How to Use Hashtags on LinkedIn

Using hashtags on LinkedIn feels a bit like a guessing game, but it's one of the simplest ways to get your content in front of the right people. This guide will show you exactly how to find the right hashtags, how many to use, and where to put them to increase your visibility and connect with your target audience. You'll learn how to build a smart, repeatable hashtag strategy that actually helps you grow.

Why Bother With Hashtags on LinkedIn Anyway?

Unlike Instagram, where it can be a race to use 30 hashtags, LinkedIn is a more refined platform. Here, hashtags aren't just for decoration, they are powerful tools for content discovery and categorization. When you use a hashtag, you're essentially telling the LinkedIn algorithm, "Show this post to people interested in this topic." It's your way of raising your hand and joining specific professional conversations.

Here’s what they do for you:

• Boost Discoverability: People follow hashtags on LinkedIn just like they follow people or companies. Using a relevant tag like #ProjectManagement puts your post directly into the feeds of users who have explicitly said they're interested in that topic - even if they don't follow you personally.
• Provide Context: Hashtags frame your content. Adding #Leadership or #TeamCulture at the end of a post immediately tells readers what the post is about, encouraging them to stop scrolling and engage.
• Build Community: Creating and consistently using a branded hashtag, like #YourCompanyNameLife, groups all related content together. It allows followers, employees, and customers to find and contribute to a conversation centered around your brand.

In short, a well-placed hashtag transforms your post from a standalone update into a part of a larger, ongoing dialogue, making it visible to a qualified and interested audience.

How to Find Effective Hashtags for Your Content

The biggest challenge isn't deciding *to* use hashtags, but figuring out *which* ones to use. Tossing in random popular tags won't get you very far. The goal is to find tags that are both relevant to your content and followed by the audience you want to reach. Here are a few straightforward methods to build your list.

1. Use LinkedIn’s Native Search Feature

LinkedIn itself is your best starting point. It’s simple and gives you immediate data on how popular a tag is.

1. Go to the search bar at the top of your LinkedIn feed.
2. Type in a keyword related to your post (e.g., "content marketing").
3. Instead of hitting enter, select the option that says "[yourkeyword] in Hashtags" from the dropdown.
4. This will take you to a results page showing related hashtags and their follower counts. For "content marketing," you’ll see tags like #contentmarketing (20M+ followers), #contentstrategy (6M+ followers), and #contentcreation (2M+ followers).

The follower count is an important metric. A tag with millions of followers offers huge potential reach, but it’s also highly competitive. Your post could get buried quickly. Finding tags with tens of thousands of followers is often a sweeter spot for getting noticed by a more niche, dedicated audience.

2. Analyze Content From Industry Leaders and Competitors

Who is already successful in your niche? Look at the posts from industry thought leaders, influential accounts, and even your direct competitors. Scroll through their past few months of content and pay attention to the hashtags they use consistently.

Ask yourself:

• Which hashtags are they using on posts that get high engagement?
• Do they use niche, industry-specific terms you haven't thought of?
• Do they have a branded hashtag they use on all of their content?

This isn't about copying their strategy wholesale, but about discovering proven hashtags that are already working for the kind of audience you want to attract. Add the best ones you find to your list.

3. Pay Attention to LinkedIn's Suggestions

When you start composing a post and type "#", LinkedIn will automatically suggest hashtags based on the content you've already written. While these suggestions can sometimes be too generic, they are often a great source of inspiration.

If you write a sentence like, "Just finished a great workshop on improving team collaboration," LinkedIn might suggest #teamwork, #collaboration, and #professionaldevelopment. These automated recommendations are based on what the platform identifies as key themes in your post, which is a good clue you're on the right track.

Building Your Go-To LinkedIn Hashtag Strategy

Randomly picking hashtags for every post is inefficient. A better approach is to create a structured strategy you can pull from. The best strategies use a blend of different hashtag types to maximize both reach and relevance.

The Three-Tier Hashtag Mix

Think of your hashtags in three distinct categories. For each post, you should ideally pick at least one or two from each tier.

