What makes a great influencer brand pitch: How brands can better collaborate with influencers - Sprout Social

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Custom AI Models vs ChatGPT: A Guide to Private Large Language Models

What can custom AI models do that ChatGPT can't? Which open-source model is best for your business?  Discover how to build enterprise-grade AI solutions using Mistral and Llama models with step-by-step guidance from a leading AI developer. About Yash Gad and Ringer Sciences Yash Gad's journey into AI began with an unconventional background in biophysics […]

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8 Ways to Build a Winning Social Media Advertising Strategy - Inc.

8 Ways to Build a Winning Social Media Advertising Strategy  Inc.

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Star-studded Aisles: Hy-Vee scores with celebrity influencers - Muscatine Journal

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Marketing Strategy Framework: How to Get More Leads & Sales in 2025

Tired of throwing marketing spaghetti at the wall? Want a proven system to generate consistent leads and sales?  Learn a simple 4-step marketing framework that helped generate millions in revenue by focusing on audience building, lead generation, and strategic conversion. Why Marketing Strategy Matters Now More Than Ever Many entrepreneurs and marketers focus heavily on […]

The post Marketing Strategy Framework: How to Get More Leads & Sales in 2025 appeared first on Social Media Examiner.

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Social media marketing strategies for 2025 - TT Newsday

Social media marketing strategies for 2025  TT Newsday

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10 Must-Attend Social Media Conferences for 2025 Success - DesignRush

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The 2024 Bible Sales Boom: Gen Z and Social Media Marketing - nss magazine

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How to craft authentic social media campaigns that resonate – Bill Harper | BrandBoss HQ - ASBN Small Business Network

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Social Media Analytics Market Research Report 2024: Global - openPR

Social Media Analytics Market Research Report 2024: Global  openPR

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Social Media Marketing will not be enough in 2025: Unlock New Audiences with Alternative Advertising - TechCabal

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Anticipation Marketing: Crushing Your Next Launch Without Being Salesy

Are you tired of feeling like you're constantly chasing customers? Wondering how to get people lining up to buy from you instead? In this article, you'll discover a multi-step strategy to naturally create demand and create a sense of urgency without relying on pushy tactics. What Is Anticipation Marketing? Marketers face many challenges, not the […]

The post Anticipation Marketing: Crushing Your Next Launch Without Being Salesy appeared first on Social Media Examiner.

* This article was originally published here

Five things that will shape social media in 2025 - Marketing magazine Australia

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Instagram hashtags for 2025: Tips, ideas + free generator

Instagram hashtags are a powerful tool when it comes to discoverability, finding your audience, and increasing your reach on the platform.

Knowing which hashtags to use (and when) can make a big difference in your social marketing success, so consider this your hashtag-packed guide.

Keep reading for a rundown on how and why to use hashtags on Instagram, plus hashtagging help from AI and human experts — namely, Drew McWhirter, the Creative Marketing Lead at Anh and Chi, a Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver.

Key takeaways

1. Hashtags boost your reach. Hashtags are essential for getting your content seen. Using them on Instagram helps categorize your posts and makes it easier for your target audience to find you.
2. Don’t overcomplicate your hashtags. Using 3 to 5 hashtags is often the sweet spot. Experiment to find what works best for your brand and keep your captions looking clean. #LessIsMore
3. Use tools for inspiration. Don’t stress about finding the right hashtags! Hootsuite’s free hashtag generator can make the process easier and more efficient.

What are Instagram hashtags?

An Instagram hashtag is a clickable word, phrase, number, and/or emoji preceded by the # symbol. Hashtags are used to categorize or label content and make it more discoverable.

In the example below, #anhandchi and #vancouverfoodie both qualify.

Source: @anhandchi

How do hashtags work on Instagram?

How to add hashtags on Instagram

Adding hashtags is simple. Just type “#” followed by whatever text you want to use.

Just make sure it’s all one word — spaces signal the end of the hashtag (think #ILoveHotDogs, not #I Love Hot Dogs).

You can add your hashtags in your caption or as a comment on your post. Either works.

Once you type the “#” sign, Instagram search results will start suggesting popular and trending hashtags (as seen above). Select any that apply to your Instagram post to help give your content an extra boost.

How to use hashtags on Instagram

On Instagram, all hashtags are clickable. When you use one, the hashtagged phrase becomes like a button: it can be tapped on, searched, and analyzed by SEO tools and Instagram’s algorithm.

Source: @anhandchi

Use hashtags for every post to help your content find its target audience, show up on the Explore page, and get more followers and reach.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

How many hashtags should I use on Instagram?

In our expert opinion, the best number of hashtags to use on Instagram is 3 to 5.

That’s a general rule, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution: make sure you experiment with your Instagram hashtag strategy to find the number that best suits the needs of your brand.

Do hashtags still matter on Instagram?

As of December 13, 2024, Instagram users can no longer follow hashtags, but that doesn’t mean hashtags don’t matter anymore.

In the past, Instagram “growth hackers” added irrelevant trending hashtags to their posts in hopes of expanding their reach. By removing the ability to follow hashtags, Instagram is helping make sure users are served content they’re actually interested in.

View on Threads

But don’t abandon your hashtag strategy just yet.

Hashtags are still a valuable signal for Instagram’s algorithm. They help the platform understand what your content is about so the right people can discover it.

Free Instagram hashtag generator

Finding and creating trending hashtags isn’t exactly the most exhilarating part of being a social media manager.

Tools that will do the work for you, like Hootsuite’s free hashtag generator, make your job a whole lot easier.

Just pick a language, describe your content, throw in some keywords, and you’ll be delivered 10 AI-generated hashtags to use in your post (and inspire some brain-powered ideas, too).

Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.

275 best hashtags for Instagram in 2025

Top Instagram hashtags

These are the most popular hashtags globally—they have been used hundreds of millions (or billions) of times. However, while top hashtags are good to know, they’re usually not very specific (#cool).

A large number of posts may mean lots of people use that hashtag, but it also means there’s a ton of content on it, and your posts might get lost.

Consider using a combination of popular and niche hashtags to reach different audiences, from broad to specific. Here are 30 hashtags to get you started:

1. #love (2.1B)
2. #instagood (1.8B)
3. #fashion (1.1B)
4. #photooftheday (1B)
5. #photography (1B)
6. #art (1B)
7. #beautiful (848M)
8. #nature (826M)
9. #travel (752M)
10. #follow (735M)
11. #picoftheday (734M)
12. #happy (721M)
13. #instadaily (712M)
14. #cute (682M)
15. #style (674M)
16. #trending (652M)
17. #tbt (588M)
18. #summer (569M)
19. #followme (557M)
20. #beauty (556M)
21. #instalike (556M)
22. #fitness (550M)
23. #food (531M)
24. #photo (515M)
25. #like4like (479M)
26. #music (477M)
27. life (463M)
28. #me (459M)
29. #family (455M)
30. #friends (453M)

Psstt: If you’re looking for popular hashtags on Instagram Reels, here are 158 of them.

Popular B2B hashtags

If you’re operating a brand account on Instagram, keep these business-related hashtags in mind.

1. #smallbusiness (144M)
2. #business (124M)
3. #entrepreneur (109M)
4. #socialmedia (41M)
5. #digitalmarketing (40M)
6. #startup (28M)
7. #sales (22M)
8. #tech (22M)
9. #leadership (21M)
10. #innovation (18M)
11. #networking (15M)
12. #SEO (11.9M)
13. #contentmarketing (9.8M)
14. #marketingstrategy (8.8M)
15. #businesstips (7.7M)
16. #productivity (4.9M)
17. #strategy (4.4M)
18. #b2b (3.6M)
19. #consulting (3.4M)
20. #workplace (2.6M)
21. #professionaldevelopment (2M)
22. #leadgeneration (1.4M)
23. #b2bmarketing (685K)
24. #saas (725K)
25. #thoughtleadership (265K)

#1 Social media tool

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Trending Instagram hashtags

Keeping up with trends is an important part of staying relevant on Instagram. Here is a list of hashtags that are trending in 2025.

1. #pets (100M)
2. #diy (92.6M)
3. #gaming (70.5M)
4. cooking (66.1M)
5. #petsofinstagram (61.6M)
6. #blog (56.5M)
7. #influencer (49.8M)
8. #giveaway (49.1M)
9. #fitnessjourney (44.1M)
10. #craft (34.5M)
11. #lifestyleblogger (24.9M)
12. #ai (23.2M)
13. #parenting (22M)
14. #crypto (19.7M)
15. #recipe (19.1M)
16. #finance (18.6M)
17. #beautytips (13.4M)
18. #homeworkout (10.8M)
19. #collab (7.5M)

Hashtags for likes

Lots of the most popular hashtags on Instagram are like-related—and we love to like.

1. #instalike (556M)
2. #like4like (479M)
3. #like (407M)
4. #daily (168M)
5. #instalove (145M)
6. #likesforlike (140M)
7. #like4likes (142M)
8. #likesforlikes (78.4M)
9. #like4follow (71.5M)
10. #liketime (53.7M)
11. #liker (44.3M)
12. #likeme (42.1M)
13. #likers (16.9M)
14. #likeit (15.8M)
15. #liked (11.5M)
16. #like4followers (4.3M)
17. #likelikelike (3.6M)
18. #likethis (5.3M)
19. #likefollow (2M)
20. #likeplease (2.2M)

Viral Instagram hashtags

Virality is rooted in time—the same hashtags that everyone’s using this week will change by the time next week comes around.

These are some examples of hashtags that have gone viral this year.

1. #reels (825M)
2. #trending (652M)
3. #style (647M)
4. #ootd (445M)
5. #makeup (414M)
6. #model (378M)
7. #foodie (259M)
8. #nails (240M)
9. #outfit (159M)
10. #nailart (145M)
11. #kids (137M)
12. #healthylifestyle (133M)
13. #skincare (126M)
14. #reelsvideo (125M)
15. #business (124M)
16. #fashionstyle (124M)
17. #healthyfood (123M)
18. #realestate (116M)
19. #creative (109M)

Common Instagram hashtags

Here are some of the hashtags you’ll see more regularly on the platform.

1. #selfie (450M)
2. #fun (449M)
3. #smile (445M)
4. #girl (431M)
5. #motivation (401M)
6. #dog (385M)
7. #model (378M)
8. #lifestyle (369M)
9. #sunset (337M)
10. #instamood (294M)
11. #amazing (288M)
12. #nofilter (285M)
13. #sun (273M)
14. #inspiration (255M)
15. #followforfollow (208M)
16. #instapic (207M)
17. #bestoftheday (198M)
18. #cool (165M)
19. #night (147M)
20. #swag (142M)
21. #happybirthday (133M)

Dog hashtags for Instagram

So you can hashtag your Havanese or get more likes for your labrador.

