Hashtag Strategy Writer

---
name: hashtag-strategy-writer
description: "Generates a tiered hashtag strategy for a social media account, covering niche, mid-range, and broad tags with usage guidance — tailored to the account's subject, platform, and growth stage."
status: stable
category: social-media
subcategory: strategy
version: 1.0
eval_score: 4.3
tags: [social-media, strategy, hashtags, reach, instagram, tiktok, discoverability]
---
# Hashtag Strategy Writer

## What This Skill Does
Generates a tiered hashtag strategy for a social media account, covering niche, mid-range, and broad tags with usage guidance — tailored to the account's subject, platform, and growth stage.

## When To Use This Skill
- You are setting up a new social media account and want a starting hashtag bank to use across posts
- Your existing hashtag strategy feels random and you want a more deliberate approach
- You are launching a campaign or series and want a specific hashtag set for it
- You want to understand how to use hashtags more strategically rather than using the same 10 tags on every post

## What You Need To Provide
**Required:** The platform (Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or Twitter/X), the account's subject focus, the account type (publication, documentary filmmaker, podcast, journalist, etc.).

**Optional:** Current follower count (affects which tier of hashtag to prioritise), any hashtags you are already using that are working, any hashtags you want to avoid, a specific campaign or series that needs its own dedicated tag, any geographic focus.

## How the Assistant Approaches This
1. Identifies three tiers of hashtag by community size: Niche (small, highly engaged communities — 10K–200K posts on Instagram), Mid-range (active but not overcrowded — 200K–2M posts), Broad (high volume but algorithmically competitive — 2M+ posts). Explains how each tier functions differently in the algorithm.
2. Generates a bank of 20–30 relevant tags across the three tiers, tailored to the account's specific subject and audience — not generic high-volume tags that attract no one specific
3. Provides usage guidance: how many tags per post, when to rotate, how to use a branded or campaign hashtag, and what to avoid (ghost-tagged hashtags, irrelevant reach-padding)

## Output Format
Strategy document: Brief explanation of the three-tier logic (100 words), Tag Bank organised by tier (20–30 tags listed with tier labels), Usage Rules (5–7 specific guidelines), Campaign/Branded Tag Recommendation (if applicable). Total 500–700 words. Tag suggestions formatted as ready-to-copy lists. Usage guidance is specific and practical, not generic social media advice.

## Quality Criteria
- [ ] Tag bank reflects the account's specific subject — not generic journalism or media tags applied to all accounts
- [ ] All three tiers are represented and the tier logic is explained
- [ ] Usage rules are platform-specific (LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram have different hashtag mechanics)
- [ ] At least one honest caveat about hashtag effectiveness is included
- [ ] Campaign hashtag recommendation (if given) is specific and unique enough to own

## Example

### Input
Platform: Instagram
Account: A documentary podcast about criminal justice — covers wrongful convictions, prison conditions, police accountability, and legal system reform
Followers: 6,200
Goal: Reach new listeners who don't already follow the account
Existing tags: #podcast #truecrime #criminaljustice (using these on every post)
Campaign: New season launching on wrongful convictions

### Output

## Hashtag Strategy — Criminal Justice Documentary Podcast
*Platform: Instagram | Followers: 6,200*

---

### How the Three Tiers Work

**Niche tags** (under 200K posts): Your content reaches a small but highly engaged community that cares specifically about the subject. Low competition; high relevance. These drive the most qualified new followers.

**Mid-range tags** (200K–2M posts): Active, scrollable communities. Your content has a realistic chance of being seen by new users without disappearing in seconds. The core of a working hashtag strategy.

**Broad tags** (2M+ posts): High volume means your post disappears fast. Use one or two per post for signal, not for reach.

**The problem with your current tags:** #podcast (400M+ posts), #truecrime (50M+ posts), and #criminaljustice (2M+ posts) are all in the broad tier. You're invisible in all three.

---

### Tag Bank

**Niche Tags** (use 4–5 per post)
- #wrongfulconvictions
- #prisonreform
- #innocenceproject
- #policeaccountability
- #justicesystem
- #exoneree
- #criminaldefense
- #incarceratedjustice
- #massincarceration
- #prisonpodcast

**Mid-Range Tags** (use 3–4 per post)
- #documentarypodcast
- #truecrimepodcast
- #investigativejournalism
- #justiceforall
- #prisonlife
- #legalreform
- #investigativepodcast
- #criminallaw

**Broad Tags** (use 1–2 per post, rotate)
- #criminaljustice
- #truecrime
- #podcast

---

### Season Campaign Tag

For the wrongful convictions season: **#TruthOnTrial** — short, ownable, thematically clear. Use it on every post related to this season. Include it in your bio during the campaign period. Encourage guests to use it when sharing the episodes.

---

### Usage Rules

1. **Rotate your tag sets.** Instagram's algorithm may suppress accounts that use identical hashtags on every post. Keep 3–4 tags consistent as your account's core identifiers and rotate the rest.

2. **Post hashtags in the caption, not the first comment.** The data on caption vs comment placement is mixed, but caption placement is simpler to manage and is the current recommended practice.

3. **Use 8–12 tags per post, not 30.** Instagram officially recommends 3–5; accounts in the 5,000–20,000 follower range typically see better results at 8–12. Do not use the maximum 30.

4. **Do not use tags you can't vouch for.** #TrueCrime pulls in a lot of entertainment content about murders, not criminal justice reform. Know who uses the tag before you use it.

5. **Check tags before using them.** Some tags become ghost-tagged (hidden by Instagram for guideline violations). A quick check of the hashtag page before using it will save you from wasted effort.

6. **For the campaign season:** Use #TruthOnTrial on every season 2 post plus 8–10 tags from the core bank. Track which posts using the campaign tag drive the most profile visits.

7. **LinkedIn uses hashtags differently.** If you cross-post to LinkedIn, use 3–5 professional-register tags (#InvestigativeJournalism #CriminalJusticeReform #PodcastRecommendation) rather than the Instagram bank above.

---

*Note: Hashtag reach data and algorithm behaviour change frequently. Review this strategy at 90 days against your account analytics.*

## Known Limitations
- Hashtag effectiveness has declined significantly on Instagram since 2022. Hashtags alone will not drive meaningful growth for most accounts — they amplify good content but cannot substitute for it. Do not over-invest in hashtag optimisation at the expense of content quality.
- Specific post counts cited for hashtag tiers are approximations. Instagram does not publish real-time data on hashtag volume; the figures are based on periodic observation and will change.
- TikTok's hashtag mechanics differ substantially from Instagram's — TikTok's algorithm is primarily interest-based and sound-based, not hashtag-driven. For TikTok accounts, a dedicated TikTok strategy brief is more useful than a hashtag strategy.

## Related Skills
- [platform-strategy-brief](../platform-strategy-brief/SKILL.md)
- [caption-writer](../../content/caption-writer/SKILL.md)
- [cross-promotion-pitch](../cross-promotion-pitch/SKILL.md)