Let’s talk TikTok hashtags. They are widely underused and incredibly important if you want to grow your following and views on TikTok. And you cannot just randomly add hashtags you feel like if you want to get the most benefits from them. A hashtag like #CruceRocks is not going to help with anything.

What Are TikTok Hashtags?

I will just get this out of the way real fast. A hashtag is technically a metadata tag that is prefaced by “#”. For those that do not care about the technical stuff, it is a tag you add to posts that highlights something connected to your content on social media.

You have to use TikTok hashtags in a connection with your TikTok SEO strategy for the best benefits.

TikTok Hashtags – Benefits Of Using Them

I could highlight many benefits but these are the most important ones:

Extra Visibility

When you add the hashtags, the content you create is put in front of more users, people who do not already follow you. The hashtag needs to be relevant and you add it in the content section (the description), always at the end. Do not add your hashtags at the start cause that is a very bad idea.

By adding the hashtags, you put your content in front of people who showed interest in that topic in the past.

As an example, a hashtag like #DIYclosets will show your content to people who looked for this and interacted with other clips that had the hashtag in them.

Increased Engagement

Since you increase visibility, higher engagement rates follow, as long as the video is of interest and is good. More people will see the content you post on TikTok and there is a much higher chance you will get comments, likes, bookmarks, and shares.

Building A Community

This is particularly useful when you us branded hashtags. You do need a following and you want to encourage it to use that hashtag you create. If you manage to do this, your followers will actually help you grow in a completely organic way.

I am sure most of you already heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge campaign. Its use of the hashtag made it hugely viral.

Identifying Your Competitors

There are several industry-specific hashtags that exist and that you might not be aware of. When you find one, you find other businesses or individuals who do similar content to what you do or at least operate in the same industry. Simply check out the hashtag and see what your competition does.

In the example of a Twitch streamer, you can find hashtags used by them, click on them, and you will surely find other streamers. Check out their content, get inspired, and see what hashtags they use so you could potentially use them in the future.

Getting Content Ideas

Category-specific hashtags are very important in digital marketing. They identify top-performing content. Check them out and then you can get some inspiration. You can see what content works best and what content does not work.

Finding Other Influencers

The truth is there are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of other businesses and people you compete with. Networking is something we need to do if we want to grow.

With the use of TikTok hashtags, you can find accounts like yours that create really good content and that you can potentially work with in the future. Partnering with other influencers is a great way for you to grow since you get to use the power of both communities for both of you.

Identifying And Taking Advantage Of Trends

Trends on TikTok, like on all social channels, come and go very quickly. When you get to capitalize on the very good ones at the proper time, you get a huge increase in engagement and visibility.

As an example, think about the Infinity Challenge. I am sure you know it. It was simply huge and you could have made a clip using it.

You can find trends with the TikTok search feature. This shows you several popular trends, together with topics the network thinks you are going to like, based on the activity you had in the past. Basically, browse TikTok just like your followers do, like your target audience does.

Monitoring What Is Happening

If you have time, this is something you want to consider. When you find hashtags, especially those that are relevant to the content you create, you get to see what others post. You get to interact, comment, and basically be social. Also, as an advanced little tip, it can also help you to see what other people are saying about you, but this is something you have to worry about when you have many, many followers.

Examples Of Popular TikTok Hashtags

I cannot tell you the most popular hashtags in your industry, those that you absolutely need to use, because I do not know your industry. However, you can get a general idea of using TikTok hashtags and you might want to use some of the most popular in the world right now. These do change from time to time but they tend to always be relevant to some degree:

  • #tiktok
  • #fyp
  • #viral
  • #tiktok
  • #funny
  • #comedy
  • #meme
  • #funnyvideos
  • #trending
  • #booktop
  • #new
  • #happy
  • #viralvideos
  • #gaming
  • #foodtiktok

There are also some that are particularly popular in some strategies, those that bring followers when you follow back. Several hashtags are used on TikTok and all other networks right now just for that, like #follow4follow or #followforfollowback. DO NOT use these hashtags! You would only get irrelevant followers that do not like your content.

It is very important that the hashtags you choose are relevant and bring in people who might actually follow you, who are interested in the content you create. The follow for follow trend will hurt your growth since TikTok will see that your followers do not really like your content. This can even lead to a shadow ban.

