Hashtag (#) strategy leads to increased likes, followers of Instagram Micro-Influencers?

By Khyati Manchanda*
Today, Instagram has become an indispensable platform for social media marketing, for any kind of entity or individual. In this article, exploratory research carried out at Department of Management Studies at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi brings out the distinctive statistics about the Instagram and delves deeper into one of its interesting features – Hashtags.

With more than 1 billion monthly active users (MAU) and 500 million daily active users (DAU), Instagram ranks fourth in the list of most popular social media networks (after Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp) (Daniel Ruby, Demandsage)

Gen Z’s one of the favourite platforms to socialize, Instagram’s most active accounts are found to be in India (180 million), followed by the USA (170 million), and Brazil (110 million) (Statista).

Instagram’s official account is the most followed on the platform (473 million followers). Cristiano Ronaldo (footballer) tops the list of most-followed people on the platform with 404 million followers.

Other personalities in the top 5 are Kylie Jenner (Television personality, model, and businesswoman with 312 million followers), Lionel Messi (footballer with 308 million followers), Selena Gomez (Musician, stress, producer, and businesswoman with 299 million followers), Dwayne Johnson (Actor and professional wrestler with 298 million followers) (Josh Boyd, Brandwatch).
However, 53.62% of Instagrammers have less than 1000 followers, 38.03% users account for more than 1k and less than 10k followers, 6.2% for more than 10k to less than 50k followers, and 0.94% for more than 50k but less than 1lacs (Josh Boyd, Brandwatch).

Instagram motto: “We want Instagram to be a place where people can be inspired every day. We foster a safe and inclusive community where people can express themselves, feel closer to anyone they care about, and turn a passion into a living.”

Instagram brings people closer to each other and the things that they love. The interaction through Instagram creates business opportunities and a marketplace. Approximately 90 percent of Instagrammers follow at least one brand. Instagram has become a place to build brand networks and enhance engagement with existing and potential consumers. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, plans to invest over 1 billion dollars, by the end of 2022, to support micro-influencers in terms of rewards and development of new features (such as Stars, affiliate, Live Audio Rooms, Bulletin) (Meta Newsroom).

The influencers help in influencing consumer decision-making, thus becoming an imperative source of brand communications. 1 in 4 13-24-years-old agree that micro-influencers with loyal and highly engaged audiences are most important when creating new trends (Instagram Trend Report).

13.8% of Instagram influencers belong to the lifestyle domain, followed by 8.56% to the beauty, and 6.64% to the photography category. The indispensability of influencer marketing campaigns puts up the question of the choice of the right influencers. In this scenario, engagement or clicks is the most important criteria when evaluating the influencers (other criteria: content-type/category, views/reaches/impressions, sales, other) (Influencer Marketing Hub).

The Hashtag (#) is one such feature of Instagram that most users extensively use to reach the masses. Technically, a hashtag is a word or phrase – usually one to three words – that has a pound sign or number sign (#) upfront. Hashtags act as Instagram’s sorting process, giving more specific and targeted reach for users (Krystal Gillespie, HubSpot). The range of hashtags is versatile. The tags can be made for any purpose, for a specific location (#India) or event (#Expo2020) or conference (#GovernanceSummit) or campaign (#LoksabhaElections) or product (#hairsalon) or service (#knitwear) or industry (#HealthcareSector) or phrase (#bebrave) or cultural movements (#BlackLivesMatter). The number of hashtags that could be used for a single post is limited to thirty. It is advised to put space between the caption and hashtags of the post; to avoid spamming.
The number of hashtags used may also impact the reach of an account. Posts with at least one hashtag get 29% more interactions (for Instagrammers with 1k or fewer followers) and posts with 11+ hashtags have the highest interactions with 79.5% (for Instagram accounts with 1k or fewer followers) (Arthur Zuckerman, comparecamp). The most influential hashtags till today have been: #Ferguson, #MeToo, #LoveWins, #BlackLivesMatter, #Sandy, #IceBucketChallenge, #PrayforJapan (Arthur Zuckerman, Comparecamp).

Sometimes, Instagram initiates hashtags (#MonthofGood for Ramadan 2020) to celebrate and inspire everyone to come together, spread kindness and do good. The hashtag used, either in the post caption or post comment, helps to engage with a like-minded audience.

The research study further explores the Hashtag feature as to how the usage of Hashtags strategy impacts the likes and comments (engagement enhancement) of micro-influencers on Instagram (refer to the Appendix section for detailed statistical analysis).

It involves primary data collection about Instagrammers from 4 categories: Food, Travel, Event, and Education. It analyses randomly selected 5 micro-influencers first 50 posts from each category. The results indicate the impact of hashtags on the number of likes is highest in the Instagrammers posts’ which belong to the event category, followed by education, travel, and food. The impact on the number of comments is the highest in the case of travel category Instagram accounts.
Thus, the contemporary marketers cannot ignore the Instagram, specifically the Hashtags strategy which enhances the Instagram user’s engagement with like-minded audience on the platform.
Click HERE for appendix and references.
—
*Research Scholar in the Marketing Domain, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

From seed to soil: How transnational control is endangering food sovereignty

By Bharat Dogra In recent decades, the world has witnessed a steady erosion of plant diversity in many countries, particularly those in the Global South that were once richly endowed with natural plant wealth. Much of this diversity has been removed from its original ecological and cultural contexts and transferred into gene banks concentrated in developed nations. While conservation of genetic resources is important, the problem arises when access to these collections becomes unequal, particularly when they fall under the control of transnational corporations.

Counterview

Search This Blog