Hashtags are the gateway to Instagram, providing a way to tap into trends, styles and communities. They’re also a vital element in increasing brand awareness, ensuring that content reaches the right audiences.
While general menswear hashtags like #mensfashion and #ootmen are useful for brands looking to grow their reach, particularly those just beginning their Instagram journey, more specific product, moment or audience-based hashtags will help build an engaged follower base.
For example, our research identified ‘Dapper Gents’ as one of the fastest growing menswear communities on Instagram, a group sharing smart styles, tailoring and heritage-inspired fashion with a contemporary edge. Conversations around the community’s core hashtags, such as #dapper and #gentleman, have grown 24% in recent years.
This community’s content also attracted greater engagement than any other niche segment we identified in our research. Yet surprisingly, no major UK menswear brand has appropriated this language to date, a missed opportunity. One strategy menswear brands are leveraging successfully is influencer outreach. A poll by influencer marketplace Tomoson found that US businesses, for example, are making $6.50 from every $1 spent on influencer marketing. As a result, collaborating with these individuals is essential, not only for attracting new audiences and growing reach but for boosting the ROI of social media marketing.
In response, brands are becoming increasingly savvy at nurturing their relationships with influencers.
They harness their reach and social media influence in many ways, from recruiting ambassadors to collaborating with bloggers on products themselves. HUGO BOSS scored some of its greatest engagement on Instagram by working with blogger Adam Gallagher (@iamgalla), who boasts more than two million followers on the platform. Gallagher regularly collaborates with companies, including Longines and Schwarzkopf, looking to leverage his stylish, cosmopolitan personal brand.
