Jim Edwards and Stew Smith discuss the importance of using hashtags in social media posts – not only for marketing, but to streamline your own use to save time scrolling. Understanding how to use them and how they differ from keywords is important. Watch Jim walk through the FREE Hashtag Scraper (http://www.hashtagscraper.com), a fun toy to play with when making posts.
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Jim Edwards: Hey everybody, Jim Edwards here.
Welcome back to the Sales Copywriting and Content Marketing Hacks Podcast…
I’m your host Jim Edwards along with my trusty co-host Mr. Stew Smith.
Welcome Stew!
Stew Smith: Hello sir. How are you?
Jim Edwards: I am fantabulous, and for those of you who are joining us on the podcast if you’re not a member of the sales, copywriting content marketing hacks group on Facebook, you are wrong!
You are missing out!
You are cheating your children!
Stew Smith: Yeah, you get to see this LIVE!
Jim Edwards: Yeah, the ones about even the ones you don’t know about,
Your cheating them!
Stew Smith: You get to see this in live action.
Jim Edwards: Because you can see us in live action, be able to interact with us be able to get your questions answered.
And overall have a really cool time, and you’re dull and boring life that we can bring some titillation to your existence…
That’s right!
I said titillation!
If you think it’s a bad word, look it up, and you’ll be surprised.
So yeah, look that up on Google.
Let me know what comes up. So…
Stew Smith: Google Images!
Jim Edwards: Google… Google Images.
Anyway, anywho…
Before I let’s do drag me down into the gutter of my own mind.
Let’s talk about hashtags today.
Stew Why do hashtags matter?
Because all hashtags matter!
Stew Smith: Yes, they really do…
I mean, if you if you’re not really familiar with social media, you won’t understand why there’s a hashtag, you’ll think it’s just a pound sign.
But, but if you’re, but if you’re familiar with social media, pound sign has gotten taken over by this term hashtag.
And it’s just the pound sign.
For you old school, folks.
Jim Edwards: Yeah, that that has caused a little confusion in the past.
And I feel like, pound Me too.
I mean that that one took a little explanation.
Stew Smith: Oh, that’s funny…
Hashtag.
Jim Edwards: Yeah, that was that was a little rough, but we do our best, but so. What’s the difference between…
to you what’s the difference between a hashtag and a keyword?
And then I’ll give my thoughts on that if you don’t answer it right.
Stew Smith: Well, good question or keywords really for search engines…
But think of the Hashtag as a search engine label for social media so if I post something on my Instagram and I put Hashtag Stew Smith fitness people who follow Stew Smith fitness can see, all the related posts to that or buy tactical fitness or, it’s just organizes those posts in something, in a smaller world, so you don’t have to scroll through everybody that you follow…
Regular posts, you can be, really focused in on one topic…
So, it could be swimming, could be running could be calisthenics, could be weightlifting…
Jim Edwards: Maybe unicorns.
Stew Smith: Could be Yeah, it can be Navy could be Army?
Yeah, it could be water
Jim Edwards: I’m sensing a theme here…
So, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
Stew Smith: Yes…
Jim Edwards: All that you can be in Army…
Stew Smith: But anyway, not everybody’s looking for Navy Stew
So, they would look for army stuff…
And if you have a hashtag in Army that and you have a post that is relatable to folks that are in Army or want to go in Army, it will help bring them in that if they’re searching their social media using the army hashtag…
Jim Edwards: So, to what you saw…
Stew Smith: And you can follow hashtags now.
Jim Edwards: Exactly!
That’s a big thing, especially Instagram, especially you can follow hashtags.
So, keywords, like you said pretty much are for search engines, it’s, you want to come up under this keyword in the search engine.
That’s what people are looking for.
There are all sorts of Voodoo and nonsense around that black hat thing that we just don’t even bother with.
And by the way, I was vice President for a rather large search engine promotion company back in 2000 2001.
So, I know that biz, the thing is that a keyword pretty much never changes.