1. #dog (385M)
2. #dogsofinstagram (325M)
3. #dogs (175M)
4. #instadog (119M)
5. #doglover (105M)
6. #dogoftheday (90M)
7. #doglovers (63.8M)
8. #ilovemydog (51.6M)
9. #frenchbulldog (40M)
10. #goldenretriever (38M)
11. #rescuedog (28.2M)
12. #doglove (25.6M)
13. #dogphotography (21.5M)
14. #dogmom (19.6M)
15. #labradorretriever (15.1M)
16. #dogmodel (11.5M)
17. #dogsitting (10.4M)
18. #dogofinstagram (10.5M)
19. #dogtraining (10M)
20. #doglife (68M)
21. #doggrooming (7.5M)
22. #doginstagram (4.8M)
23. #dogstyle (3.8M)
24. #doginfluencer (2.3M)
25. #dogboarding (2.1M)
26. #dogsmile (1.8M)
27. #dogselfie (1.8M)
28. #dogpics (1.1M)
29. #doggram (1.6M)
30. #dogadventures (1.6M)

Cat Instagram hashtags

The most popular hashtags for pretty kitties and the people who work for them.

1. #cat (298M)
2. #catsofinstagram (208M)
3. #cats (161M)
4. #catstagram (107M)
5. #catlover (79.5M)
6. #instacat (67.4M)
7. #catlife (48.5M)
8. #catlovers (47.1M)
9. #catoftheday (41.8M)
10. #ilovemycat (21.7M)
11. #cutecat (21.1M)
12. #catlove (20.2M)
13. #blackcat (19.9M)
14. #kittycat (16.5M)
15. #caturday (13.6M)
16. #catphoto (10.2M)
17. #catmom (5.9M)
18. #catphotography (5.4M)
19. #catscatscats (5.1M)
20. #catselfie (2.4M)

Traveling Instagram hashtags

Not all who wander are lost… especially people with internet access.

1. #travel (752M)
2. #travelphotography (246M)
3. #travelgram (184M)
4. #vacation (160M)
5. #adventure (153M)
6. #instatravel (131M)
7. #traveling (96.3M)
8. #travelblogger (91.1M)
9. #travelling (89.4M)
10. #traveler (55.5M)
11. #traveller (45M)
12. #travelblog (29.5M)
13. #journey (28.8M)
14. #traveldiaries (19.1M)
15. #adventuretime (18.8M)
16. #travelphoto (18.1M)
17. ##lifeofadventure (16.6M)
18. #travelholic (13.2M)
19. #worldtraveler (9.2M)
20. #adventureawaits (5M)

Exercise hashtags for Instagram

Popular hashtags fit for your workout-related content.

1. #fitness (550M)
2. #gym (285M)
3. #workout (231M)
4. #healthy (192M)
5. #health (174M)
6. #fitnessmotivation (156M)
7. #bodybuilding (145M)
8. #yoga (126M)
9. #running (95.8M)
10. #gymmotivation (76.4M)
11. #exercise (71.7M)
12. #body (65.5M)
13. #fitnessmodel (64.5M)
14. #run (64.2M)
15. #cardio (52.3M)
16. #fitnessjourney (44.1M)
17. #getfit (36.1M)
18. #gymrat (29.4M)
19. #workoutmotivation (28.8M)
20. #fitnesslifestyle (18.5M)
21. #yogainspiration (18.2M)
22. #sweat (16.3M)
23. #strengthtraining (14.7M)

Instagram hashtags for photography

This platform is built on envy-worthy photos, and the top hashtags prove that photography is still going strong on Instagram.

1. #photography (1B)
2. #photooftheday (1B)
3. #photo (515M)
4. #photographer (267M)
5. #naturephotography (252M)
6. #travelphotography (246M)
7. #photoshoot (209M)
8. #instaphoto (129M)
9. #streetphotography (128M)
10. #foodphotography (117M)
11. #portraitphotography (82.5M)
12. #landscapephotography (75.9M)
13. #photos (66.6M)
14. #weddingphotography (65.3M)
15. #photoshop (60.4M)
16. #photographylovers (46.2M)
17. #filmphotography (43.1M)
18. #photograph (39.9M)
19. #photogram (24M)
20. #photographers (19M)
21. #photoart (15.9M)
22. #photographeveryday (15.2M)
23. #photographyislife (14.5M)

Artwork hashtags for Instagram

Give your creative work an extra boost with these popular hashtags.

1. #art (1B)
2. #photography (1B)
3. #artist (343M)
4. #drawing (300M)
5. #artwork (208M)
6. #digitalart (154M)
7. #artistsoninstagram (121M)
8. #draw (109M)
9. #instaart (96.3M)
10. #artoftheday (84.2M)
11. #contemporaryart (73.7M)
12. #paint (57.9)
13. #abstractart (52.5M)
14. #artgallery (52.5M)
15. #tattooart (34.7M)
16. #modernart (31.3M)
17. #artistic (29.9M)
18. #artofinstagram (25.2M)
19. #picsart (22M)
20. #artists (21M)
21. #artcollector (20.3M)
22. #urbanart (19.8M)
23. #artlover (11.1M)
24. #artdaily (7.5M)
25. #artjournal (5.6M)

Check out more daily hashtags!

How to come up with hashtags for Instagram

Hootsuite’s free hashtag generator

Scroll back up and check out our hashtag generator! It’s totally free and a snap to use.

Hootsuite’s AI hashtag suggestion tool

Want an even more streamlined tool? Hootsuite’s AI hashtag suggestion tool is incorporated right into the Composer.

You can only use this if you schedule your posts with Hootsuite (which, by the way, is free for 30 days).

Just select the hashtag button on the bottom right of the text field and Hootsuite’s AI will suggest relevant hashtags.

Competitive analysis

Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? Take a look at accounts that you look up to — you know, brands with a strong Instagram game.

Keep track of competitors in your industry and see which hashtags they are using: odds are, those same hashtags can help you get more reach and find the right audience.

