Week 8 Part B: Your Instagram Hashtag Use

Hashtags

    Using hashtags on Instagram is one effective way of getting content widespread to a specific audience. Putting a hashtag in a caption or comment not only describes the content, but puts it into a category with other posts that have received that same tag. As an independent game developer, I find using hashtags such as: #IndieGame, #IndieDeveloper, #PCGames, #PixelArt, etc.. When I post things unrelated to games, I make sure to use appropriate tags. For a photo of a garden, I used these tags: #Photography, #Garden, #Plants, #HealthyLiving, #PhotoEditing, #Photoshop, #Spring, #Flowers, etc.. and I always like to post my brand name (#DunCentral) as a hashtag on my content. 

    After doing some research, I've determined that the most effective times to post content are between 10:00AM and 3:00PM. Being able to schedule posts ahead of time has been incredibly helpful in accomplishing this. Although Facebook gives users the ability to schedule posts, I find Hootsuite to be slightly more helpful for the fact that it allows you to post across more than just Facebook and Instagram simultaneously. Typically, I schedule my posts between 11:00AM and 1:00PM. I learned that you can also use your own analytics to determine what times work best for your content and audience.