I’ve been running marketing for 20+ years, and I still remember the moment I realized “traditional” was about to get lapped. By day, I was at an ad agency doing radio and TV. By night, my wife (now my co-founder + creative director) and I were hustling as nightclub promoters/DJs trying to revive a venue that was beautiful but empty.
We turned to the first social platform I ever used: MySpace. With a $0 budget, we leaned on pure creativity, graphics, digital flyers, and messages that cut through the noise. It worked. We went from an empty room to a packed house, and it attracted vendors, partners, bands, and other nightlife promoters, too. While a lot of agencies dismissed social as a trend, I watched it fill a room in real time. That’s when I knew: social wasn’t a “nice-to-have.” It was the future.
Fast forward to today, social media runs the world. But I still see business owners using outdated “growth hacks” that quietly hurt their brand. The biggest one? The Myth of the Hashtag
There’s a stubborn belief that dropping 20–30 hashtags at the bottom of a post is a shortcut to going viral. It’s not. On most platforms today, that wall of tags you add doesn’t expand your reach; it can dilute your signal.
Social platforms have evolved into sophisticated search engines. Not all hashtags are equal, and not all of them help your content get found. Fewer people browse hashtags the way they used to, and plenty of top-performing brands barely use them (or skip them entirely).
If you’re going to use hashtags, be intentional. A simple, balanced approach:
So, how do you actually find those specific tags without spending hours guessing? Over the years, I've developed a streamlined process utilizing AI and digital resources to do the heavy lifting.
Step 1: Let AI Brainstorm Your Niche.
Before you even open a social media app, use an AI tool like ChatGPT to kickstart your research. You can paste your product details or content ideas into the prompt and simply ask it to generate a list of keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and relevant hashtag ideas. This acts as your brainstorming buddy to give you terms you might not have thought of.
Step 2: Validate Using Native Search Bars.
Once you have your AI-generated list, take those keywords and plug them into the search bar of the platform you are using (like Instagram or TikTok). Toggle over to the "Hashtags" or "Tags" section in the search results. This will show you exactly what users are typing in, as well as the view count and post volume for each tag.
Step 3: Analyze Your "Underdog" Competitors.
Here is a brilliant hack: look for competitors in your industry who have a low follower count but unusually high engagement. If they have a small audience but their videos are blowing up, it means they are ranking exceptionally well in search. Go to their profile, filter for their most popular posts, and steal their hashtag strategy.
Step 4: Tap into Specialized Tools.
If you want to dig even deeper into the data, use free platforms like the TikTok Creative Center. It has a "Trends" section where you can search for trending hashtags by industry, timeframe, or recency, and it provides detailed insights like interest over time. Modern AI hashtag tools like Flick, RiteTag, Brandwatch, and Postiv AI have shifted from simple tag generation to sophisticated Social SEO, helping creators and enterprises align their content with platform-specific algorithms and real-time audience intent.
Step 5: Filter for the "Sweet Spot".
Now, filter your list to fit our formula. You are looking for the "sweet spot". Throw out the massive, overly broad hashtags where competition is too high, and ignore the dead tags that have no volume. Pick your 2 to 3 trending tags, 2 to 3 specific niche tags, and your 1 branded tag.
Finally, make sure you position these hashtags at the end of your video's caption, not hidden in the comments, to ensure the algorithm indexes them properly for maximum visibility.
Just like in the MySpace days, the secret to a packed house isn't about gaming the system with spam. It’s about combining bold creativity with a strategic understanding of the platform.
Stop chasing reach. Start building resonance. That’s how you turn views into trust, and trust into growth.