A bakery post needs at most five hashtags on Instagram: two or three for what is in the photo (#Sourdough, #CinnamonRolls), one for your town (#LeedsBakery), and your own name as a tag. Tags for what you baked today beat a fixed list of thirty, which Instagram no longer allows anyway.
The hashtags worth using for a bakery
What you bake
Pick the two or three that match what is in this post's photo. A loaf post and a cake post should not carry the same tags.
Where you are
One tag joining your town or neighbourhood to what you do. This is the tag that reaches people who could walk in this week.
The pattern: #[Town]Bakery or #[Town]Eats
- Portland: #PortlandBakery #PortlandEats
- Bristol: #BristolBakery #BristolFood
- Melbourne: #MelbourneBakery #MelbourneEats
Your own tag
Your bakery's name as one tag on every post, and on the card by the till so customers use it when they post your bread.
For example: #HollowOakBakery
Five tags for one real post
The post: “Sourdough is back on Saturdays. First loaves out at 8.”
What the post shows, where the business is, and its own name. Five tags, each one earning its place.
Tags to skip
- #food, #foodporn, #yummy. So big your post is buried within seconds, and the people browsing them are not choosing a bakery near them.
- #bakery on its own, every time. Fine now and then, but on its own it says less than #Sourdough or #PortlandBakery. Spend the slot on something a nearby customer would search.
- #GlutenFree, #Vegan when it isn't. Customers with allergies and diets follow these tags. Only use them on a post about a bake that really is gluten free or vegan.
Seasonal tags
- February: #ValentinesCookies #ValentinesCake
- Easter: #HotCrossBuns #EasterBaking
- Autumn: #PumpkinBread #AppleSeason
- November (US): #ThanksgivingPies #PieSeason
- December: #ChristmasCookies #GingerbreadHouse
Only on posts that are about that season. A Christmas tag on a plain Tuesday loaf is noise.
More for your bakery
- Post ideas for a bakery, each with a finished example post.
- How posthell runs social media for a bakery, from one note a week.
- Hashtag counter to check a caption before you post it.