Hashtag Best Practices For TikTok

How do you use the hashtags? There are some best practices you should be aware of. Always remember the following.

Mix Niche Hashtags With Popular Hashtags

This is a very good thing to do. The popular hashtags are going to increase your visibility and the niche hashtags are incredibly helpful in helping you reach your specific targeted audience. Basically, when you mix them, you increase the reach and attract interested followers who are likely going to interact with what you create.

Do Not Use Irrelevant Hashtags

Absolutely all the TikTok hashtags you use HAVE TO BE RELEVANT. This is VERY important. For instance, if your content is not funny, you do not want to add the #funny hashtag or something similar. The irrelevant hashtags will practically confuse the social media algorithm used to show your video to people. Also, you might end up having been labeled as a spam account.

I am saying this because a very common mistake many make is to use the very popular hashtags, the ones they see on some of the top content they digest. Do not make that mistake and just use the relevant hashtags.

Use The Correct Number Of TikTok Hashtags

You surely saw many clips on TikTok with dozens or even 100 hashtags. This is a big mistake.

The best thing you could do is use 3 to 5 highly relevant hashtags in each TikTok post you share. This maximizes the impact that every single hashtag can have and also keeps your description area clean.

Place your Hashtags Strategically

You do not want to put your hashtags in the middle of a sentence. You want to place them right at the beginning of the description or at the end. I personally only recommend adding them at the end. This keeps the content clean and still gives you the benefits of using them.

Find What Works For YOU!

Always take a look at the results you get from your TikTok videos. Especially in the beginning, using TikTok Analytics is enough. You want to monitor the hashtags you use so you can weed out those that do not work and focus on those that bring in the best results, preferably likes, views, and follows, relevant follows.

What works for one account will not work for another! This is why it is so important to go through this entire process of choosing and using TikTok hashtags with a trial and error mentality.

How To Find The Trending TikTok Hashtags

You want to use the general hashtags that are always there in a mix with the ones that are trending. But, how do you find the trending ones? While several things can be done and some are more complex than others, here are some simple ways to do it to help you out in the beginning:

TikTok Discover Page

The TikTok Discover page gents constantly updated with challenges, hashtags, and practically a well of information that never ends. You can find so much data there that will help you to choose the best hashtags and even to create better content. You want to check this page every single day.

Follow Relevant Influencers

Are you a fan of Kamala Harris? Do you create gaming content? If so, following Kamala on TikTok will not help you find relevant hashtags for you to use in your content. But, following huge gaming personalities like T1 Faker will.

Influencers are so often involved with trends. They are the first ones who use them and sometimes even create them. Identify and then monitor the influencers who are very active in your niche. You thus gain important insights since you see the hashtags they use. You also get to see some hashtags that are only gaining traction now and you can get ahead of the curve.

Look at the engagement rate of the posts of the influencers. You can thus observe what works and what does not really work.

Hashtag Generator Tools

Since AI and big data are so huge right now in marketing, there are obviously some tools that you can use to generate hashtags. You might have even heard about some like:

Several other exist!

There is nothing wrong with using them. However, you should never blindly add a hashtag you are offered by such a tool without first making sure it is useful for your strategy and is completely relevant. Using common sense is often all that is really needed for choosing the correct ones from the list you get from the tools.

TikTok’s Content Suggestions

Lastly, the content suggestions you get from TikTok can be a huge help in finding relevant hashtags. Whenever you post a video, you will be suggested some hashtags. Most of these are very popular and you might want to use them. But, you have to check them first, of course!

As an extra tip, start writing your hashtag in the phone app as you prepare to upload and see how many posts already exist with it in them. You also get some recommendations that are related to what you are typing. Take these into account since you might find some that are very good for you.

Generally, I like sticking to a couple of TikTok hashtags that have a few hundreds of thousands of posts created, a couple that have around 10,000 clips posted, and one very popular hashtag with millions of posts. But, once again, this might not be the best recipe in your case. You have to mix and keep trying different hashtags and volumes to see what works best for you.

Final Thoughts

Do not underestimate using hashtags in your videos. If you want to grow, they are a must! I get sad every single time I see friends or people I know who do not use them. They can be so valuable and the tips above will definitely help you to choose some very good ones.

Get in touch with me if you need more help or there is something you do not understand. You have contact details on the right sidebar.

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