How to Use Hashtags on TikTok

Want to know a quick secret to going viral on TikTok? Use hashtags!

With 600 million daily active users, TikTok is undoubtedly one of the prominent social networks.

Since its launch, the video-sharing social networking platform has taken netizens by storm and remained at the top spot for being the most downloaded and most used app

With so many videos being on TikTok daily, it can be difficult to get your videos seen and liked. And that’s why hashtags are a must, especially if you’re just starting out.

TikTok hashtags can help you increase visibility, which will eventually translate into likes, follows, influencer collaborations, and more monetization opportunities on the platform.

What are TikTok Hashtags?

Just like Instagram, TikTok uses hashtags to categorize videos for easy discovery. 

Meaning, when your content is published with relevant hashtags, it will help Tiktok understand the context and show it in searches, and even rank in the FYP.

If someone looks up #marketing on TikTok, they can come across videos about marketing. Similarly, searching for the hashtag #gardening will lead to content related to gardening tips, tricks, and how-to's.

Do Hashtags Work on TikTok?

They absolutely do!

Like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, you can use hashtags on TikTok and build a community.

Hashtags are important for ranking your videos and making them go viral.

According to TikTok, hashtags are one of many signals used to recommend #ForYou videos. 

Here's how TikTok explains it:

"Your For You feed isn't only shaped by your engagement through the feed itself. When you decide to follow new accounts, for example, that action will help refine your recommendations too, as will exploring hashtags, sounds, effects, and trending topics on the Discover tab. All of these are ways to tailor your experience and invite new categories of content into your feed."

Should You Use Hashtags for Your TikTok Videos?

Use of hashtags is not limited to hashtag challenges.

Adding relevant hashtags to your video captions can make your content visible to TikTok users who are not following your brand. 

TikTok’s algorithms consider hashtags as one of the ranking factors to rank your videos in the FYP.

We strongly encourage you to use TikTok hashtags to make your content more discoverable, and let others join the conversation and engage with your posts. 

Since TikTok hashtags are still underutilized, you’ll have an edge over your competitors and climb the ranks for hashtags in your niche.

Now let’s look at this trending TikTok hashtag #thesummeriturnedpretty that has got 8 billion views in the last 7 days (July 9 - July 15, 2023)and according to Tiktok the hashtag is likely to trend in the next 7 days too.

If you scroll down, you'll see related hashtags and popular videos along with top creator profiles.

If you use trending hashtags in your posts, your video or profile might have the chance to be trending as well reaching more people around the world.

Many creators have launched their successful careers with TikTok and you can be next – if you’re consistently publishing awesome videos coupled with trending music and the right hashtags.

Here are top reasons why hashtags should be part of your TikTok marketing strategy:

1. Be Found

When you add a hashtag to your post, it becomes searchable by other users who are interested in that particular topic. This means that your post has a better chance of being discovered by new followers.

2. Reach Your Target Audience

Hashtags allow you to reach your target audience more effectively. For example, if you're a fitness influencer, you can use hashtags like #fitness or #workout to reach people who are interested in those topics. This means that you'll be able to connect with people who are more likely to engage with your content.

3. Higher Engagement

With better visibility comes higher engagement rates. When more people see your content, the chances are high that many of them will want to engage with it by liking or commenting on it.

4. Stay Relevant, Stay Trending

As new trends and topics emerge, it makes way for newly trending hashtags.

By capitalizing on trending hashtags, you can stay up-to-date with what’s happening on the platform and continue to reap the benefits of new trends. 

Boost visibility and engagement by creating content around trending hashtags, which shows your followers that your brand is fun and relevant, and increases the chances of your video appearing on the For You page.

5. Find New Content Ideas

To find new content ideas using hashtags, start by searching for hashtags related to the topic you want to explore. 

For example, if you are looking for ideas for cooking videos, you could search for #cookingtips or #cookinghacks.

This will bring up the most popular videos related to the topic and give you plenty of ideas for your own content.

6. Community Building

Branded hashtags can create a community around your business. Encouraging your audience to create videos using a brand-specific hashtag can help you build a strong community of followers who enjoy sharing content related or relevant to your niche.

7. Competitor Research

One effective way to grow your presence on TikTok is using hashtags to identify your competitors and analyze their content.

Start by search for hashtags related to your industry or niche, and you'll be able to find other users, brands, and competitors who are creating content in that space.

Now review the content created by them and identify the ones that are well-performing in terms of views, engagement, and shares. Look at the style of their videos, the type of content they create. Make a note and try to incorporate them in your TikTok content strategy.

8. Influencer Research and Discovery

Using hashtag searches can help you discover influential accounts creating content relevant to the hashtag, which is helpful if you plan to run an influencer marketing campaign.

On the other hand, influencers who want to increase their reach and be found by new brands to collaborate with, can use hashtags to show up in searches.

Where to Put Hashtags on TikTok?

TikTok's 80-character limit makes it hard to use hashtags in your bio, so you can put hashtags in the captions of your regular videos and Stories.

Do Hashtags in Comments Work on TikTok?

Although some experts says hashtags in comments work, we beg to differ!

Technically speaking, you can put hashtags in your comments. But they're less likely to be effective. That's because TikTok's algortithms consider what's in your captions.

We recommend adding hashtags in the caption for better results.

Can You Add Hashtags After Posting?

Unfortunately, TikTok doesn't allow you to edit your captions after publishing.

Meaning, you can't add hashtags after posting.