If you think about, how to do more push-ups, if that was a keyword phrase, that’s pretty much not going to change as far as people wanting that, I wanted to know how to do more push-ups 30 some odd years ago.
And so, and 30 years from now, people are going to want to know how to do more push-ups, but things like push up, hashtag push up challenge, or something.
A hashtag is more also not just a way for people to search social media, but you, as a marketer, a way to kind of keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on in your market.
Because if tons of people are searching for Hashtag, do more pull-ups versus Hashtag do more push-ups or Hashtag, I don’t know, spring train for marathon or something, those things are going to change over the course of seasons and things like that, get Hashtag drop weight in the spring…
I mean, I’m just throwing that stuff out there…
Stew Smith: Right…
Jim Edwards: It’s interesting to see how popular some hashtags are versus another.
And you want to focus on the ones that are super popular because that’s going to show you what most people are looking for.
Plus, if you focus on some hashtags that aren’t quite as popular, but are very focused, then you’re going to be able to find people that are more focused and more much more pinpoint targeted to what you’re doing.
Somebody…
Stew Smith: And If you crowd that Hashtag, you’ll be the main guy in that Hashtag.
Jim Edwards: When you say crowd that Hashtag, What do you mean?
Stew Smith: I mean…
Jim Edwards: Excuse me, Mr. Popular lingo man what does that mean!
Stew Smith: What I mean by that is like if you find something that is not like you said, a hashtag that’s not very popular…
But your post that in multiple posts, you’re going to be when someone searches that Hashtag, you’re going to be the main guy in that Hashtag…
Right?
Jim Edwards: Okay…
Stew Smith: If you can, if you can find that, that Hashtag like that…
No, the way I look at hashtags, too, is you can immediately take a post being cold traffic to warm and hot traffic.
If you think about it.
Jim Edwards: Okay, how so?
Stew Smith: Well, if I make a post, just a regular post, there will be people that will maybe scroll right over that post because they’re not necessarily looking for what I’m posting, right, the information that I’m posting. However, you put a hashtag on that, and they are now scrolling hashtags…
It’d be a little bit different…
A little bit different response to that like I said it’s a different level of traffic…
Jim Edwards: So, Kevin, who’s watching us live, said, can you have too many hashtags?
And I think once you get up around 40 or 50, or whatever, I’m I don’t know how many Instagram likes you have on …
Stew Smith: There is a limit.
Jim Edwards: It’s like 40 or something I don’t I do not know at this moment, okay?!
Stew Smith: Yeah.
Jim Edwards: But the strategy that seems to work the best is to have to go after some hashtags that are like super popular, and then some that are medium popular and some that aren’t real popular that you could kind of dominate or that you want to kind of grow and have a range.
So, for example, Stew…
Stew Smith: Yes.
Jim Edwards: Correct me if I’m wrong but I’ll use you as an example.
So, let’s say you did a post on, five mistakes in an article or video five mistakes people make trying to become a navy seal.
Just something like that.
Then you can use a hashtag Navy, hashtag Navy SEAL, hashtag buds, hashtag tactical fitness, hashtag pre buds training, hashtag…
You see what makes
Stew Smith: Mistakes Hashtag running swimming…
Jim Edwards: The spec ops mistakes running swimming mistakes…
Stew Smith: Yep…
Jim Edwards: And so, you kind of cast the net, were some broad some, not some real focus real laser-focused.
And you’re able to, to use those to try and pull different people that that might be interested or might not or might not know they’re interested or might trip across it and say, Oh, I know somebody I can share this with.
So I would tell you not to pick, the 10 absolutely most popular hashtags and only focus on those because it’s possible to get lost in the noise and a lot of times if someone finds you from one Hashtag…
Another way that hashtags work is when people read them, they’ll see the hashtags that you have in there.
And in their mind, it’ll categorize what they’re seeing as well.
