How to Use Hashtags on Facebook

Many marketers dismiss Facebook hashtags as an afterthought, but using them correctly can make your content discoverable to a whole new audience. When approached with a clear strategy, hashtags are a powerful tool for boosting your reach, categorizing your content, and joining bigger conversations on the platform. This guide will walk you through exactly how, why, and when to use hashtags on Facebook to get real results.

Why Bother with Facebook Hashtags? The Short Answer is Yes.

For years, a cloud of confusion hung over Facebook hashtags. Were they just a holdover from Twitter and Instagram, or did they actually do anything? The truth is, while they weren't always a priority for Facebook's algorithm, their function has become much clearer: hashtags make your content searchable.

When you click on a hashtag on Facebook, you're taken to a feed showing public posts that include that same tag. This means your thoughtfully tagged post can be seen by people who don't already follow your Page. It’s a simple, organic way to extend your reach beyond your existing audience and connect with users actively looking for content related to your niche, industry, or location.

Here are the primary benefits of a solid Facebook hashtag strategy:

• Increased Discoverability: Your content appears in dedicated feeds for each hashtag you use, putting it in front of users with a declared interest in that topic.
• Content Categorization: Hashtags allow you to group your posts by themes or campaigns. For example, a bakery could use `#TipTuesday` for weekly baking tips, creating an easy-to-follow series for their audience.
• Joining Trending Conversations: By using relevant, timely hashtags, you can insert your brand into larger cultural moments or industry discussions, increasing your visibility and relevance.

Think of them less like decorative additions and more like signposts that guide both users and the algorithm to your content.

How to Find the Right Facebook Hashtags (Without Guessing)

The biggest mistake brands make is either grabbing random, generic hashtags or stuffing their posts with dozens of them. Effective hashtag use is about precision, not volume. Here’s how to find the tags that will actually move the needle.

Start with Foundational Keyword Research

Before you do anything else, put yourself in your audience's shoes. What words or phrases would they search for to find content like yours? This is the foundation of your entire strategy.

1. Use the Facebook Search Bar: This is the simplest and most direct method. Start typing a keyword relevant to your post with a # in front of it (e.g., `#contentmarketing`). Facebook will automatically suggest popular related hashtags and show you how many people are talking about them.
2. Analyze the Hashtag Feed: Click on a potential hashtag to see the feed it creates. Is the content high-quality? Is it relevant to your brand? Are other businesses using it successfully? A hashtag feed filled with spam or low-quality content is one you’ll want to avoid.

This initial research helps you build a list of relevant terms that have an active community around them.

Analyze Your Competitors and Industry Leaders

You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Take a look at what the successful Pages in your niche are doing.

1. Identify 3-5 Competitors: Look at other businesses that serve a similar audience.
2. Scan Their Top-Performing Posts: Scroll through their feed and identify posts with high likes, comments, and shares. Take note of the hashtags they used.
3. Look for Patterns: Are they using the same 2-3 hashtags consistently on their best content? Are they using a mix of broad and specific tags? Don't just blindly copy their list, focus on understanding the *logic* behind their choices. This process often reveals valuable hashtags you may have missed.

Use a Balanced Mix of Hashtag Types

A great strategy doesn’t rely on just one type of hashtag. It blends several different categories to maximize reach and relevance. Aim to pull from each of these buckets for a well-rounded approach.

• Branded Hashtags: These are custom tags unique to your business. It could be your company name (`#MyAwesomeBrand`), a tagline (`#GoFurtherTogether`), or a specific campaign (`#SummerStyleLaunch`). Branded hashtags are excellent for building community, encouraging user-generated content (UGC), and tracking mentions of your campaign in one clean feed.
  Example: Nike’s famous `#justdoit` is a legendary branded hashtag that encapsulates their entire brand ethos.
• Industry or Community Hashtags: These are broader tags that connect you to conversations within your industry or community. They are great for reaching people who have an interest in what you do but may not know your brand yet.
  Examples: `#femalefounders`, `#shoplocalnyc`, `#craftbeerlife`, `#healthandwellness`.
• Content-Specific Hashtags: These are descriptive tags that tell users exactly what your post is about. They are highly relevant and target a specific intent.
  Examples: `#howtomakesourdough`, `#socialmediamarketingtips`, `#homedecorinspo`.
• Timely or Trending Hashtags: These relate to specific holidays, events, or trending topics. Using them can give your post a temporary visibility boost, but only if your content is genuinely related to the trend.
  Examples: `#MotivationMonday`, `#EarthDay2024`, `#SuperBowlAds`.

