what works best for your brand. Page analytics and metrics help you refine your hashtag strategy and adjust your approach moving forward if you’re seeing performance dips.
By using a thoughtful mix of hashtags, customizing your approach to each platform, and regularly analyzing performance metrics, you can optimize your social media presence and stay ahead in 2025. Hashtags may seem simple or eve irrelevant but when used strategically, they still are a powerful tool in throughout social media.
Are you still using hashtags in 2025? Let me know your thoughts and strategy!
References:
Hashtags in 2025. Do They Work?. American Marketing Association. (2024, August 18). https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/social-media-hashtags/
Hashtags: What They Are and How to Use Them Effectively. Sprout Social. (2024, April 26). https://sproutsocial.com/insights/what-is-hashtagging/