Use Explore page suggestions

You really only need one good keyword to find lots of hashtags.

Head to the Explore page, search for a word, then hit “Tags” and see a ton of suggested hashtags that are related to your keyword.

For example, check out what populates when searching the keyword “raccoon.”

Psstt: No matter what strategy you use, make sure you’re using hashtags that are actually related to your content.

It might be tempting to throw #raccooncafe onto your post, but if you can’t deliver the sort of media that’s expected under that label, any user you attract won’t stay long.

4 tips for using hashtags on Instagram from a social media expert

For some delicious advice on using hashtags for business, we asked Drew McWhirter, Creative Marketing Lead of Vancouver’s Anh and Chi Vietnamese restaurant.

“In a digital world full of content, hashtags are our way of narrowing it down and reaching the right people,” McWhirter explains.

Here’s how she uses hashtags to reach local foodies.

1. Be specific… but not too specific

“The method to my hashtag madness lies in the range of specificity,” says McWhirter. She explains that it’s important your hashtags aren’t too vague (#GoodVibes, while cute, isn’t going to be helpful in terms of social strategy).

For example, Anh and Chi’s Instagram hashtags usually include #vietnameserestaurant or #vietnamesefood instead of just #restaurant or #food.

Source: @anhandchi

“Instagram shows you how many posts a hashtag has been used on,” she continues.

“This is incredibly helpful because it lets me see which hashtags are more popular and which have little to no use—I steer clear from hashtags that have very few posts because they are incredibly niche and won’t help to expose our content to larger audiences.”

2. Location matters

When your brand is a brick-and-mortar business (or your product or service is only available in a certain city or region), it’s always a good idea to include your location in your hashtags.

That way, your content will reach more people who are located in your area, and there’s a higher chance of converting your Instagram success to real money and growth for your business.

Source: @anhandchi

Anh and Chi use hashtags like #vancityeats and #vancouverfoodie to show Instagram users (and the algorithm) that the restaurant is in Vancouver.

“Location-related hashtags help us reach our local audiences,” says McWhirter.

3. Tag amplifiers

Hashtags can be used to attract the attention of influential Instagram accounts—for example, media.

“I tag media-related accounts because it’s one more avenue of exposure for potential reach,” says McWhirter.

Anh and Chi’s Instagram hashtags often include the names of local newspapers, magazines and blogs, which can result in valuable reach, including sharing on social or media coverage.

Often, local media will have their own hashtags listed in their bio. For example, Dished Vancouver has a branded hashtag “#dishedvan” to encourage foodies to share their photos, and boost user generated content, too.

4. Think like an Instagram user

While the purpose of hashtags is partially for things like algorithms and SEO, the end goal is always to best serve humans on the platform—so don’t get too caught up in the tech of it all.

“I like to put myself in the shoes of a user,” says McWhirter. Think about what kinds of content people are searching for, and how your brand can be useful to them.

“I ask myself questions like, ‘Do I find this content interesting?’ and ‘What am I getting out of this?’” she adds.

Source: @anhandchi

Hashtags like #grilledsquid and #seafoodlover will help squid fans find this post.

Start building your Instagram presence using Hootsuite. Schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles — all from one simple dashboard. Try it free today.

The post Instagram hashtags for 2025: Tips, ideas + free generator appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

* This article was originally published here

VTEX & MKOR Study: 65% of Romanian companies rely on paid social media campaigns as their main promotion method - Romania-Insider.com

VTEX & MKOR Study: 65% of Romanian companies rely on paid social media campaigns as their main promotion method  Romania-Insider.com

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Zach Sage Fox is Creating Viral, Pro-Jewish Social Media Campaigns - Aish

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How to schedule Instagram posts: 3 best ways for 2025

The question here is why you should schedule Instagram posts. Scheduling social media content has tons of important benefits for creators, influencers, and social media managers.

On the Instagram app, in particular, creating and scheduling your content in advance allows you to focus on the high-quality images and well-edited videos that thrive there. This is why it is important for you to use an Instagram scheduler.

It also allows you to work interrupted for the rest of your workday so you have a chance to tackle responsibilities like community engagement, reporting, analysis, and strategic planning. (And avoid getting up at 3 AM to post content when your international audience is most active.)

Since 38% of all social “teams” are actually just one person, scheduling posts is a critical way to get more out of the very limited number of hours in your day.

Here, we break down how you can schedule posts, Stories, Threads, and even Reels – so you can plan and execute effective Instagram campaigns rather than wearing out your thumbs posting on the fly.

Key Takeaways

1. Scheduling Instagram posts lets you save time and maintain consistent content, freeing you up for content creation and boosting engagement and content strategy.
2. You can schedule posts directly through Instagram, Meta Business Suite, or Hootsuite, with Hootsuite offering multi-platform management and advanced Instagram scheduling tools.
3. Best Instagram practices include scheduling during peak engagement times, reviewing analytics to optimize posts, and adjusting content schedules when needed.

Bonus: Download our free, customizable social media calendar template to easily plan and schedule all your content in advance.

Can you schedule Instagram posts in advance?

This is an easy one: Yes. In several different ways, in fact. We’re about to show you three different options for scheduling Instagram posts.

Overall on Instagram, the highest engagement rate of 5.6% is achieved with a weekly posting frequency of 2 posts.

#1 Social media tool

Create. Schedule. Publish. Engage. Measure. Win.

Free 30-day trial

How to schedule Instagram posts: 3 ways

Heads up: To use any of these scheduling methods, you need to have an Instagram professional account.

If you’re currently using a personal account, you’ll have to switch to an Instagram Business or Creator account before scheduling posts. Fortunately, it’s free, and it only takes a minute.