So, if they’re not searching for it, but somebody says, like, look again, the next thing back to Stew’s example, let’s say somebody is looking for push up help…
And then they see pre buds training, they find it, Hashtag push up, do more push-ups, do more pull-ups, and then they see another hashtag that says pre buds, or hashtag Navy SEAL training…
In their mind, it might say, Oh, this is the real deal.
They might not have any interest in being a navy seal.
But it cements in their mind what this is about.
It’s almost like it’s a branding thing.
And I know from personal experience, like with Stew stuff, part of the reasons why I gravitated towards Stew initially was because I found him through Go Ruck.
But then when I saw that he was training all the spec-ops guys, I was like, Okay, well, I’m never going to be a navy seal.
But someone who trains people who become Navy SEALs could really help a fat 40 something guy get in shape.
You see what I mean?
So, it’s also a branding thing.
It’s a search thing.
It’s a keep your finger on the pulse thing.
It’s a branding thing.
It’s an identity thing.
It’s a whole bunch of different stuff.
It’s more than just keywords.
Stew Smith: Yeah, absolutely.
It keeps you relevant.
But it also, it really is a great way to grow your social media followers, because people will find you because of those hashtags because they’re using hashtags to save time on social media.
Jim Edwards: Absolutely!
Stew Smith: Yeah.
Jim Edwards: So, what if we were to dominate straight a cool little piece of software that would help you be able to find hashtags.
And hashtags you could potentially target.
Do you think that would be cool, Stew?!
Stew Smith: I think that’d be great, Jim!
Jim Edwards: Let’s do it!
Let’s go check out Hashtag Scraper!
Stew Smith: But wait, there’s more!
Jim Edwards: But wait, there’s more!
So, hashtag scraper is a little piece of software that you can actually get for free from me.
The basic version of it, you go to HashtagScraper.com, you can get it.
And let’s do an example.
What would be a topic that we could do?
Stew Smith: Let’s hashtag, Hashtag.
Jim Edwards: So, okay, so it’ll search hashtags on Instagram and Twitter.
I’m going to turn off the Twitter.
And so, this will let you look…
and this way too many Hashtags…
sorry for the hashtags.
So, this will show you on Instagram, hashtags that people are related hashtags that people are searching for, you can sort them alphabetically, and you can sort them by score.
So, this is probably people who don’t know anything about hashtags who are just putting in Hashtag.
And, and whatever I can tell you that, hashtags, hashtags, Jen hashtags for days.
So, I mean, I don’t even know why the hell you would do this.
Stew Smith: I don’t know either.
Let’s do this, but great.
I’m going to show you how you can see what people are posting related to hashtags because if we click on Instagram here, it loads Instagram and it shows remember Stew said you can see what people are, you can follow a hashtag.
So, in this case, people are just, this is just general hashtag crap.
I mean, I’m scared to scroll because Lord knows what’s going to come up.
Stew Smith: Never know what’s going to show up.
I do like this, though.
Um, but this person is targeting.
I don’t even know what it doesn’t say that that’s not a good example.
Let’s do something else.
All right, this is a lot of hashtags, hashtags for likes.
When I’m looking to see if anybody’s actually even putting in that Hashtag in their post.
Yeah, I think it’s jacked.
Yeah.
Stew Smith: Okay, so let’s go to something like everybody needs.
Jim Edwards: Okay, so let’s put in, you want to do push-ups?
Stew Smith: Yeah, sure.
Okay!
Jim Edwards: Now that could be the popsicle.
It could be a bra.
It could be Oh, oh, yes, you told me to put my mind in the gutter
Stew Smith: I didn’t think about that.
Jim Edwards: Push-Ups work.
Push-Ups variation.
Push-Ups suck.
I’ll go with that.
Stew Smith: Era ones.
Jim Edwards: What is like the most popular one is push-ups.
All right, then push-ups every day.
Push-ups for days push up a challenge that’s pretty popular.
Okay, you could build a business around that you’ve got a bunch of stuff around a push-up challenge, right, your two weeks push.
Yeah, you could rebrand that as a push-ups challenge.
