For more than a decade, hashtags were the currency of Instagram reach. Slap on 10-15 tags and your post could land on new feeds, rack up likes, and even go viral. But in 2025, the hashtag era is over.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has been blunt about hashtags’ decline. In multiple interviews, he’s stated:
“ They don’t work! I’ll tell you that.”
And in another message:
“ Hashtags help with categorisation, but not distribution.”
Translation? They don’t get you more reach, followers, or engagement. At best, they just label your content.
The numbers don’t lie
Once considered the magic growth hack, hashtags now deliver less impact:
- A Social Insider study found that Instagram posts with hashtags in the caption have no statistically significant increase in reach or engagement compared to posts without.
- HubSpot data shows that Instagram engagement rates have fallen by more than 30% since 2019 – hashtags haven’t slowed the drop.
- In 2024, Instagram even removed the option to follow hashtags in your feed, a clear signal they’re no longer part of discovery.
Next-level strategy, what actually works now
Instagram’s algorithm has evolved beyond hashtags. What drives visibility in 2025:
- Engagement signals – saves, shares, comments, and watch time are now the strongest predictors of reach.
- SEO-style captions – posts with clear, keyword-rich descriptions rank higher in Instagram search and Explore.
- AI content recognition – the platform now “reads” your images, captions, and even ALT text to categorise posts.
- Format choice – Reels dominate reach, outperforming photos by 2x on average.
So… are hashtags completely dead?
Not 100%. They still:
- Provide lightweight categorisation for topics.
- Can be useful in branded campaigns or live events.
- Support search if users still look for them.
- And on LinkedIn, hashtags can still help surface content, but they work best when limited to a few highly relevant tags.
But as a discovery strategy? They’re less effective than they once were.
So what now?
Hashtags had their moment, but they’re relics of the past for Instagram, their own CEO says so, and the stats back it up.
Instead of chasing hashtags, brands should:
- Focus on content quality and engagement triggers.
- Treat captions like search-optimised micro-blogs.
- Leverage ALT text, geo-tags, and Reels to get picked up by the algorithm.
The hashtag may not rest in peace, but as a growth tool, it’s dead and buried.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.
[For full disclosure: The author used Perplexity to research this article while the podcast was created using ElevenLabs]
Subscribe to our newsletter
News and analysis for Financial Marketers
