Whether you are an established beauty business owner or are trying to get your fledgling enterprise off the ground, Instagram is a marketplace you can’t ignore. 

The platform is no longer just a venue for artsy photos of your brunch plate. These days, real business is done there. And when it comes to stunning beauty marketing, Instagram’s grid format can’t be beat.

But having a beautiful feed isn’t enough. Savvy business owners know that the key to driving Instagram traffic is carefully considered hashtags. So when it comes to your Instagram hashtag strategy, how do you decide what are the best beauty hashtags to go after on Instagram? 

The best Instagram beauty hashtags for your business

Don’t ignore the big hashtags.

You might feel tempted to forego the most popular hashtags, like #beauty with its 400 million posts!

Don’t.

We get it: You want to position yourself as a big fish in a small pond. But don’t discount the big pond altogether. You can still get noticed, even if you’re a little sardine swimming around with the sharks in the #makeup hashtag (over 300 million posts). 

These hashtags are also useful to help you locate other hashtags that you can add to your post, as we will see in the next section. But first, here’s a list of more general hashtags that you can use to start your search:

#skincare
#hairsalon
#hairstyles
#product
#personalcare
#selfcare
#cosmetics
#fragrance
#cleanser
#makeuptutorial
#makeupartist
#beautybasics
#beautyblogger
#wellness
#glamour
#hair

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but you get the picture. Use these hashtags and others like them to jumpstart your search and narrow down your focus as you go.

Niche down

After you’ve identified one or two big hashtags for your beauty business, it’s time to turn your attention to local hashtags, or hashtags specific to the type of service you offer. 

Don’t worry. This is super-easy because Instagram helps you do it automatically! When you type a hashtag into the search bar, the platform predicts what you’re typing and provides suggestions including the number of posts associated with each suggestion.

So when you type #hairsalon, Instagram will suggest #hairsalons (300,000 posts), #hairsalondesign (40,000 posts), and #hairsalonlondon (20,000 posts). 

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A post shared by Keller International (@keller4salon)

And once you understand how this works, you can do it yourself.

For example, while #makeupartist has some 95 million posts, #washingtondcmakeupartist only has 3,000. If you’re searching for hashtags to promote your hair salon, definitely go ahead and use #hairsalon even with its 11 million posts. Then, top off your post with related, niched-down hashtags that will help you get noticed by the people who are really searching for your business.

Drill down from your main hashtag further by highlighting services you offer, then double down by adding your location. For example, #balayagehairsalon has 3,000 posts, but #balayagehairsalonnj has 200.  

Your Instagram following needs to be nurtured and cared for, just like your beauty clients. But by identifying a mix of popular and niched-down hashtags, you can get the ball rolling to boost your following and grow your business.