Hashtags are used to connect discussions about the same subject on social media platforms.
One of my students published her very first tweet with the hashtag #FirstTweet. I asked her to click on the hashtag. We both were amazed how many people had exactly the same idea this very second everywhere in the world.
Although Twitter started the whole idea hashtags are now commonly used on most social media platforms including Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Facebook.
Which hashtags shall I use and how many?
While it is usually recommended not to use more than two or three hashtags on Twitter, you need many more hashtags to make Instagram work.
(But some very successful accounts are not using any hashtags at all….? – Yes, but they have a large following, and they also had to start somewhere)
- Observe what influencers in your industry are doing
- Monitor the hashtag you want to use: is it popular? Who is using it?
- Keep a sketchbook of relevant hashtags
- Connect to people who are using the same hashtags
- Favorite / like posts with these hashtags
- Create new hashtags to start a campaign
- Check out trending hashtags
- Consider using certain hashtags for certain days of the week
- You can constantly monitor hashtags the same way you are monitoring your feed, mentions, lists etc. on Twitter
- No more than three hashtags on Twitter, but as many hashtags as possible on Instagram.
- The more specific your hashtag, the more targeted your audience
Hashtags for the Arts
Some art-related hashtags on Twitter:
#art #photography #contemporaryart #modernart #illustration #sketches #pencil #drawing #painting #design #architecture
More specific hashtags for art institutions:
#museum #museumed (education) #museumnext #musesocial (Museums & Social Media) #musetech (Museum & Technology) #mtogo (Museums on mobile devices) #mewseummonday (Cats & Museums)
How to tag artworks on Instagram
You can use more or less the same keywords you are using for SEO. Don’t forget to tag your work with the technique, subject, style, main colours and location.
(By the way – hashtags are usually posted in comments. The artist, title of the artwork and dimensions will be part of the caption.)
A few examples:
Yves Klein, Blue Monochrome, 1961 (Museum of Modern Art, New York)
#painting #contemporaryart #contemporary #abstract #minimal #blue #NewYork #minimalism #colour #color #instaart #abstractart #artoftheday #moma #monochrome #window #freedom
Rembrandt, Self Portrait as a Young Man, 1634 (Uffizi, Florence)
#painting #Baroque #arthistory #masterpiece #selfie #portrait #monochrome #brown #oil #dutch #artoftheday #selfportrait #Uffizi #Florence
Henri Cartier-Bresson, New York 1947
#photography #blackandwhite #streetphotography #photooftheday #NewYork #people #architecture #urban #pic #capture #composition #window
Then we can add some general popular hashtags – as long as they relate to the artwork.
Popular hashtags for every day of the week
Monday:
- MondayBlues
- ManicMonday
- MusicMonday
Tuesday:
- TuesdayBoozeday
- TransformationTuesday
- TravelTuesday
- TuesdayTreat
Wednesday:
- WellnessWednesday
- WednesdayWisdom
- WayBackWednesday
- WoofWednesday
Thursday:
- ThankfulThursday
- ThirstyThursday
- Thursdate
- ThrowbackThursday
- ThursdayFunday
Friday:
- FF – FollowFriday (Twitter)
- FridayNight
- FridayReads
- FridayFunday
- FlashbackFriday
Saturday:
- Caturday
Sunday:
- SelfieSunday
- Sinday
Why not create your own series of hashtags for each day of the week? It will be fun to do and will help you to structure your postings.
