Bennett Creative

Forgot to flip the camera around. Oh well. We're a video marketing agency in Austin. Even experts make mistakes.

A little birdie told me...the hashtag game has completely changed 😅 Here's how:

Hashtags aren't as impactful as they used to be. Instagram has evolved into a search engine that crawls your entire piece of content for keywords.

To get your videos suggested in search and on the Explore page, you need to optimize your Instagram SEO with:
1️⃣ Keyword-Rich Captions
2️⃣ On-Screen Text & Audio
3️⃣ Fewer Hashtags

Treat hashtags like category labels, not reach drivers. Stick to 3–5 highly specific, niche tags instead of a spammy block of 30.

What are your thoughts on using hashtags in 2026? Let us know in the comments!