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How to Make Your Own Hashtag on Instagram

If you’re running a business account on Instagram, you might want to make your own branded hashtag.

Branded hashtags are important, especially if you’re running a giveaway.

You can filter out the people that have joined your giveaway by asking them to post a picture with your hashtag.

Then, you can search for the hashtag on Instagram and find all the posts containing it.

However, a lot of people are unaware of how to make their own hashtag on Instagram.

Hence, they’re missing out on the benefits of it.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to make your own hashtag on Instagram, whether you can own a hashtag, and why you should create your own hashtag.

How to make your own hashtag on Instagram

To make your own hashtag on Instagram, you first need to post a photo or a video.

Then, on the caption of your post, include a hashtag symbol followed by a unique word (e.g. #happybirthdaytest123).

For example, if you want to name your hashtag, “followchain”, include the hashtag “#followchain” in your caption.

However, you need to be particular about the hashtag that you want to make.

This is because a lot of hashtags are already existing on Instagram.

If you search for a common hashtag on Instagram, you’ll see a bunch of photos and videos posted by other people on the search results.

To counter this, you need to make a hashtag that no one has ever used before.

An example of a hashtag that no one has ever used before is “#happybirthdaytest123”.

To check whether a hashtag is unique, search for it on Instagram first.

If the search results contain a ton of photos and videos from other people, then the hashtag is not unique.

On the other hand, if the search results contain no photos and videos, then the hashtag is unique.

Here’s how to make your own hashtag on Instagram:

1. Post a photo or a video

How to post on Instagram

Open Instagram > tap on the “+” icon > post a photo or video.

To begin with, open Instagram and log in to your account if you haven’t already.

Make sure to log in to the account that you want to make your hashtag on.

To make a hashtag on Instagram, you need to post a photo or video first.

Once you’re on Instagram, you’ll see a “+” icon on the bottom navigation bar.

Tap on the “+” icon on the bottom navigation bar.

Tapping on the “+” icon will allow you to post a photo or video.

Move on to the next step to learn how to make your own hashtag.

2. Enter your own hashtag

How to make your own hashtag on Instagram

On the caption of your photo or video, include a hashtag symbol (#) followed by a unique word (e.g. happybirthdaytest123).

Once you’ve tapped on the “+” icon, select a photo or video that you want to post from your camera roll.

Then, tap on “Next” to proceed to the editing page.

If you don’t want to edit the photo or video, tap on “Next” again.

After you’ve tapped on “Next” twice, you’ll land on the sharing screen.

On the sharing screen, you’ll have to include a caption.

You can also tag people, add a location, and more.

The caption field is where you’ll want to include your own hashtag.

To make your own hashtag, enter the hashtag symbol (#) followed by a unique word (e.g. happybirthdaytest123).

Then, your hashtag will look like this, “#happybirthdaytest123”.

You can also include the hashtag in the comment section of your post if you don’t want to include it in your caption.

Lastly, tap on “Share” to post the photo or video.

3. Search for the hashtag

Instagram unique hashtag

Search for the hashtag that you’ve just created on Instagram.

After you’ve posted the photo or video, you can now find your hashtag on Instagram.

Firstly, navigate to the homepage of Instagram and tap on the search icon on the bottom navigation bar.

On the search bar, search for the hashtag that you’ve just made.

For example, if the hashtag that you’ve just made is “happybirthdaytest123”, search for “happybirthdaytest123”.

Then, tap on the “Tags” header directly under the search bar.

Your hashtag might also appear on the “Top” header if it is unique.

Instagram hashtag search result

If the hashtag is unique, you’ll only see your post there.

Once you’ve searched for the hashtag, tap on it to view it.

After you’ve tapped on the hashtag, you’ll see your post on the “Top” header.

If the hashtag is unique, you’ll only see your post there.

That means that you’ve successfully made your own hashtag on Instagram.

However, if the hashtag is not unique, you’ll see a bunch of photos and videos posted by other people.

If that’s the case, you need to delete and repost the photo or video and come up with a unique hashtag.

Can you own a hashtag on Instagram?

You can own a hashtag on Instagram if you included a unique hashtag in the caption or comment section of your post.

If the hashtag that you included is not unique, it means that the hashtag is already used by other people.

To counter this, you need to search for the hashtag that you want to make on Instagram first.

If there are no posts using the hashtag, it means that the hashtag is unique.

Why you should create your own hashtag?

You should create your own hashtag to establish credibility and to keep track of a marketing campaign.

Additionally, creating your own hashtag will generate hype on a topic.

Let’s say that you want to conduct a giveaway for your brand.

In your giveaway instructions, you can ask your participants to include your branded hashtag (e.g. #followchaingiveaway).

When you search for the hashtag on Instagram, you can easily see all of your participants (if the hashtag is unique) in one place.

Conclusion

Having a branded hashtag is a necessity if you want to run a giveaway on Instagram.

In fact, many brands are utilizing their own branded hashtag for their marketing campaigns.

If you’re running a business account on Instagram and you’re not using a branded hashtag, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities.

Make sure to follow the steps in this guide closely to learn how to make your own branded hashtag on Instagram.

Further Reading

How to See Your Instagram Password (While Logged in)

How to Fix “No Results Found” on Instagram Music

Why Is Instagram Not Showing “Last Active”?

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About the author

Lim How Wei

Lim How Wei is the founder of followchain.org, with 8+ years of experience in Social Media Marketing and 4+ years of experience as an active investor in stocks and cryptocurrencies. He has researched, tested, and written thousands of articles ranging from social media platforms to messaging apps.

Lim has been quoted and referenced by major publications and media companies like WikiHow, Fast Company, HuffPost, Vice, New York Post, The Conversation, and many others. One of his articles about the gig economy was quoted by Joe Rogan who hosts The Joe Rogan Experience (arguably the most popular podcast in the world), in the This Past Weekend podcast by Theo Von.

In his free time, Lim plays multiple games like Genshin Impact, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Hearthstone, RuneScape, and many others. He creates guides, walkthroughs, solutions, and more on games that he plays to help other players with their progression.