A COMPLETE GUIDE TO

ACCELERATED
ORGANIC GROWTH

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LAUREN ASHLEY
contents

About the author

So what is a hashtag?

Why use hashtags?

How many hashtags?

Mixing groups of hashtags

Hashtag size

The top 9

Banned hashtags

Hashtag generators

Finding your target audience

through hashtags

The overall strategy

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
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M
t a g s
Ha s h

About the Author

Creative Professional with 12 years of experience delivering

exceptional client services. Adept at directing implementation
initiatives requiring fast-paced execution. Diligent, forward-thinking
and adaptable to dynamic company, customer and evolving brand
needs. Successful at developing and implementing comprehensive
marketing and digital communication plans. Highly organized,
methodical and skilled at communicating to diverse audiences and
stakeholders.

Lauren Ashley
BBA. MIB.

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
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So what is a Hashtag?

Hashtags work by sorting and categorizing digital content.

They’re a way of grouping information on a specific topic or
movement together, making it easier to discover and connect
with others discussing the same subject or activity.

Most people don’t think of it this way, but I want you to treat it
like a search engine. Pretend its Google! And as we get further
into this eBook, I’ll let you know exactly what I mean by that!

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

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Why Use hashtags?

Okay, so jumping right in, why would you want to use a

hashtag? Well, it’s a way to reach far more people and
accelerate your growth! It does this by increasing your reach,
engagement, and potentially your following! Hashtags can
increase your reach by over 10%.

Hashtags provide the opportunity to connect with

like-minded people who are following the same subject.
Hashtags are a networking opportunity and a way to build
your brand and business. The more connections you make,
the stronger your brand and Instagram account will become.

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
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M
t a g s
Ha s h

How many Hashtags?

You can use up to 30 hashtags on your feed and up to 10 on
your stories. However, I don't recommend using the maximum
amount. Instagram doesn't favor spammy behaviour, and if
your hashtags aren't entirely relevant to your post, they
actually won't help your growth, and I'll explain this more
shortly.

I recommend choosing 10-12 hashtags for each post.

Of course, you can use more, but you need to ensure they're
really specific to your post.

If you've niched down as much as possible with your tags, go

ahead and use some more. Don't keep adding larger, more
general hashtags because your post will end up getting lost in
the mix anyway.

PRO TIP
You can add your hashtags
to the end of your caption OR you
can also hide them in the
comments. Both methods work
equally well, so you can choose
based on your preference. To
conceal your hashtags, add a few
lines before your hashtags. Adding a
few periods will collapse the
comment, so your posts don’t
appear spammy to your followers.

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

Mixing groups of Hashtags

A lot of hashtag gurus will suggest making a few groups of

hashtags for each type of content you post. For example, if
you have a beauty account and your content pillars are
skincare, makeup, and hair care, you will want to have a group
of hashtags for each of those you cycle through over the
month. I agree with this method, but I’ve found that you should
still be editing the group of hashtags for each post. Remember,
the more specific and relevant your hashtag is to your post
and caption, the better it will do.

Makes sense?

Another reason you want to cycle through your hashtag

groups is that you don’t want to end up in Instagram jail. This is
also known as being shadowbanned. Essentially, Instagram
doesn’t like spammy or repetitive behaviour. It would be best
to switch up your tags by using different tags daily and
researching new hashtag groups (similar but different- maybe
new and trending) each month.

HASHTAG GROUPS
BEAUTY

MAKEUP

SKINCARE MAKEUP HAIRCARE

#SKINFLUENCER #MARYHADALITTLEGLAM #LONGHAIRGOALS
#SKINBLOGGER #UNDISCOVEREDMUA_UNDER5K #TORONTOHAIRSTYLIST
#VEGANSKINCARE #FLAWLESSFOUNDATION #HAIREXTENSIONSPECIALIST
#HEALTHYSKIN #BRONZEDMAKEUP #LONGHAIRDONTCARE
#CLEANBEAUTYSKINCARE #BRONZEDMAKEUPLOOK #HEALTHYHAIRCARE

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

Hashtag Size

When you search a hashtag, it will always tell you the number
of times it's been used. Unique hashtags may only have a few
posts, but viral hashtags may have millions. So what should
you be using? I suggest using a mix of a few sizes. If you have
less than 500 followers, stick to hashtags that are smaller than
50k. If you have 1000 followers, use hashtags that are smaller
than 100K. If you have 4000 followers, you probably want to
stick to hashtags under 500k. Unless you're famous with
millions of followers and very high engagement, you should
never be using the hashtags with over a million posts.

Why?

Because your post won't be strong enough to get noticed.

This is a general guideline for the size of hashtags to use, but
the process will be the same for everyone. You want to
increase the size of your hashtag as your engagement
increases. This might look a little bit different for everyone. For
example, if we compare an account that has 1000 followers
and gets 20 likes and maybe 10 comments with an account
that has 500 followers with100 likes and 30 comments, which
account is better?

