Meaning & use of hashtags on social media (2025)

Hashtags have become an integral part of social media – but what exactly is behind them? Whether on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), hashtags are a crucial part of any social media strategy. They help to categorize content, increase reach and reach target groups in a targeted manner.

But not every hashtag automatically brings more visibility. The right choice and strategic use are crucial for success on social networks. In this article, you will find out exactly what hashtags are, what significance they have for social media and how you can use them optimally for your growth in 2025. We also show you how platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook evaluate hashtags differently – and which mistakes you should avoid at all costs.

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is a combination of the hash symbol “#” and a keyword or group of words written without spaces. The hashtag was originally developed to categorize content on social media platforms and make it easier to find.

The hashtag concept originated in 2007, when former Google employee Chris Messina suggested using the double cross “#” to organize discussions on X to group discussions. The idea quickly caught on and was adopted by other platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Today, hashtags are an integral part of digital communication and an essential tool for increasing reach and engagement on social networks.

By using hashtags, posts can be assigned to specific topics, making them more visible to users who search for these terms. Whether for viral trends, marketing campaigns or topic-related discussions – hashtags are an indispensable element of a successful social media strategy.

Hashtag meaning: Why they are so important

Hashtags are far more than just a collection of keywords. They play a crucial role in making content on social media more visible, promoting interaction and addressing specific target groups. Whether for increasing reach, branding or for targeted marketing campaigns – hashtags are an indispensable tool in the world of social media.

Achieving greater visibility and engagement

Hashtags help to maximize the reach of a post. They make posts visible to users who actively search for specific topics or follow relevant hashtags. A post with the right hashtags can thus reach a much larger audience and generate more interactions – be it through likes, comments or new followers.

Through the strategic use of hashtags, you can address your target group directly and participate in ongoing discussions. Especially on platforms like Instagram and TikTok hashtags play a central role in the algorithm and influence which content is displayed to users in the feed or on the “Discover” page.

Build awareness with brand hashtags

Brand hashtags are an effective way to strengthen your brand and encourage community engagement. Companies often use individual hashtags with their brand name or slogan to create clear recognition.

For example, brands such as Coca-Cola (#ShareACoke) or Nike (#JustDoIt) specifically use brand hashtags to encourage users to share their own content and focus on their products or services. Smaller companies also benefit from such hashtags, as they can use them to collect user-generated content and strengthen brand loyalty.

Building affiliation and context

Hashtags are also used to give a post a thematic classification. On platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram, they help to link posts to current trends or topical discussions.

In communities and niches in particular, hashtags help to bring like-minded people together and create a sense of belonging. For example, #FitnessCommunity or #VeganLife are used by users to network with each other and share content from their interest group.

Easier to find

Hashtags allow users to search for and discover specific content. Platforms such as Instagram and LinkedIn even make it possible to subscribe to hashtags so that relevant posts appear directly in the feed.

For example, if you use the hashtag #traveltips in your post, it can be discovered by anyone who follows or searches for this hashtag. This not only increases your reach, but also the chance of reaching targeted users who are interested in your content.

Participation in challenges and the like

Viral challenges are an integral part of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Hashtags such as #10YearChallenge or #IceBucketChallenge have reached millions of users worldwide and encouraged their participation.

Companies also use hashtag challenges to raise awareness of their brand and activate the community. One example is the World Food Program’s #ShareTheMeal campaign, which generated attention for social projects. Viral trends like this can increase the visibility of your content enormously and get you involved in a broad social media dynamic.

Identify sponsored partnerships and advertising

For influencers and brands, hashtags are an important tool for identifying collaborations and advertising. According to the legal requirements in Germany, sponsored content must be clearly labeled as advertising.

Hashtags such as #ad, #advertising or #sponsored are therefore essential to ensure transparency for followers and avoid warnings. Companies should also ensure that influencers use these tags correctly in order to avoid legal problems.

