Hashtag Science

---
name: hashtag-science
description: "A specialized skill for the hashtag-analyst agent covering hashtag science. Provides hashtag pyramid strategy, competition analysis, trend prediction, and platform-specific optimal hashtag strategies. Use for 'hashtags,' 'keyword strategy,' 'trend analysis,' 'hashtag research,' and similar topics."
---

# Hashtag Science — Hashtag Science Methodology

Specialized knowledge used by the hashtag-analyst agent when designing hashtag strategies.

## Why Hashtag "Science"

Hashtags are not applied by intuition. They involve calculating **discoverability, competition level, and targeting accuracy** to design optimal combinations.

## Hashtag Pyramid Strategy

```
        /\
       / 1 \  <- Large (1M+ posts)
      /------\     2-3: Discovered with luck
     /   2    \  <- Medium (100K-1M)
    /----------\     5-7: Core battlefield
   /      3     \  <- Small (10K-100K)
  /--------------\     5-8: Targeted reach
 /         4      \  <- Niche (under 10K)
/------------------\     3-5: Community entry
```

### Role by Tier

| Tier | Post Count | Role | Strategy |
|------|-----------|------|----------|
| **Large** | 1M+ | Category indicator | #marketing, #startup — max 3 |
| **Medium** | 100K-1M | Core reach | Target's actual search terms — 5-7 |
| **Small** | 10K-100K | Competitive advantage | Specific topic terms — 5-8 |
| **Niche** | Under 10K | Community | Industry-specific terminology — 3-5 |
| **Brand** | Proprietary | Tracking/Campaign | #BrandName, #CampaignName — 1-2 |

## Platform-Specific Hashtag Strategies

### Instagram

| Item | Recommendation |
|------|---------------|
| Count | 15-25 (use 20-25 of the max 30) |
| Placement | Bottom of caption or first comment |
| Composition | Follow pyramid ratios |
| Prohibited | Banned hashtags (shadowban risk), unrelated large tags |
| Rotation | Change 30%+ per post (repetition = spam detection) |

### TikTok

| Item | Recommendation |
|------|---------------|
| Count | 3-5 (caption character limit) |
| Placement | Directly in caption |
| Composition | 1-2 trending + 2-3 niche |
| Special | #fyp #foryou have no effect (officially denied) |
| Strategy | Trending sound + niche hashtag combination is optimal |

### LinkedIn

| Item | Recommendation |
|------|---------------|
| Count | 3-5 (excessive use flagged as spam) |
| Placement | Bottom of post |
| Composition | 2-3 industry keywords + 1-2 role keywords |
| Strategy | Use followable hashtags (#marketing, #startup) |

### X/Twitter

| Item | Recommendation |
|------|---------------|
| Count | 1-2 (3+ decreases engagement) |
| Placement | Naturally within tweet body |
| Composition | 1 trending + 1 niche |
| Strategy | Natural keyword insertion is more effective than hashtags |

## Hashtag Research Process

### Step 1: Seed Keyword Collection

| Source | Method |
|--------|--------|
| Competitors | Collect hashtags from competitor accounts' popular posts |
| Autocomplete | Enter keywords in Instagram/TikTok search -> collect autocomplete suggestions |
| Related Tags | Collect "related hashtags" from hashtag pages |
| Community | Observe hashtags used by the target audience |

### Step 2: Hashtag Analysis Matrix

| Hashtag | Post Count | Tier | Relevance | Competition | Final Score |
|---------|-----------|------|-----------|-------------|-------------|
| #[tag] | XXX,XXX | Large/Med/Small/Niche | 1-5 | 1-5 | Weighted sum |

```
Final Score = (Relevance x 0.5) + (Optimal Competition x 0.3) + (Trending x 0.2)

- Relevance: Degree of exact match with content
- Optimal Competition: Neither too high nor too low is optimal (inverted U-curve)
- Trending: Growing tags get bonus points
```

### Step 3: Set Composition

Pre-compose hashtag sets by post type:

```
[Educational Content Set]
Large: #marketing #business
Medium: #marketingstrategy #digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #snsmarketing #marketingtips
Small: #marketinglearning #marketerlife #performancemarketing #growthhacking #brandingstrategy
Niche: #marketergrowth #juniormarketer #marketingpractice
Brand: #BrandName

[Product Showcase Set]
[Community Set]
[Trend Set]
```

## Banned Hashtag Management

### Shadowban Risk Hashtags

Some hashtags can trigger "shadowbans" on platforms like Instagram, limiting content visibility:

- Hashtags misused for sexual/violent meanings
- Hashtags heavily used by spam bots
- Hashtags temporarily restricted during certain periods

### Prevention Strategy

1. Search the hashtag before use to confirm normal visibility
2. If the "recent posts" tab is empty, restriction is likely
3. Change 30%+ of hashtag sets each time
4. Do not use large hashtags unrelated to the content