TikTok Hashtags. Photo: KnowInsiders
TikTok Hashtags. Photo: KnowInsiders
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TikTok is a video-sharing social media app owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance. Launched in 2017 as the international version of popular Chinese platform Douyin, TikTok quickly rose to global popularity after the acquisition of Musical.ly in 2018. The platform, which was particularly popular in the United States for lip-synced short videos, merged within TikTok in August of 2018. After the acquisition, TikTok not only consolidated its global audience but also increase its first-time installs by almost 400 percent year-over-year, reaching 740 million new users in 2021.

TikTok is jam-packed with content and users, which means that it takes some effort and intention to make your videos stand out from the crowd. That's why TikTok hashtags are an effective way to get more eyes on your videos.

What are TikTok Hashtags?

In simple terms, hashtags are meant to help categorize content on social media. On TikTok, hashtags help the algorithm find content and label them.

Like the other social media platforms, TikTok hashtags are clickable, meaning when users click on them they are able to find all content under the category.

How do hashtags work on TikTok?

While TikTok and Instagram share a love of hashtags, they work a bit differently on the two platforms.

With IG, there’s a limit of 30 hashtags in addition to your caption. You can add around 2200 characters to an Instagram post.

But with TikTok, you have a limit of 100 characters. That includes hashtags!

So, this means you must use a lot fewer hashtags than with IG. And choose them carefully.

You can add hashtags to comments like with IG, but these don’t work as well.

The best bet is to work that caption with short, effective text, and use of a few strategic hashtags.

Why Do Hashtags Matter On TikTok?

Photo: Pinterest
Photo: Pinterest

On TikTok, hashtags matter more than on other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

For starters, TikTok’s algorithm constantly presents users with content from new creators and brands based on what it thinks may be a good match for them.

Publish Tiktok Content Consistently for greater engagement

Its personalized approach means the algorithm determines what content might be of interest to a user, and pushes it to their feed.

The hashtags your brand uses are one of the ways TikTok matches your content to potential new followers in its main newsfeed (“For You”).

Another useful function of hashtags is that they can be used like keywords to help users find the type of content they’re looking for. TikTok users commonly search for hashtags to discover new challenges, contests, and content ideas.

For example, dog lovers might search #dogsoftiktok when they want a pick-me-up.

Brands typically use several hashtags to help their videos reach new people.

For example, dog food brand Chefs and Dogs compliments the above hashtag with several others, such as #dogtreats, #freshfood, and #doglover, to help its content connect with the right audience.

Another common way brands use hashtags on TikTok is to promote their own contests or challenges.

For example, Chipotle’s website encourages users to create TikTok videos showing why their go-to order is the best.

Chipotle customers who post videos with Chipotle’s contest hashtag, #chipotleroyalty, and #contest get a chance to win a place on its digital menu and $10,000 in prizes.

Requiring a branded hashtag for anyone wanting to enter the contest is an excellent way for the company to encourage user-generated content.

TikTok’s unique hashtag challenges can cause viral levels of engagement that sometimes help brands quickly build a massive following.

For example, Colgate’s #makemomsmile Mother’s Day challenge asked users to publish videos of themselves making their moms smile.

Hashtags play a critical role in connecting users with brands on TikTok.

Using strategic hashtags can provide your brand an opportunity to build connections with new people who are always on the lookout for brands that understand and entertain them.

How to Use Hashtags on TikTok

When it comes to using hashtags, it may seem like there’s not much to do. Put together some words, add the hashtag symbol and get going. In reality, though, you need a clear strategy to use hashtags most efficiently.

Here are some tips on how to use hashtags on TikTok:

♦ Find the most relevant hashtags: No matter what your niche is, there are several popular TikTok hashtags to choose from. This makes it even more important to find the most relevant ones.

♦ Build a strong TikTok hashtag strategy: As a business owner, you’re using TikTok to boost your marketing efforts. That’s why it’s important to have a solid hashtag strategy in place.