The only way is to delete your post immediately and republish it with hashtags.

How Many Hashtags Can you Use?

There is no limit to using hashtags on TikTok, but the constraint is characters.

The maximum number of characters allowed is 2,200 for both regular videos and Stories.

That means, even after writing your caption, you'll still be left with enough space for hashtgas.

Use well-researched, popular, and relevant hashtags in your niche and test them out on your own videos to reach a wider audience, but don't overdo it with too many hashtags.

How to Research TikTok Hashtags

If you want to find TikTok hashtags that will work for your videos, you'll need to commit to investing two to three hours daily. 

But remember, hashtags are unpredictable; algorithms fluctuate all the time and so does hashtag performance. So it’s best to do it a few hours before you’ll post.

There are three options to browse hashtags within TikTok:

• The Discover tab

Discover is a section on TikTok where you can search and explore various content within the TikTok community, including trending videos, hashtags, and creators.

To access it, tap on the Discover button at the bottom of your screen and use the search bar to find specific content or explore trending hashtags. 

The hashtag page displays the videos that started the trend first, followed by other popular videos relevant to the trending hashtag.

Note that the Discover Tab is replaced with Friends Tab for some users so you may not find it anymore.

But you can still see a Discover section - not a separate page, on the desktop app:

• Scroll through clips tagged with hashtags on your FYP and Discover. If you see something relevant or interesting, save it for your post.

• If you value your time and don’t want to spend hours looking up hashtags on TikTok, use third-party tools like Hashtag Expert and get immediate access to billions of trending and top Tiktok hashtags.

‍

How to Use Hashtag Expert for Trending TikTok Hashtags?

If you're wondering what hashtags you should use for your TikTok videos or looking for trending TikTok hashtags, turn to Hashtag Expert!

Hashtag Expert is a TikTok hashtag generator app that also works for all major social platforms including Instagram.

Once you’ve downloaded the app from the App Store and created an account, open the Trending tab and choose TikTok from the settings.

Now browse from the popular and trending hashtags already created by our community.

Tap to copy a group of hashtags and paste. 

It's that simple!

How to Create TikTok Hashtags

You have already researched and found hashtags for your TikTok post.

Now it’s time to create some more that are relevant to your topic.

To create hashtags for your TikTok video, type the hashtag symbol (#) followed by the phrase or keyword.

Be sure not to use spaces, special characters, or punctuation. And there you have it!

Keep in mind that certain hashtags are banned so TikTok if you’re using them your post will be hidden, or worse, you could be shadowbanned.

So it’s highly recommended that you use the Hashtag Expert tool to rule out the possibility.

Go to the Generate tab, set your social networking platform to TikTok at the top.

Now type the base hashtags or keywords in the search bar, and tap “Generate Hashtags.”

Voila! Your TikTok hashtags are ready.

Now just tap to copy those hashtags, and then tap the TikTok icon at the bottom of the screen, and paste.

Pro tips: 

1. You can always choose the number of hashtags generated for you in the Advanced Settings. 

2. Edit your hashtags if you want to replace any hashtag from the group with another one of your choice.

7 Tips to Find Success With TikTok Hashtags

TikTok hashtags can be tricky, so use these tips to make sure you get maximum results.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #1

To increase the likelihood of success when creating TikTok hashtags for your brand, ensure that your hashtags are relevant to your campaign, content or challenge.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #2

Combine trending, popular, and niche hashtags. This is a balanced approach that will ensure you have the best of both worlds: visibility and awareness.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #3

Once a trending hashtag is not always a trending hashtag, so do enough research to know what’s popular right now. If you’re using Hashtag Expert, our app takes care of that for you.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #4

TikTok now has a 2,200-character limit for video descriptions, which is the same as Instagram captions. Which means now you have more space to write a detailed caption and add all the necessary hashtags in the space.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #5

TikTok is where you can actually get your branded hashtags popular and seen. So get your creative ideas flowing. Start a TikTok challenge or competition to make your branded hashtags soar in popularity.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #6

Be cautious when using #ForYou, #ForYouPage or #FYP on TikTok. While these hashtags have trillions of views combined, there is no clear proof that they will boost your content visibility. Niche and trending hashtags may offer a better chance of visibility. Experiment with the popular hashtags to see if they make a difference.

TikTok Hashtag Tip #7

Some users add hashtags to comments either because they’ve exhausted the allowed character limit or they don’t want to add hashtags in captions. Hashtags in comments might not be as effective as you'll want them to be. So try to always add the most important hashtags to captions.

Strategy Matters!

By using hashtags strategically, you can make the most of TikTok ... and to make sure you have the best set of hashtags that drive results, use Hashtag Expert. That will allow you to spend more of your time creating videos TikTokers will love and reach TikTok marketing goals faster.

Some of the Most Popular and Trending TikTok Hashtags are:

#fyp

#foryou

#bhfyp

#tiktokdance

#tiktokmemes

#foryoupage

According to Statista, popular content categories on TikTok by number of hashtag views as of July 2020 are:

• Entertainment
• Dance
• Pranks
• Fitness/sports
• DIY
• Beauty/skincare

So if your content falls under any of these categories, and you use the right hashtags, your content will have a higher chance to be selected for the For You page.

‍

Remember, trending TikTok hashtags rise and fall and new hashtags come in constantly. 

So, always research for the most recent and trending TikTok hashtags before posting. Or, sign up for Hashtag Expert so you can completely leave that task to us. 

Download the app now!

‍