How to Track and Measure Instagram Hashtag Performance

When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of Instagram hashtags, social media experts have limited resources to fall back on.

Although Instagram gives a general overview of content performance, it doesn’t specifically track the performance of hashtags. And it doesn't tell you which hashtags are trending or popular at the moment.

Measuring the performance of hashtags can be a cumberstone for beginners who may not be aware of what sort of data they should gather, or how data can help with decision making.

That’s why marketers rely on third-party tracking tools like Hashtag Expert for hashtag analytics.

This post is designed to empower you by helping you understand why measuring hashtag performance is important, as well as giving you some key metrics to track.

Bonus: You'll learn how to use Hashtag Expert for Instagram hashtag analytics.

Why Is Tracking Hashtag Performance Necessary?

By measuring and monitoring hashtag performance, you'll know whether your hashtag targeting needs further improvement or is already working just fine. This data is essential for your marketing team to determine why some posts are doing well while others are not.

Instagram hashtag tracking will provide you with helpful information to assess and compare the effectiveness of Instagram marketing campaigns and set the right expectations.

What Key Hashtag Metrics Should You Track?

Before using any hashtag group, check if they're a good match for your profile. Look for post count, popularity, trending, and recent hashtags on each social media platform.

Our community members can use the in-app features to track hashtag performance and make a personalized list for their posts.

1. Trending, Top, New, and Recent Hashtags

Go to the 'Trending tab and tap on each. The function of this tab is to give you the most accurate and up-to-date hashtag suggestions by trending, top, new, and recent categories.

‍These hashtags have the potential to rank your Instagram posts higher up in feeds.

Feel free to enter a base hashtag at the search bar and browse through the list.

If you don’t like the results, try again using a close alternative or a new keyword.

When you’ve found a perfect match, tap to copy.

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2. Difficulty Level

If you ever opened the Stats tab, you must have noticed the 'Placement' card.

Placement refers to the difficulty level. It gives you an estimate of how well your post with a particular hashtag (or a group) will perform on Instagram.

Connect your Instagram with Hashtag Expert for personalized suggestions on placement.

Based on the data collected from your account, we’ll tell you about your odds of performing well with a particular group of hashtags.

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Don't worry if you see a hashtag group that's hard to place for your profile. You can easily turn a hard to place hashtag group into an easy one.

4. Post Count

Choosing hashtags can be tricky. You want to make sure that your hashtags aren’t too competitive because that means cutthroat competition for the top spot.

On the other hand, hashtags with low search volume and fewer post counts can put you at risk of not being found organically.

That’s why we recommend a perfect combination that has both higher and lower post counts. It will make your hashtag group more balanced and easy to target.

Hashtag Expert allows you to check the post count for individual hashtags in every group.

Whether you’re creating a new hashtag group from scratch, or editing a group, or handpicking hashtags, always pay attention to the post count.

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Pro Tip: If you always want your hashtags within a fixed range, Open Advanced Settings and go to 'Post Count Filter.'

Now add minimum, maximum, or both. Then tap save.

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Start Tracking Hashtag Analytics with Hashtag Expert

A random Google search or free tools might give you hashtags for free but none of them will be personalized to your profile, and you’ll never be able to check their performance at scale.

Hashtag Expert makes it possible to monitor and analyze Instagram hashtag performance in real-time. 

Bonus point - link your IG with Hashtag Expert and receive personalized hashtag suggestions and know when is the best time to post Instagram.

Sign up for a free trial today and start making Instagram hashtags work for you.