A single post might use one of each: sharing a photo from a company volunteer day could use `#MyAwesomeBrandCares` (branded), `#givingback` (community), `#volunteering` (content-specific), and `#EarthDay2024` (timely).

Facebook Hashtag Best Practices: The Do's and Don'ts

Once you have a list of potential hashtags, applying them correctly is the next step. Following a few simple rules will keep your posts looking professional and performing their best.

Don't Go Overboard: How Many Hashtags to Use?

Unlike Instagram, where it's common to see a larger block of hashtags, Facebook is a "less is more" platform. A long list of hashtags often looks cluttered and spammy in the Facebook feed, which can hurt user trust and even get deprioritized by the algorithm.

The sweet spot for Facebook is 1-3 hashtags.

Focus on using the most relevant and specific tags for each post. One highly targeted hashtag is far more effective than ten broad, generic ones.

Placement Matters: Where Do Hashtags Go?

You have two primary options for placing your hashtags, and both can be effective depending on your brand's voice and style.

• Integrated Into the Caption: This method works when the hashtag flows naturally within a sentence. It feels organic and clever. For example: "We're so excited to share our latest guide to #sustainableliving with all of you!"
• At the End of the Caption: This is the most common and safest approach. After you’ve written your caption, add a line break and list your 1-3 chosen hashtags. This keeps the main message clean and easy to read while still getting the SEO benefit of the tags. This is the recommended approach for most posts.

Check Your Privacy Settings: Public Posts are Essential

This is a simple but critical point that many people miss. Hashtags only work for discovery on public posts. If your personal profile is set to "Friends Only" or your Facebook Page has audience restrictions, your posts won't appear in public hashtag feeds. Before embarking on a hashtag strategy, double-check that your Page's visibility is set to Public so people outside your immediate network can find your content.

Create and Promote Your Own Branded Hashtag

Creating a unique branded hashtag is one of the best long-term social media strategies. It gives you a dedicated space on Facebook that you essentially "own," filling it with content from both your brand and your customers.

To get started:

1. Choose Your Hashtag: Keep it short, unique, and easy to remember and spell. Search for it on Facebook, Instagram, and X to make sure it isn't already widely used by another brand.
2. Promote It Everywhere: Add your branded hashtag to your Facebook page 'About' section, your Instagram bio, your email signature, and mention it in other marketing materials.
3. Encourage Its Use: Run a contest asking customers to share photos using your product with your branded hashtag for a chance to be featured. This is a fantastic way to collect valuable user-generated content and build a strong sense of community.

How to Know if Your Facebook Hashtags Are Working

Tracking the direct ROI of hashtags on Facebook isn't as straightforward as it is on other platforms, as Facebook's native analytics don't provide detailed hashtag performance metrics. However, you can still get a very good sense of what's working with a bit of manual analysis.

Manual Spot-Checking

After you publish a post, go click on one of the hashtags you used. This will take you to that hashtag's feed. Sort the feed by "Recent" to see where your post appears. Ideally, you want to be ranking in the "Top" section, which is algorithmically curated. Showing up here means Facebook views your content as high-quality and relevant for that tag.

Track Performance with a Simple Spreadsheet

The most reliable way to measure the impact of your strategy is to watch for patterns over time. Create a simple content spreadsheet to track post performance. Your columns can be as straightforward as:

• Post Date
• Caption Summary
• Hashtags Used
• Reach
• Engagements (Likes, Comments, Shares)

After a month, you can sort this sheet to see if posts using certain hashtags consistently outperform those with different or no hashtags. Did your `#woodworkingtips` posts get more reach than your more generic `#DIYproject` posts? This data is invaluable for refining your strategy over time.

Final Thoughts

Using 1-3 strategic and highly relevant hashtags on your public Facebook posts is a simple way to increase your content's visibility and connect with a wider, more interested audience. The trick is to be intentional and consistent, focusing on adding value rather than just adding keywords to your posts.

Keeping a consistent content calendar and a well-researched hashtag strategy takes organization. That's one of the reasons we built Postbase with a clean, visual calendar that lets you plan all your content - and your custom hashtag sets for each platform - weeks in advance. It helps you get a bird’s-eye view of your strategy and schedule everything at once, so you can stop jumping between apps and get back to creating. You can see how a modern, reliable social media tool simplifies your entire workflow with Postbase.