Question 1

What are hashtag tiers?

Accepted Answer

Hashtag popularity tiers — tags with millions of posts (mega) are too competitive for small accounts to rank in. Tags with hundreds to low-thousands of posts (micro / niche) are easier to rank in but reach fewer people. A balanced mix between tiers performs best.

Question 2

What's the ideal mix?

Accepted Answer

Common guidance: 5-10 niche (under 100k posts), 10-15 medium (100k-1M), 5-10 large (1M-10M), 0-3 mega (10M+). The exact ratio depends on your account size — smaller accounts benefit from more niche tags.

Question 3

How does the post count get used?

Accepted Answer

You provide the post count for each hashtag (look it up on Instagram). The tool buckets each tag into a tier and shows the distribution. You can paste the data however you have it.

Tier	Post count	Best for
Mega	10M+	Established accounts (50k+); won't rank with smaller accounts
Large	1M – 10M	Mid-size accounts (10k-50k); some impressions from feed discovery
Medium	100K – 1M	Sweet spot for most accounts; rankable, discoverable
Niche	10K – 100K	Highly engaged audiences; great for new accounts
Micro	under 10K	Branded / community / unique tags; rankable but small reach

Instagram Hashtag Mix Optimizer

The popularity tier system

Recommended mix by account size

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