Need help switching? We’ve got a step-by-step guide to walk you through the process.

How to schedule posts on Instagram (the app)

This method works for both posts and Reels — but not Stories.

1. Open Instagram, tap the plus icon, then tap Post or Reel to create your content as usual.

2. Once you’ve made your edits and added your caption, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and tap Advanced Settings.

3. Toggle the Schedule switch on and choose the date and time you want you post to go live.

4. Tap the back button and then tap Share to schedule your post.

5. If you want to revise your scheduled posts, open your Instagram profile and tap the menu icon in the top right.

6. Tap Scheduled content, then tap the three dots next to the relevant post or Reel to edit, reschedule, share now, or delete.

Note that you can schedule a maximum of 25 posts per day and a maximum of 75 days in advance.

How to schedule Instagram posts in Meta Business Suite

If you’d prefer to schedule posts on desktop rather than mobile, you can use Meta Business Suite. This method allows you to post Stories as well as Reels and posts.

To schedule Instagram posts from your computer using Meta Business Suite, follow these steps:

1. Open Meta Business Suite and click Content in the left menu.

2. Click Create Reel or Create post. To create a Story, click the down arrow next to Create post and choose Create Story.

3. Choose your Instagram account under Post to.

4. Complete your post, Reel, or Story with all the appropriate image(s), video(s), text, stickers, and so on.

5. Check to make sure you’re happy with the preview of your post or Story.

6. To schedule a post, slide the toggle on next to Set date and time. For a Story or Reel, click Schedule and enter your desired time.

That’s it! Now you can lean back and check your DMs.

How to schedule Instagram posts with Hootsuite

As described above, Meta Business Suite is a good tool if you only want to schedule content for Instagram and Facebook. But most social media pros can save a lot of time and energy using a social media management tool and handling all social channels from a single dashboard.

Hootsuite will help you schedule social media posts to Instagram and Facebook as well as TikTok, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest, all in one place.

You can schedule posts, Stories, carousel posts, Reels, and Instagram ads with Hootsuite. Here’s how.

1. Add your Instagram Business account to your social media management platform

If you’re using Hootsuite, it’s easy to link your Instagram account or other social media platforms. From the Hootsuite dashboard:

• Click your profile icon in the bottom left corner
• Next, click Manage accounts and teams
• Select + Private Network in the bottom-left corner
• Choose Instagram from the list of networks and choose Instagram Business.
• Click Log in to Facebook and enter your credentials. Choose the account you want to add and click Add.

For more details on this process, check out our very thorough help article.

2. Compose your Instagram post

• In your Hootsuite dashboard, click the Create icon, then select Post.
• In the Publish To field, choose your preferred Instagram account from the list. The default option is to create a post. To switch to a Story or Reel, tap the down arrow next to Post above the content box.

• Now go ahead and upload your visuals (or select them from your content library). You’ll also want to write an engagement-driving caption, add your hashtags, tag relevant accounts, and add your location.

Optional: If you’re not sure how to caption your photo or video, click Create a caption now to try OwlyWriter AI. Save your existing post as a draft so you can return to it once you have the perfect caption.

Copy your desired Instagram caption, then find your draft on the Calendar tab to resume editing.

• If you haven’t already prepared your image for Instagram, it’s easy to do so here. Hover over the image in the content box and click the pencil icon to crop your visual to the required aspect ratios, filter it, and otherwise perfect it.

You can also edit your image using Canva’s editor inside the Hootsuite dashboard. No more switching tabs, digging through your “Downloads” folder, and reuploading files — you can seamlessly create beautiful visuals from start to finish without leaving Hootsuite Composer.

To use Canva in Hootsuite:

1. Click on the purple Canva icon in the bottom right corner of the content editor.
2. Select the type of visual you want to create. You can pick a network-optimized size from the drop-down list or start a new custom design.
3. When you make your selection, a login pop-up window will open. Sign in using your Canva credentials or follow the prompts to start a new Canva account. (In case you were wondering — yes, this feature does work with free Canva accounts!)
4. Design your image in the Canva editor.
5. When you’re done editing, click Add to post in the top right corner. The image will automatically be uploaded to the social post you’re building in Composer.

3. Find the best time to post

Posting at the right time can help you reach your audience when they’re online. Plus, early engagement tells the Instagram algorithm that people like your content (a.k.a. gives it a nudge to surface it in more users’ Instagram feed posts).

In fact, our research found that while it’s generally safe to post any time between 6 AM and 6 PM, Wednesday at 4 AM appears to be the best time to post on Instagram for engagement.

Note: Time of day was localized across 118 countries where sample data came from, i.e. the graphs are accurate across time zones.

And no one wants to wake up at 4 AM to schedule those Reels (we don’t, anyway).

Luckiloy, Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature shows you your best time to post on Instagram based on your posts from the past 30 days. It groups posts by weekday and hour to identify when your posts had the highest impact, based on average impressions or engagement rate.

To find your best times to post, save your new post as a draft and follow the instructions below:

1. In the left-hand side menu, click Analytics.
2. Then, click Best time to publish.
3. In the dropdown menu at the top of your screen, select the Instagram account you’re posting to.

You will see a heatmap highlighting your best times to post (based on your account’s historical performance). You can switch between three tabs: “Extend reach,” “Build awareness” and “Increase engagement” to find the time that will work best for your specific goals.

4. Schedule your post

All right, now comes the easy part. Click Schedule for Later in the bottom right, and select the date and time you’d like your post to go live.

If you skipped the step above and didn’t go to analytics to look up your best times to auto-publish, you will see a couple of recommended posting times once you select a date. You can pick one or manually set a time.