THE SECOND ONE!

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

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Hashtag Size Continued

Engagement is far more critical than just the number of

followers, and this is 100% taken into consideration by any
brand looking to work with you.

Followers Hashtag size

Less than 500 = 50K or Less

1000 Followers = 100K or Less

4000 Followers = 500K or Less

***PRO TIP***
Regardless of how many followers you have, don't use hashtags
over 800K unless you are ranking top 9 in the majority of your tags.

UNDER 50k UNDER 100K UNDER 500k

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

The Top 9
So what is the top 9? When you search a hashtag, the first 9
posts you see are those that Instagram has chosen to feature
for that tag! This might be a photo, video, or reel. These
accounts are doing something right! The top 9 is your goal!

If you choose the tab on the right, you’ll see all the most recent
posts (not necessarily the best ones). The more often a
hashtag is used, the faster the post will move down the most
recent page and ultimately be lost forever. This is why ranking
for the top 9 posts on the feature side is so important.

* Think of it as FREE advertising for your account.

The more often your post is seen, the more likely someone will
click it and then ultimately follow you if they like your feed.

Are you with me? Great, let’s keep going!

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

Banned Hashtags
Following Instagram's rules and guidelines is critical to using
the platform. Any post that goes against Instagram's rules can
be reported by the community and banned by Instagram. This
is how hashtags become banned. Instagram will hide any post
that is associated with a banned hashtag. Therefore, using
them will only hurt your organic reach and growth efforts.

Banned hashtags are always changing. Instagram doesn't list

banned hashtags, but they can be easily identified in the
search feed. A quick Google search may also point you in the
direction of some hashtags to avoid. Typically a hashtag is
banned because people are posting inappropriate content
and using a particular hashtag to promote it. Some of the
hashtags that are banned are ones you wouldn't necessarily
expect, like #beautyblogger. However, often a small tweak to
the tag, such as changing the spelling, is accepted. In this
case, #beautybloggers, with an "s" on the end, is entirely
acceptable.

This is why checking and properly researching your hashtags

is SOOO important!

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

Hashtag Generators

Many apps and websites claim they will generate the best
hashtags for you to get you more followers.

Please don’t fall for it.

While they may provide value for finding relevant hashtags in

your niche, you now know that you don’t want to use the
largest and most popular tags! Or at least very few of them… If
you’re going to use a third party generator, be careful and
always ensure that each tag is relevant to your post and photo.
If you search the hashtag and your image wouldn’t make
sense in that particular feed, then don’t use it.

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

Finding your target

audience through hashtags
Okay, now that you better understand how hashtags can
increase your reach, I want to revisit one of my first points,
thinking of hashtags as a google search engine. When
choosing hashtags, you need to think about what keywords
your target audience is searching for.

Hashtags are not just how you deliver your posts to the
public; its also how people search for information!

For example, if I enjoyed cooking and I need a recipe, I might

search #recipe for some ideas. But then again, that would be
extraordinarily general, so I’ll end up seeing all kinds of posts
of food that I don’t even like! I need to narrow it down! So I
might search #ketodinnerrecipes, which will give me precise
options of exactly what I’m looking for.

Are you with me?! Awesome! You’re doing fantastic!

To bring that together,

you want to work
backward and use
hashtags that your
followers are already
searching for so that you
can be the one to
provide the value and get
the follow!

#recipes #ketodinnerrecipes

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

The Overall Strategy

Your hashtags and hashtag strategy will grow with your

account. Meaning, to grow organically, you want to niche
down as much as possible with completely relevant and
specific tags for each post. The better you do, the more your
post will be shown to others, and the greater chance you have
of ending up in the top 9.

If you end up in the top 9 of 1 hashtag, you’re more likely to

dominate on a second one, and this strategy goes on. So think
about this for a moment. If you used a massive hashtag with
say 1 million posts, what are the odds that your smaller
account will make the top 9?

Not likely AT ALL…

It would be a waste of a hashtag, and your post will never be

seen. Stick to smaller-sized hashtags and swap in some of the
larger ones as you begin to dominate.

Mind Body Glow

 The complete guide to accelerated organic growth

e r i n g
a s t
M
t a g s
Ha s h

Thank You

Congratulations! You've completed the Mastering Hashtags

eBook! Did you find this information helpful? I'd love to hear
from you! Tag me on Instagram @laurenashley.ca for a
chance to be featured on my account!

For any questions please contact

laurenashley.glow@gmail.com

DISCLAIMER

Strategies in this eBook are based on personal experiences

and in no way guarantee profit or growth.

Organic growth is not an overnight process and will

continually need to be developed and will be different for
each user.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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www.laurenashley.ca

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