How to Use TikTok Hashtags to Boost Your Reach and Engagement

You’re missing out if you’re not using TikTok. You can’t ignore TikTok any longer, whether you’re a business owner or an individual looking to establish a personal brand.

TikTok has smashed download records and outperformed other social media platforms in terms of active users and watch time figures in under 6 years of existence.

Tiktok has 1 billion monthly active users as of January 2022. Tiktok was the most viewed website in 2021, and the app has over 3 billion downloads worldwide, with the numbers continuing to rise.

(Source: Photo by Jenny Ueberberg on Unsplash)

With these staggering numbers, it’s clear that your brand has to be on Tiktok.

However, it’s no secret that establishing yourself and growing a community on any social media platform can be challenging, bringing us to our topic today.

Hashtags are words that follow the hash symbol. You’ve probably used hashtags on other social media platforms, but I’d be lying if I said TikTok hashtags are the same.

(Source: Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash)

Here’s how to use TikTok hashtags to boost your reach and engagement.

First and foremost, why should you care about Tiktok Hashtags? What’s the point of using them?

The Advantages of TikTok Hashtags

• Because your videos appear under a hashtag result page when a user searches for that hashtag, hashtags help you gain greater visibility. This exposes you to a larger number of people who may not yet be following you, improving your chances of gaining new followers.
• Hashtags on Tiktok aid in the discovery of competitors. This will come in handy when you’re ready to conduct competitor research as part of your social media strategy preparation or revision.
• You can locate influencers to collaborate with for forthcoming campaigns or promotions by using TikTok hashtags.
• TikTok hashtags are also useful since they tell the TikTok algorithm who to show your content. If TikTok user enjoys videos about shoes, they are more likely to be recommended shoe store content.
• You’ll notice an increase in video views once TikTok uses hashtags to match your content to the right audience.

How to Find Hashtags for TikTok

Because TikTok’s recent upgrade removed the discover page and replaced it with ‘friends’, it’s now a little more difficult to find hashtags.

To find hashtags for your video, go to the ‘friends’ tab and click the search symbol in the upper right corner to open the search page. In the results, type a keyword relevant to your business or niche, then swipe to Hashtags.

How to Create a TikTok Hashtag Strategy

If you’re going to employ Hashtags for Tiktok growth, you need to do it right. Make a strategy.

Consider the following questions as you develop your strategy:

• For whom is this content intended?
• Where do they live?
• What should they do if they come across the content? (Should they like, comment, follow, or join the trend?)

The rest will be simple once you have the answers to these questions.

In your TikTok Hashtag strategy, there are three types of hashtags to consider:

• Broad hashtags
• Niche-specific or content-specific hashtags
• Location hashtags

1. Broad Hashtags

   These are hashtags with a large audience. The most popular hashtags on TikTok are broad hashtags.

   They include:
   #fyp
   #foryou
   #foryoupage
   #tiktok
   #tiktokviral
   #viral
   #trending

   Because they already have a large audience, you should only utilize two of these broad hashtags in your post caption. When the purpose of your post is to get the most views and reach, these are the best option.

2. Niche-Specific or Content Hashtags

   A niche is a subset of a bigger industry that focuses on a specific area or topic. Social media marketing, for example, is a subset of digital marketing.

   When you want people to sign up for your webinar, purchase your downloadables, or join your email list, niche-specific hashtags are ideal. They put you in front of the people who are interested in what you have to say.

   Content hashtags are similar to Niche hashtags. Content hashtags are those that are specific to the topic of your video.

   Let’s look at an example to demonstrate the difference.

   Assume that Social Champ wanted to make a video about ‘How to Grow on Tiktok.’ They could choose from the following hashtags.

   Niche – #socialmediatips #socialmediamarketing
   Content-specific – #tiktokgrowth #tiktokgrowthtips

   Pro Tip: Use niche-specific hashtags with a large audience to ensure that your content receives the most exposure for a relevant topic.

   How to find the best niche-specific hashtags to use?

   Go to the search page and type in a keyword that your brand is associated with. Choose the ones with the most viewers and use the top two.

3. Location Hashtags

   Most people don’t use location hashtags because the goal of the majority of TikTok users is to gain the maximum reach and exposure possible.

   When you’re doing a regional campaign, local hashtags are ideal. If Zara were to undertake a campaign in Mexico, for example.

   They could include some hashtags that are specific to Mexico. #México #mexicotiktok, for example.

How to Match Your Hashtags

Now that you know the types of hashtags you need, here are three ways to match them.

1. 2 Broad Hashtags + 2 Niche Hashtags + 1 Content Hashtag

   Using the SocialChamp example from above;

   Broad – #fyp #tiktokviral

   Niche – #socialmediatips #socialmediamarketing

   Content – #tiktokgrowth #tiktokgrowthtips

2. 1 Broad Hashtag + 2 Niche Hashtags + 1 Location Tag

   Using the Social Champ example, when running a campaign in Atlanta.

   Broad – #foryou

   Niche – #socialmediatips #socialmediamarketingtips

   Location – #atlanta

3. 2 Niche Hashtags + 2 Content Hashtags

   Using the Social Champ example;

   Niche – #socialmediatips #socialmediamarketingtips

   Content – #tiktokgrowthhack #tiktokgrowthtip

   Example
   Check out this video from Steven Mellor. He uses hashtags #organicgrowth #growthhack #tiktoktutorial #tiktoktips #tiktokgrowth

   

4. Zero Hashtags

   This is a good tactic to use when you notice your hashtags are not getting you any traction.

   This gives your account a break, and when you resume using hashtags, the algorithm will direct your posts to the relevant audience.

   Pro Tip 2: Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Consider what keywords you’d use if you were looking for a company in your niche. That’s where you should begin your hashtag research.

Conclusion

No matter how many updates TikTok makes, hashtags will always be vital since they provide direction on what content should go into whose ‘For You’ page.

I hope this TikTok hashtag guide can help you jumpstart your growth on TikTok.

Bio:

Joy is a passionate digital marketer as well as a social media consultant, coach, and content developer. She is passionate about merging business with the creator economy.

Her major line of work revolves around helping small business owners and content creators use social media to build an audience and monetize it. She likes to spend her free time watching romantic comedies, listening to music, or traveling.

You can follow her on Twitter, or Instagram or visit her blog for more social media marketing tips.