That’s it! You can review your scheduled posts in the Hootsuite Planner, and edit them there before they go live, as well.

Best practices for scheduling Instagram posts

If you’re ready to take the plunge and get really efficient with your posting habits, these tips will help keep you ahead of the game.

1. Post at the right time

In general, posting when your followers are online is key. That’s because early engagement is a value signal for the Instagram algorithm.

That’s one reason why simple cross-posting may not work. Your audience on Facebook may be active from 6-10PM on weeknights, but browsing Instagram from 1-4PM.

The right Instagram analytics tool will tell you when your audience is most likely to be online and/or engage with your post.

For the Hootsuite social media team, that time is 8AM-12PM PST, or 4-5PM PST on weekdays. For you, it might be different.

Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature can show you your individual best time to post on Instagram based on your posts from the past 30 days.

It will also suggest time slots that you haven’t used in the last 30 days so that you can shake up your posting habits and test new tactics.

2. Pause or adjust your posting schedule when necessary

When it comes to Instagram scheduling, going much farther than a week or two in advance can start to increase the risk of something going sideways.

You don’t want to cause a social media crisis for your brand by posting something insensitive. If something unexpected happens, you may need to pause your content calendar entirely (Hint: You can do that with one button in Hootsuite). You might even need to use your social channels to communicate through a crisis.

Posting everything too far in advance also makes it tricky to stay on top of the latest trending audio, trending effects, and popular memes. That said, posting evergreen and non-time-sensitive content in advance actually frees you up to jump on those trending moments as they happen.

Our advice: Keep your finger on the pulse, and stay nimble.

3. Don’t get carried away

Yes, the miracle of Instagram scheduling means you can increase your quantity of posts without sacrificing quality. But should you?

The short answer is “maybe.” The long answer is “maybe, if you can maintain consistent quality at that pace over the long term.”

Consistency matters more than frequency when it comes to engagement. Remember that the algorithm prioritizes good relationships: if your followers are engaging with your Instagram content, the algorithm will show more of it to them.

4. Optimize and edit

Great visuals are key on Instagram. Get yourself an Instagram scheduler that allows you to edit your photos in the same dashboard you publish from. It’ll save you much more time and ensure that your images are fully optimized before posting.

Shout out to Hootsuite’s image editor, which can crop your image to the correct size for any social network. It also has an extensive filter library (useful for those who would rather leave photo editing up to the professionals). Watch the video below for a preview of the tool.

Scheduling also allows the chance to double-check and proofread the text that accompanies your Instagram content. And for big teams with a lot of moving parts, an internal multi-stage approval system is ideal for preventing a gaffe.

5. Analyze and adjust

Now that you know how to schedule an Instagram post, you’ve got time to take a look at the big picture.

Are you creating content that works for your audience? What’s earning likes? What’s falling flat?

Choose your preferred Instagram analytics tool (or hit the Analytics tab in Hootsuite) and start exploring.

Use Hootsuite to schedule Instagram posts (and Stories, Threads, and Reels) for the optimal time, respond to comments, track competitors, and measure performance—all from the same dashboard you use to manage your other social networks. Start your free trial today.

The post How to schedule Instagram posts: 3 best ways for 2025 appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

* This article was originally published here

Competitive intelligence: How to find insights on social & beyond

Competitive intelligence is crucial for informed decision making, from your next social media post to creating your entire digital marketing strategy.

Using competitor analysis software to see what your competitors are doing isn’t about copying them. It’s about deeply understanding the market so you can set your organization apart to reach your audience in the most effective way.

Read on to learn how to use competitive intelligence insights to unlock business decisions that propel your business ahead of the pack.

Key takeaways

1. Competitive intelligence involves collecting and analyzing data about competitors, industry trends, and customer behavior to inform business decisions.
2. There are four core types of competitive intelligence: market intelligence (market trends and benchmarks), product intelligence (analyzing features and pricing against competitors), competitor intelligence (insights into competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and strategies), and consumer Intelligence (customer demographics, behaviors, and preferences).
3. Social listening can be used as a powerful competitive intelligence tool. It helps businesses track mentions, analyze sentiment, and gather actionable insights from customer conversations and competitor activities on social media.

What is competitive intelligence?

Competitive intelligence is collecting data and insights about your competitors, industry, market, and customers from multiple sources to create and inform your business policies and strategies.

4 types of competitive intelligence

While all information that you gather can be considered competitive business intelligence, it breaks down into four main categories.

1. Market intelligence

Market intelligence is data about factors outside your business, including:

• Demographics in your current regional market, or a new region you want to enter.
• Current industry trends.
• Current events and new technology.
• Market research about size, growth rate, and other benchmarks.

2. Product intelligence

Product intelligence tracks how your products compare to your competitors’ products in areas like:

• Features and performance.
• Price.
• Availability (e.g. online vs retail-only, shipping regions, etc).
• Reputation and reviews.

3. Competitor intelligence

Gathering information about your competitors can help you find new ways to differentiate yourself. Competitor intelligence includes:

• Understanding the key players in your industry and how their marketing efforts compare with yours.
• SWOT analysis of competitors (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
• Evaluating competitor strategies around visual branding and messaging, symbols, and positioning.

4. Consumer intelligence

Consumer intelligence provides insights about your customers or target audience, including:

• Demographics.
• How customers found you, why they purchased, and other journey mapping data.
• What your customers want in a product or service.
• Shopping behavior, including digital and in-person behavior, as well as other competitors they shop at.

The role of social media in collecting competitive intelligence

Business is happening on social media and not just on your own profiles. Your competitors are on social and so are their customers. Social listening uncovers valuable insights, like what your audience is saying about you (and your competitors).