♦ Creat your own custom hashtag: To stay out of the clutter, you may choose to create your own branded hashtag that’s unique to your business. Of course, it will take more effort to encourage engagement with a personalized hashtag. But it can help you differentiate yourself.

♦ Understand your audience: Which hashtags are most popular with your target audience? How are they using them? These are some questions you need to answer to be able to understand how your audience uses hashtags on the app.

♦ Check out the competition: Your competitor is vying for the same audience’s attention as you are, which makes it essential for you to look out for what they are doing. You don’t have to use the same hashtags, but you’ll be able to find top hashtags for inspiration.

♦ Keep things simple: You may come up with a clever hashtag that your audience finds too complicated to remember. To make sure you don’t miss the point, always remember to create memorable hashtags that are shorter and easier to use.

How Many Hashtags Can You Use On TikTok?

Unlike Instagram, which allows up to 30 hashtags per post, or Twitter, which allows up to 280 characters per tweet, TikTok’s captions typically provided limited space (just 150 characters per caption) to include both messages and hashtags.

Top 100 Hashtags for TikTok in 2022/2023

To make the most of popular hashtags, let’s take a look at the most popular TikTok hashtags this year.

1. #fyp

2. #tiktok

3. #foryoupage

4. #viral

5. #funny

6. #duet

7. #trending

8. #love

9. #memes

10. #cute

11. #comedy

12. #featureme

13. #repost

14. #savagechallenge

15. #tiktokchallenge

16. #new

17. #music

18. #recipe

19. #workout

20. #artist

21. #thisis4u

22. #happy

23. #followme

24. #CoupleGoals

25. #mexico

26. #gaming

27. #prank

28. #bts

29. #explore

30. #anime

31. #cat

32. #youhaveto

33. #quotes

34. #lifestyle

35. #motivation

36. #uk

37. #cooking

38. #photography

39. #tiktokindia

40. #dancer

41. #5mincraft

42. #viralvideos

43. #slowmo

44. #fashion

45. #weirdpets

46. #korea

47. #weightloss

48. #jobtips

49. #fitness

50. #gym

Photo: Pinterest
Photo: Pinterest

51. #newrecipe

52. #diycraft

53. #lifehack

54. #singing

55. #5minworkout

56. #mentalhealth

57. #basketball

58. #art

59. #storytime

60. #football

61. #nofilter

62. #life

63. #selfie

64. #model

65. #beach

66. #nyc

67. #baby

68. #funnyvideos

69. #nature

70. #howto

71. #animals

72. #beautiful

73. #like

74. #youhaveto

75. #behindthescenes

76. #dancelove

77. #featureme

78. #ootd

79. #tiktokfamous

80. #tiktoktrend

81. #amazing

82. #inspiration

83. #followfor

84. #followforfollow

85. #cool

86. #home

87. #drawing

88. #likeforfollow

89. #justforfun

90. #beautyblogger

91. #tiktokbrasil

92. #couplegoals

93. #usa

94. #foodie

95. #dadsoftiktok

96. #momsoftiktok

97. #soccer

98. #happyathome

99. #healthtips

100. #blooper

How to Find More of the Best TikTok Hashtags

Given the importance of hashtags, you need to be able to find the best ones for your campaigns. Here are some tips that can come in handy when you are looking for the best Tiktok hashtags:

Observe user behavior: The first thing to do is to study TikTok users’ hashtag habits. You will be able to get some inspiration and also find the popular hashtags.

Study competition: For inspiration, you should also look at the competition. There will be some content hashtags that most of your competitors might be using. You can use these and related hashtags that you may consider using as well.

Check influencers: Another way to find top trending hashtags is to observe the ones popularized by influencers in your domain such as collaborating with them. Find out how to duet someone on TikTok to take full advantage of any collaborations.

