You Are Using Too Many Hashtags on Facebook
If your Facebook business posts look more like a list of hashtags than a conversation, it may be time to rethink your strategy.
First of all, you don’t need all those hashtags!
Hashtags can have a place in social media marketing, but on Facebook, and even on other platforms like Instagram, loading up your captions with hashtag after hashtag isn’t helping your reach… and it can make your business look less natural and more promotional.
More Hashtags Does Not Equal More Reach
It’s easy to assume that adding more hashtags gives your post more opportunities to be discovered.
After all, if one hashtag is good, wouldn’t 10 be better? Not really.
First, you need to understand why you would use hashtags at all. They are a search and linking tool. When you click a hashtag within a caption on social media, it will link you to all of the other posts using that hashtag. All of them. Meaning you could just scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll through all of the posts ever using that tag. In very, very rare cases will that be helpful to your business or to your audience. Niche hashtags for events sometimes work or maybe if you have a very specialized hashtag that you want to be able to reference later… but that’s it.
Many marketers and business owners feel like listing hashtags is akin to listing keywords you want to use so that your posts are seen by more people. And for a short time in the past, it was. But anymore, the algorithms have become so sophisticated that just using strong keywords in your caption will help your posts show up for people who are interested in what you’re posting about
Facebook is designed around showing people content it thinks they’ll find interesting and relevant. It doesn’t always get it right, but the hashtag soup isn’t helping and doesn’t guarantee that your post will reach more profiles.
In fact, excessive hashtag use can make a post feel spammy or overly promotional. And from a user’s perspective, a caption followed by a wall of hashtags can look cluttered and distract from the actual content you’re trying to share. When you view Facebook, do you ever click a hashtag to find more? Do you enjoy seeing posts with several hashtags when you’re scrolling? Neither do you clients.
For most small (or any size, really) businesses, there simply isn’t much benefit to stuffing Facebook captions with hashtags.
Our Social Experts Agree
After years of Social Media Marketing for our clients, we’ve seen the use of hashtags change drastically on Facebook. Currently they do very little to expand the reach of any business post. We used to use hashtags for our own marketing, too. But times, they are a-changing!
Just remember: using more than one or two hashtags doesn’t add anything meaningful to the post.
Instead of:
Check out our new summer specials! Stop in today and see what’s new!
#Summer #SummerSpecial #LocalBusiness #SmallBusiness #ShopLocal #BestDeals #CentralPA #Pennsylvania #LocalShopping #SupportSmallBusiness
Try writing something that actually gives the customer a reason to stop and read:
Our summer specials are here! We’ve added several customer favorites and a few new options to the menu. Stop in this week and see what we’re serving up!
The second caption is easier to read, sounds more human and gives you an opportunity to naturally include words and phrases that describe what your business offers. A few pics of the new creations, a video, a recent review… all will tell a better story than a list of tags. You can then add a link to your events or website menu in the comments for your users to click; that’s more beneficial to both of you.
What About SEO and Keywords?
This is where many businesses and AI-generated captions can get a little carried away.
There is a difference between using relevant keywords naturally and stuffing your post with hashtags and repetitive phrases.
If your company does car detailing for example, your caption could naturally mention:
- Reasons you’d want your car detailed
- Your top services or package options
- Scheduling info
- When to buy a car detailing gift card
- Locations and how to get in touch
But you don’t need to turn the end of your post into:
#cardetailing #cardetailingcarlisle #getyourcardetailed #cardetailernearme #birthdaygifts #giftcards #localcardetailer
Write for the person reading the post first.
Your caption should sound like something a real person at your company would say. We always suggest that as you’re writing a caption, act like someone asked you a question and answer it naturally, just as you would on the phone or in-person.
And if you have a lot to say, break it up into smaller chunks and create a series. This is great for Stories and Reels and the algorithms love these types of posts.
Be Cautious Using AI-Generated Captions
AI can be a great tool for brainstorming social media ideas and helping businesses get past the dreaded “What should I post today?”
But don’t simply copy and paste an AI-generated caption without looking at it. Read it out loud and replace it with words, punctuation and details that you would normally include if you were speaking or relaying this info to another human being.
One of the easiest ways to spot an AI-written social post is when it sounds overly polished, repetitive or stuffed with hashtags. And the posts are often long winded and wordy, too!
Your social media should sound like your business, not like ChatGPT.
So, How Many Hashtags Should You Use?
Our recommendation for most Facebook business posts is simple:
Zero is best. One is okay. Two can be used in extremely specific circumstances. You don’t need more.
And only use it if the hashtag serves a very particular purpose. If you want the post to be gathered into a pool of all of the other posts that have this hashtag and it will be helpful to your cause, then go ahead and use the hashtag.
For example, a branded hashtag for a campaign, event or recurring series can sometimes make sense.
But don’t add hashtags simply because you feel like you’re supposed to or because you see other businesses doing it. They’re using AI-generated captions, too, and just don’t know how they work. Plus, if your posts look just like their posts, you’re not standing out from the crowd!
Instead, put your effort into writing a compelling, keyword-focused caption that tells people something useful, interesting or relevant.
Facebook Post Caption Tips
The next time you post to Facebook, ask yourself:
Is this interesting to my customer?
Does it sound like my business?
Does it clearly explain what we’re offering, doing or sharing?
Have I naturally included relevant words that describe the business or topic?
Does the post give someone a reason to stop scrolling?
Those questions will certainly do more for your social media strategy than adding 10 hashtags.
Your Social Media Focus
Social media isn’t about checking every possible marketing box with every single post. It’s about engaging with your audience in a way that feels natural and provides value with an overall strategy using posts, Reels, Stories, etc.
On Facebook, less is always more when it comes to hashtags.
Skip the hashtag overload, write captions for actual people and focus on creating content your customers want to see.
Your marketing should sound human and not like a pile of hashtags and an AI prompt. If you’re struggling with your social media posts and captions, reach out. It’s what we do and we’re happy to discuss your social media marketing strategy with you!