Brands who use social listening are more confident in their ability to prove social media marketing ROI to key stakeholders—a huge competitive advantage.

Social listening takes your performance reports from “X number of likes, shares, comments” to “We identified that customers of Competitors A and B were unhappy with long customer service wait times, so our latest ad campaign centred our guaranteed 5 minute response time. That campaign drove 30% more traffic and 10% higher new signups this quarter!”

Use social listening to:

• Find out why people buy from your competitors (and get them to buy from YOU).
• Track your reputation.
• Identify the main emotions people feel about your brand, a competitor, or a topic with AI sentiment analysis.
• Search brand names or topics and scan over 150 million websites and 30 social media platforms in 187 languages.
• Capture market share with content your audience wants, made easy with data-driven reports.
• Prove your social ROI to your boss with detailed analytics and customizable reports.

This is how easy it is to use social listening to drive your competitive intelligence strategy:

How to find patterns in competitive intelligence research

Here are a few suggestions to turn your competitive insights into actionable business strategies.

Track mention volume by week

Pay attention to how many brand mentions you’re getting each week. While ebbs and flows are common, especially if your business is seasonal, big variations can point to something bigger going on.

Are mentions up 20% this week vs. last, and your brand sentiment metrics are mostly positive? It could point to a high profile kudos on a podcast that’s spurred conversation about your organization online. If so, great! Capitalize on the positivity with supporting social media content or an ad campaign.

What if that increased volume is negative? It could point to a mounting PR crisis. Identifying that early gives you time to get on top of it.

Bonus: Get a free social media sentiment report template to easily track audience sentiment over time.

Notice engagement spikes

Is a piece of content going viral because the audience is so excited about it? Grateful for the cool tip or hack? Confused and asking clarifying questions? Understanding when and why something captures your audience’s attention gives you a blueprint for holding their attention too.

Marketing success is really as simple as giving people what they want, and competitive intelligence tells you what they want.

Likewise, if it’s your competitor getting all the buzz, did they launch something new? Does this change your plans or market positioning at all?

To know what counts as a spike in engagement, you need to know what your average engagement rate is. Or, when comparing your organization to others, the average engagement rate for your industry and the platform you’re measuring.

Our research found the overall average engagement rate of Instagram is 5% but only 2.3% on X.

Want a place to start? See all our current data on the average engagement rates by industry and platform.

Gather demographics

Knowing more about your customers and market share is always a good thing. Competitive intelligence software can track your audience’s key demographics, such as gender, age, language, location, interests, occupations, and more, over time.

Keep up with pricing trends

Does Competitor A always have a big quarterly sale? Has Competitor B just switched from a one-time purchase to a subscription model? Has Competitor C raised their prices?

And more importantly: How do all their customers feel about these changes and the pricing in your industry as a whole?

Maybe there are forum comments out there from users saying your product is so much more expensive than Competitor B. While that’s true, it could point to needing to educate your audience about what sets you apart in the competitive landscape. That insight translates directly into social media content and marketing campaigns your marketing team can start ASAP.

How competitive intelligence can shape your marketing strategy

Competitive intelligence impacts both your short-term and long-term marketing campaigns and business decisions.

Audience segmentation

Competitive intelligence tools give you the data you need to understand your audience. Beyond analytics performance reports and demographics, tools like Hootsuite Listening and SEMrush give you insight into what motivates your competitors’ audiences to engage with social media and other content.

How to use this data:

• While tools can help out, human eyes are all you need. Check competitor websites and social feeds quarterly and analyze the language they use to reach people.
• Differentiate yourself. For example, if they’re targeting small to medium sized companies, consider targeting enterprise organizations.

Identifying market gaps

Are people in your target market asking Reddit for product recommendations for something that doesn’t seem to exist? If others chime in that they wish it existed too, this could be your big competitive edge.

Source: r/photography on Reddit

How to use this data:

• If you’re seeing the same type of “wish list” from prospective customers time after time, it’s probably something that would sell. (Of course, do proper due diligence first.)
• Scan sources other than social media for well-rounded market intelligence. Consider competitive intelligence tools that also scan podcasts, websites, video mentions, and more.
• Remember: your sales teams are a treasure trove of information. Ask them what customers want, and track the reasons for lost sales.

Identifying competitor weaknesses

There are plenty of types of weaknesses you can use competitive intelligence software to uncover, such as:

• Gaps in content or ad strategies: Use tools like SEMrush to see if competitors are targeting the wrong keywords, or SpyFu to analyze their paid campaigns to uncover targeting opportunities.
• Customer feedback: Identify patterns in customer reviews, especially negative ones, to see which features customers wish their products had or customer service trends, like slow response times or quality control issues.
• Track social media performance: Use Hootsuite’s benchmarking features to track competitor audience growth and engagement over time. Regularly audit competitors to find ways to stand out. Are their posts infrequent or not resonating with their audience? Are they not on certain platforms? Identify what you can turn into a strength and differentiate yourself that way.
• Compete on SEO: Use Ahrefs, Moz, SEMrush, and others to track your competitors’ SEO rankings and where you fall among them. Identify ways to beat them for relevant keywords, or uncover keywords they’re underutilizing. The same goes for social SEO such as post captions, hashtags, and more.

How to use this data:

• Once you’ve identified one or more key weaknesses, make a plan to improve your organization in those areas to become a stronger competitor.
• Regularly audit competitors and make strategic decisions about how that information should (or shouldn’t) change your marketing.

Risk management

Competitive intelligence tools help you keep tabs on potential risks, from finding new companies in your space to summarizing industry trends you need to know. Listening tools scan the web and social media to tell you everything from how competitors respond to events to discovering potential supply chain interruptions, new technology that could impact your business, and upcoming regulatory changes that could affect you legally.