Using hashtags correctly on social media platforms

Hashtags are an essential tool for reach and discoverability in social networks. But not every hashtag brings the desired success. There are clear rules and best practices that you should follow in order to fully exploit the potential of your hashtag strategy. Here are the most important aspects you should consider:

Do not use punctuation and special characters

A hashtag always consists of a continuous word or word combination that follows directly after the “#” symbol. Punctuation marks, spaces or special characters such as “!”, “&” or “?” interrupt the hashtag and prevent it from being recognized as such.

Incorrect: #social media → Only “#social” is recognized as a hashtag here, “media” is not taken into account.

Correct: #socialmedia → So the entire term is counted as a hashtag.

You should therefore always write hashtags coherently in order to achieve the best possible visibility.

Do without emojis

Even though emojis can enhance the visual impact of a post, they are rather unsuitable for hashtags. Most social media platforms do not correctly recognize emojis within hashtags or make them undetectable in searches.

Incorrect: #🎉HappyDay → The emoji could cause the hashtag not to be recognized correctly.

Correct: #HappyDay → Without emoji, the hashtag remains clearly visible and findable.

Rather use emojis in the caption or as decoration in the post, but not as part of a hashtag.

Adaptation of hashtags to the target group

Not every hashtag works for every community. Choose your hashtags consciously and adapt them to the interests, language and habits of your target group.

Industry-related hashtags: Use specific hashtags that are common in your niche, e.g. #SocialMediaMarketing for a marketing agency.
Local hashtags: If you want to address a regional target group, use hashtags such as #BerlinFoodie or #MünchenEvents.
Community hashtags: Certain groups use their own hashtags that you can use to generate reach, e.g. #Bookstagram for the book community.

Choosing the right hashtags ensures that your content reaches exactly the people who are interested in your topic.

Relevance is more important than reach

Many users believe that they can achieve the greatest possible reach with large, popular hashtags such as #love, #instagood or #fashion. The problem: these hashtags are extremely overcrowded, so your post will quickly get lost in the crowd.

A mix is better:

Niche hashtags with medium search volume (e.g. #VeganRecipes instead of #Food).
Branded hashtags that represent your company or campaign (e.g. #NikeRunning).
Long-tail hashtags that describe more precisely what it is about (e.g. #InstagramMarketingTips instead of #Marketing).

The maximum number of hashtags

Each social media platform has different limits for hashtags – and there are different opinions on how many hashtags are optimal.

Instagram: Maximum of 30 hashtags allowed per post, but 5-15 well-chosen hashtags are usually more effective.
TikTok: 3-5 hashtags are optimal, too many can negatively influence the algorithm.
Facebook: 1-3 hashtags are sufficient, as they have less meaning here.
Twitter (X): 1-2 hashtags are ideal, as space is limited and too many hashtags are confusing.
LinkedIn: 3-5 hashtags recommended for business posts.

Finding the right hashtags – here’s how!

Choosing the right hashtags is crucial to making your posts visible and reaching the right target group. But how do you find the right hashtags for your social media posts? Here are four proven methods to help you identify the best hashtags for your strategy.

Analyze other posts and accounts

A good starting point for hashtag research is to analyze successful accounts in your industry. Take a look at which hashtags your competitors and relevant influencers are using to increase their reach.

This is how you proceed:

Search for leading accounts in your niche and analyze their most used hashtags.
Pay attention to which hashtags appear in particularly successful posts.
Observe whether certain hashtags are regularly used for similar topics – this indicates a high level of relevance.

Use the search function

Many social media platforms offer an integrated search function that helps you discover popular and relevant hashtags. This method is particularly useful if you don’t yet have a clear idea of which hashtags are suitable for your content.

How to use the hashtag search effectively:

Enter a keyword in the search bar (e.g. #fitness, #marketing, #travel).
The platform suggests related hashtags that are frequently used.
Pay attention to the number of posts for each hashtag – very high numbers mean strong competition, while medium numbers are often better for targeted engagement.
Check which hashtags appear on posts with high interaction.