TikTok Hashtags: Branded Hashtag Challenges

Photo: TikTok
Photo: TikTok

While we’ve already seen hashtag challenges go viral on Instagram and Twitter, like the #icebucketchallenge and the #mannequinchallenge, we’ve never seen so many challenges hit viral status quite like they do on TikTok.

Branded hashtag challenges are an incredible way for brands to generate new leads and grow brand awareness on TikTok, fast!

And you don’t even have to sponsor a branded hashtag challenge for it to go viral. That’s the beauty of TikTok — even organic TikTok content can get millions of views overnight.

An example of a smart branded hashtag challenge was E.L.F Cosmetics #eyeslipsface challenge. This challenge went viral, organically catching the eye of millions including Lizzo, Jessica Alba, and Ellen Degeneres.

Eyes, Lips, Face is one of the most viral TikTok campaigns ever, garnering over 3 million user-generated videos and passing over 5 billion views. E.L.F Cosmetics’ original TikTok sound was so popular they even released it as a track on Spotify — racking up over 20 million streams.

Hashtag challenges on Tiktok aren’t always associated with a brand. Take the #fliptheswitch challenge for example. This challenge was influenced by Drake’s song “Nonstop” because of the lyrics “I just flipped the switch.”

That challenge went viral, taking TikTok over with a storm. Celebrities like JLo and A-Rod and the cast of SNL even took to their feed to take part.

And if you want to supercharge your reach, you can always partner with on-brand TikTok influencers to see if they can create content for your hashtag challenge.

Alternatively, you could invest in a TikTok Ads strategy.

When you see branded TikTok hashtag challenges on the top banner on TikTok’s Discover page, it means they used TikTok Ads to have their challenge featured there. If you have the means, this is an incredible way to reach a huge audience on TikTok.

Take Guess’ #InMyDenim campaign for example. Guess used TikTok to promote their Fall’18 Denim Fit collection, encouraging the TikTok community to transform their style by wearing Guess denim to the soundtrack of Bebe Rexh’s “I’m a Mess.”

The #InMyDenim ad campaign included a brand takeover on the app welcome screen, as well as 4 influencer partnership videos to demo the concept and reach more users.

During the 6-day campaign period, #InMyDenim realized over 5.5K user-generated videos, 10.5M video views, 14.3% engagement rate, and over 12K additional followers for Guess’ account on TikTok.

ICYMI: TikTok’s “Hashtag Challenge Plus” lets users shop for products right in TikTok. Learn more about this exciting feature here.

If you have the opportunity to attach your business or brand to a creative TikTok challenge, do so! Think of all the thousands of people that will associate that challenge with your brand. The opportunities are endless.

How to reach the most people with hashtags on TikTok

The secret sauce to maximizing your reach with hashtags is to mix popular hashtags with niche ones. As mentioned above, this spicy brew will help you reach both broad and narrow audiences.

Canadian sketch comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes is trying to maximize the reach of their videos with both the wide-reaching #canada hashtag, and one that zooms in on the topic of this sketch: #potatoes.

On the one hand, with top TikTok hashtags, you’ll get more people searching for the term… but you’ll also be just one post among many. Niche hashtags might have fewer people searching for them, but you can bet the people who are looking for #sonicthehedgehogfanart are going to be thrilled to discover your content.

How to save hashtags for future use

Find yourself using the same hashtags over and over again? Save time by saving your faves in the notes app on your phone so you can simply copy and paste them into your caption for your next video.

If you’re sharing different types of content that each have their own set of use-specific hashtags, make a few different lists that cover all your bases: one list for your how-to videos, one for your behind-the-scenes content, and so on.

TikTok is Banned in India

When it was banned in India, TikTok had 200 million active users in the Indian market. However, due to a border dispute with China, India decided to ban TikTok, as well as 200 other apps of Chinese origin. Many Indian creators lost their main source of income as a result. ByteDance already had established offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, and had plans to invest upwards of $1 billion in the local Indian market. Since then, TikTok has tried multiple times to negotiate with the government, but to no avail. With little headway, the company eventually decided to move away from the Indian market.

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