An easy way to stay on top of potential PR risks is tracking your brand sentiment over time with Hootsuite Listening. Know with one glance if trouble could be brewing, or—much more excitingly—if a great review is going viral.

How to use this data:

• Stay ahead of your competition by responding early to trends.
• Use Hootsuite Listening to identify trends and measure your audience’s response to you with sentiment analysis tracking.

Product roadmapping

Listening to what customers are saying is like having an automatic product roadmap made for you. The most successful product is the one that gives customers what they want.

You can use feedback about your products to inspire new product features but often the most valuable insights come from the customers of your competitors. What do they love about their products that yours don’t have? What features do they wish existed? How can you make your products better, more innovative, more economical, or some other way of standing out?

For example, this customer loves their backpacks but doesn’t like how loud the zippers are, and others agreed in the comments. While a few comments shouldn’t be a reason to overhaul your entire product, it can be a springboard for conducting further research.

Source: r/ManyBaggers on Reddit

How to use this data:

• Identify feedback patterns on your own social media posts and sources around the web like Reddit, and feedback about your competitors.

Trendspotting

From the latest TikTok meme to market trends, spotting trends is much faster and easier with competitive intelligence tools.

You don’t need to jump on every trend but if it makes sense for your brand, it can inspire fresh marketing campaigns.

A classic example is organizations making their own versions of Spotify’s iconic Wrapped content. The best takes on this trend honor the ethos of Spotify’s look and voice while being relevant and funny to their own products/services, like how Beyond Type 1 used it to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beyond Type 1 (@beyondtype1)

How to use this data:

• Use Hootsuite Listening to quickly search current trends on any topic, as well as monitor what people are saying about you over time.
• While social media trends are important, don’t forget about other important sources: include ad trends, pop culture trends, and marketing trends in your data.

Benchmarking

Others don’t necessarily define your success, but knowing where you stand among competitors can help with planning marketing goals. Some comparison is subjective, such as the perceived quality of social media posts, while other comparisons are factual.

How does your social media engagement rate compare? How is your SEO performance on primary keywords? How do you compare on attributes like product pricing or customer service response times?

You’ll likely need a combination of competitive intelligence tools to find these benchmarks. Use Hootsuite’s benchmarking and competitive analysis features to track your social media performance against competitors, and averages for your industry and organization size:

Add tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs for SEO tracking, SimilarWeb for website traffic research, Crayon for breaking news, and others for a complete competitive intelligence solution from social media to product news and everything in between.

How to use this data:

• Make sure your marketing team knows which KPIs to track to work toward the objectives in your marketing strategy.

Competitive intelligence software for 2025

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management tool that includes many competitive intelligence features, such as social listening, sentiment analysis, and Quick Search to discover trending hashtags, brands, and events globally or pinpointed anywhere in the world.

Combined with Hootsuite Analytics industry benchmarking and the ability to measure your social ROI of both organic and paid campaigns, you get a full 360-degree view of total social media performance—plus personalized tips to improve.

Add your competitors to Hootsuite Analytics for detailed comparisons at your fingertips, highlighting where you’re beating competitors and areas to improve:

Besides competitive intelligence, Hootsuite also:

• Saves you over 11 hours per month with smart automation and all the tools you need to succeed on social in one place.
• Allows you to easily create or repurpose content in a few clicks with OwlyWriter AI.
• Includes a universal inbox to reply to comments and private messages across platforms right inside your Hootsuite dashboard, plus team routing and auto-responses.
• Automatically schedules content when your audience is most likely to see it with your personalized best time to post.
• Enhances growth with unique employee advocacy tools to enhance your organic reach.

Use Hootsuite for:

• Social media competitive intelligence and all-in-one management of multiple platforms.
• Content ideas, trend discovery, and drafting social posts with AI.
• Improving response times with auto-replies and a unified team inbox.

#1 Easy Social Listening

Brand mentions, trending topics, and sentiment at your fingertips. Enhance your social strategy with the insights that matter.

Start free 30-day trial

Talkwalker

Talkwalker, recently acquired by Hootsuite, is the best digital competitive intelligence software for all organizations. Talkwalker scans over 150 million websites and 30 social platforms in 192 languages, plus identifies your brand in videos and photos.

Talkwalker powers the social listening capabilities built into Hootsuite, and also includes real-time monitoring of sources off social media, such as podcasts, broadcast media, news, blogs, forums, and more.

With this much coverage, plus innovative features like virality maps, topic clusters, real-time alerts, performance scoring, and BlueSilk AI to summarize current insights and predict future trends.

Use Talkwalker for:

• Advanced competitive intelligence across millions of sources, including social media, websites, videos, podcasts, and more.
• Real-time notification of potential PR crises, plus the ability to predict the likelihood of future events.

SEMrush

Keep tabs on your competitors’ SEO and ad campaign performance while also optimizing your own content and measuring your SERP performance over time. SEMrush has all the SEO tools you need, from organic and PPC keyword research to competitive intelligence insights, including link building, local SEO, rank tracking, and more.

Source: SEMrush

Use SEMrush for:

• Planning your SEO strategy with keyword research, including finding out which keywords your competitors are using.
• Tracking your SEO and ad campaign performance over time, including suggestions to improve.
• AI tools to optimize your content.

Get the data you need to compete and the publishing, engagement, and listening tools you need to succeed on social media with Hootsuite. Save 130+ hours per year by making social media management easy. Try it free today.

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The post Competitive intelligence: How to find insights on social & beyond appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

* This article was originally published here