Instagram hashtags are words or phrases preceded by # that categorize your post and make it discoverable to people who search or follow that hashtag. When you add #AustinRestaurants to a post, anyone searching or following that hashtag can find you.
For local businesses, specific hashtags outperform generic ones. #food has over 500 million posts. Yours disappears in seconds. #AustinTexMex has thousands of posts and the people following it live in your area. That is the audience that matters.
A good hashtag strategy for a local business: 3-5 location-based tags (your city plus your business type), 3-5 niche tags (your specialty or cuisine), and 2-3 community tags (your neighborhood or local business group). Keep the total under 15 per post.
Hashtags on review posts work the same way. When you share a Google review on Instagram with relevant local hashtags, people searching for businesses in your area can discover you through the review. See how to promote your business on Instagram for free.