• Broad Hashtags (1-2 per post): These are tags with high follower counts (500,000 to millions). They relate to general topics and industries.
  • Examples: #Marketing, #Leadership, #Technology, #Innovation, #Sales
  • Purpose: To get your content in front of a massive, wide-ranging audience. The visibility here is fleeting due to high volume, but it introduces your content to a larger pool of people.
• Niche Hashtags (2-3 per post): These are more specific tags with a smaller but more dedicated following (10,000 to 500,000). They connect you directly with people interested in your specific expertise.
  • Examples: #B2BContentMarketing, #SaaSSales, #RemoteLeadership, #FintechInnovation
  • Purpose: To attract an engaged, qualified audience. People following these tags are generally more knowledgeable and interested in the topic, leading to higher-quality engagement.
• Branded or Custom Hashtags (1 per post): These are tags unique to your company, campaign, or event.
  • Examples: #LifeAtPostbase, #AcmeCorpTips, #Innovate2024
  • Purpose: To build brand identity, organize your content into a browsable stream, and encourage user-generated content around your brand or event.

A post about a new company blog on B2B marketing might use: #Marketing (Broad), #B2BContentMarketing and #ContentStrategy (Niche), and #AcmeCorpInsights (Branded).

How Many Hashtags Should You Use?

The official recommendation from LinkedIn is to use around 3 to 5 hashtags per post. This might seem low if you’re coming from other platforms, but LinkedIn favors quality over quantity.

Using more than five or six can make your post look spammy and less professional. It also dilutes the focus of your post. The algorithm uses hashtags to categorize your content, so giving it three to five laser-focused tags is more effective than giving it fifteen vague ones. Stick to the most relevant handful to guide the algorithm and keep your post clean and readable.

Where to Put Your Hashtags: In-Line vs. At the End

You have two main options for placing your hashtags:

1. At the End of the Post: This is the most common and recommended approach. After you’ve written your caption, drop your hashtags at the very bottom. It keeps the body of your post clean and allows the message to stand on its own without interruptions.
2. Naturally Within the Text: You can also weave hashtags into your sentences. For example: "Excited to share the final results from our #SocialMediaMarketing campaign this quarter." This can work if it feels natural and doesn't disrupt the flow of the sentence. However, overdoing it can make your text difficult to read and look cluttered. Use this method sparingly, for one or two key tags at most.

Quick List of Do’s and Don'ts

Keep these best practices in mind to avoid common mistakes.

Do:

• Do Keep Them Relevant: Only use hashtags directly related to your post, industry, or audience.
• Do Create a Branded Hashtag: A unique tag for your company helps build a content hub and foster community.
• Do Mix Broad & Niche Tags: Balance general-topic tags for reach with specific tags for targeted engagement.
• Do Check Hashtags Before Using: Click on a tag to see what kind of content is associated with it. You want to make sure you're joining a relevant and professional conversation.

Don’t:

• Don't Use Spaces or Punctuation: Hashtags must be single words. Use capitalization to separate words if needed (e.g., #TeamBuilding, not #team building).
• Don't Be Cutesy or Vague: Hashtags like #Thinking or #FunTimes are too generic and won't help your discoverability on a professional network. Be specific.
• Don't Stuff Your Post: Using too many hashtags makes your content look desperate and unprofessional. Stick to the 3-5 rule.
• Don't Use the Same Exact List Every Time: Tailor your hashtags to the specific content of each post. While you might reuse some core tags, customize the list to ensure peak relevance.

Final Thoughts

Mastering hashtags on LinkedIn isn’t about finding a secret formula, but about being intentional. A thoughtful strategy built on relevance, a mix of popular and niche terms, and consistency is a far better choice for extending your reach and connecting with a professional audience that values your expertise.

Of course, having a solid hashtag strategy is just one part of the puzzle. At Postbase, we work hard to manage these moving pieces. Personally, I find being able to see my entire content plan on a visual calendar and schedule ahead for all platforms, including LinkedIn, simplifies my workflow tremendously. It frees me up to spend more time creating valuable content rather than getting lost in the logistics.