Use a social listening tool

Social listening tools allow you to track trends and popular hashtags in real time. These tools analyze millions of social media posts and show you which terms are particularly relevant in your industry at the moment.

Advantages of a social listening tool:

Tracking current hashtag trends on various platforms.
Analyze which hashtags generate the most engagement in your niche.
Identification of new hashtags that are currently gaining relevance.

Use a hashtag generator

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to generate suitable hashtags, a hashtag generator can be a valuable help. These tools analyze your post and automatically suggest relevant hashtags.

How does a hashtag generator work?

You enter a main topic or keyword (e.g. “fitness”, “photography”).
The tool creates a list of popular and related hashtags.
Many generators also evaluate the competition for each hashtag so that you can select effective terms.

Hashtags on the various social media platforms

While hashtags are crucial for reach on Instagram and TikTok, they play a more supporting role on Facebook and LinkedIn. To help you get the most out of your hashtag strategy, here are the most important rules and best practices for each platform.

Instagram hashtags

Where you can use hashtags on Instagram:

In the caption – ideally at the end or as the first comment.
In the comments to keep the caption clearer.
In Instagram stories (up to 10 hashtags possible, but they no longer appear in the hashtag search).
In the profile bio to increase the visibility of certain topics.

Tips for Instagram hashtags:

Optimal number per post: 3-5 hashtags (maximum 30 allowed).
Use a mix of popular and niche hashtags.
Use Instagram Insights to analyze which hashtags bring you the most impressions.
Consider posting hashtags as the first comment to make the caption clearer.

Facebook hashtags

Where you can use hashtags on Facebook:

In the caption or comments of a post.
In private Facebook groups for better categorization of posts.

Tips for Facebook hashtags:

Optimal number per post: 2-3 hashtags.
Use a few relevant hashtags instead of posting a long list.
Test hashtags in Facebook groups, as they often work better here than on public pages.
Use the URL facebook.com/hashtag/[DeinHashtag] to find public posts with this hashtag.

TikTok hashtags

Where you can use hashtags on TikTok:

In the video description to increase the reach via the For-You-Page.
Go to the “Discover” page to find the latest trends.

Tips for TikTok hashtags:

Optimal number per video: 3-5 hashtags.
Use a mixture of trendy and topic-relevant hashtags.
Hashtags like #FYP or #ForYou are popular, but no guarantee for more reach.
Use the search function to discover current trends and viral hashtags.
Start your own hashtag challenges to activate the community.

X (Twitter) Hashtags

Where you can use hashtags on X:

Directly in the tweet – at the beginning for emphasis, in the middle as a keyword or at the end for additional context.
In retweets, comments and replies.
In the X search bar to find current discussions.

Tips for X hashtags:

Optimal number per tweet: 1-2 hashtags.
Use hashtags that are currently trending to get more visibility.
Use a maximum of two hashtags, as too many can come across as spam.
Keep an eye on the “Trending Topics” to follow current hashtag discussions.

YouTube hashtags

Where you can use hashtags on YouTube:

In the video title for maximum visibility.
In the video description to achieve additional reach.
In the YouTube search to find relevant hashtags.

Tips for YouTube hashtags:

Optimal number per video: 3-5 hashtags (maximum 15 allowed, more will be ignored).
The first three hashtags from the description appear above the title.
Hashtags help with categorization, but should be used in moderation.
Use hashtags that match your channel topic to get more targeted views.

Maximum reach and visibility with FollowerPilot

Hashtags are an essential tool for increasing your reach on social media – but they alone are often not enough to really take off. If you want to grow your Instagram, TikTok or Facebook profile faster and present your content to a larger community, FollowerPilot is the ideal solution for you.

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Let the algorithm work for you – More engagement means better placement in your target group’s feeds.

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