The Truth About Hashtags

In a recent AMA, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri clarified that hashtags don’t meaningfully increase reach. At best, they “categorize” content, a vague description that reflects what many marketers are already seeing in performance. Add to that Instagram’s shift to limit hashtags to five per post, and the signal is clear: hashtags are no longer a growth tool.

User Behavior Has Changed

In some cases, hashtags are actively working against you. They clutter captions, pull focus from stronger messaging, and signal an outdated approach to the platform.

The harder question is: if hashtags aren’t doing the job anymore, what is? That’s where social SEO comes in.

There was a time when hashtags were the primary way users discovered content. You’d search #datenightideas or #thingstodoinnyc and scroll through a feed of loosely related posts. It worked because the platform didn’t have a better system.

That behavior has evolved. Users aren’t searching in fragments anymore—they’re searching in full phrases:

“Date night ideas in Los Angeles.”

“Best museums for kids NYC.”

The Instagram search bar now functions much more like Google, prioritizing keywords, context, and relevance over hashtag groupings. That shift changes how content gets surfaced.

Instead of relying on hashtags to slot your post into a category, Instagram is scanning everything: your caption, your on-screen text, your video subtitles, even your bio. The platform is trying to understand what your content is and who it’s for, then serve it accordingly.

In other words, we’ve moved from hashtag strategy to keyword strategy.

What Hashtags Actually Do

Hashtags haven’t disappeared entirely, but their role is far more limited than it used to be. Now, they function primarily as labels.

They can provide quick visual context—if at the bottom of a long caption it says #freeoperatickets, then for the skimmer that didn’t read much of that caption, the hashtag may help someone know immediately what the post is about (though in this case, we would still be hoping that your creative would do that job first). 

But they are not a reliable driver of discovery, and they don’t meaningfully expand reach, especially compared to the tools now available. That distinction matters because many teams are still using hashtags out of habit, not strategy.

What Drives Reach Now

If hashtags aren’t the lever, what is? The answer is a combination of clarity, engagement, and creative execution.

Start with social SEO:

• Use clear, descriptive language in your captions
• Include relevant keywords your audience is actually searching for
• Reinforce those keywords with on-screen text in your videos
• Align your bio and profile with those same themes

The clearer you are about what you are offering, the easier it is for the platform to match you with the right audience. The algorithm is paying far more attention to how people interact with your content than how it is labeled. Shares, comments, and saves are the actions that expand reach.

And that brings us back to creative. What your post needs now to move posts beyond your existing audience is:

• A strong hook in the first one to three seconds
• A concept that feels native to the feed
• A reason for someone to send it to a friend

Where This Leaves Us

Hashtags are not harmful to your strategy, but they are largely irrelevant to growth. If you choose to use them, keep them minimal and intentional. Three to five highly relevant tags can still serve as quick context. Beyond that, they do not need to be part of your workflow.

In paid media, hashtags have no role at all. If you are already investing in targeted reach, hashtags will not add anything but noise.

The bigger shift is this: We do not need to rely on outdated signals to tell platforms where our content belongs. We can make that connection ourselves through clear messaging, strong creative, and content that earns attention.