Like, push up variation.
Push up daily push-ups anywhere anytime.
So, if we do this, I bet we’re going to see a bunch of buff guys doing push-ups.
Okay, well 1 2 3 4, it takes five of them to see anybody doing a friggin push-up.
That one that I’ve done that with bands that kind of sucks.
Stew Smith: Yes.
Jim Edwards: Just saying, but look, look at these people that are focused on this keyword.
But they’re not…
Stew Smith: Not necessarily doing push-ups
Jim Edwards: Not necessarily doing push-ups.
So…
Stew Smith: Yeah, they don’t push up.
They’re just used.
Jim Edwards: Yeah, they’re just use it as a, they’re just using it as a hashtag, but somebody is really interested in the push-up stuff.
That would be one I would actually go after, and I would mix it in with a bunch of other ones too.
Stew Smith: Let’s do one, put sales copy in there…
Jim Edwards: Okay, well, let me just show people real quick…
What you can do then is you can copy these and then in your text editor.
Stew Smith: There you go!
Jim Edwards: You’ve got them all there so you can build it and when you go to HashtagScraper.com and claim this for free.
On the next page, we make a one-time offer for something called tag post wizard, which will not only help you do more advanced searches, save your searches, but you can actually post Instagram right from within the software…
So it’s pretty rocking.
So bottom line there’s couple different ways you can do it but if you do copy and copy as a group, if you do the copy as a group, then you can just paste that right into your post in Instagram so there there’s all there that’s where they all are.
But I would if I was going after that I would come down here a little bit look, push upstand.
If I had a push-up stand or if I was doing like, our mutual friend, Alden, who I met through you, the inventor of the perfect push up.
Stew Smith: Um, yeah, that’d be a good.
Jim Edwards: Yeah, that’d be a good one for Hashtag push upstand and all this other stuff.
And I think when you get down in these numbers, you got a real good chance of Stew Smith: Of owning it.
Jim Edwards: Of owning it!
And the big thing is, there’s somebody with a push-up Stand data NAB won this guy’s just a narcissist.
Um, but look how they’re, these three push up variations…
Look how many of these guys look at all those hearts and stuff…
Look at all those hearts.
And then down here, what’s the difference?
I mean, these guys just said.
But look here.
These have some sort of these are almost like infographic
Stew Smith: Yeah that’s all they are,
Jim Edwards: So that would make me think okay what if I came up with some infographics related to push-ups stands that would help really convey the benefits of it.
You could really use this as a basis of doing some cool stuff, so you want to do one more?
Stew Smith: Sure.
Jim Edwards: And then we’ll see if anybody’s got any questions.
So, what would be another topic? Are you looking at the comments?
Stew Smith: No.
Jim Edwards: Let’s look at comments.
And the design hashtags were one thing.
Oh, we’ll answer that one, Kevin.
Okay, so let’s say a topic that I’m working on right now.
Why people don’t buy, I’m just, nope.
Okay, increase conversion.
That’s not real, but it increases conversion rates.
Mean increased conversions…
That’s 796…
Let’s see what kind of stuff in there…
And what you want to look at also is not only I mean this one’s got 1000 Why?
Look at this email marketing…
Okay, so, but you can look at this one, email marketing, why email campaigns?
So, they gave me a little tip.
Oh, interesting.
Stew Smith: Good hashtags.
Jim Edwards: Yeah…
So, you can also use it.
Stew Smith: Click mint marketing, just see how many followers I have…
Because to get that many likes, you probably have quite a bit of follower know, damn, pretty good…
Now they use hashtags to get that many likes.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
Jim Edwards: So that would make me go, okay.
Email Marketing…
Look at that, how many hashtag email marketing tips, email marketing strategies.
I mean that, I could get into this one.
Do you know what I mean?
Stew Smith: Sure.
Jim Edwards: So, you can use them they’re also like breadcrumbs to… What in the world is “duck lips” doing here under email marketing?!
What in the hell is going on with that?!
It makes no sense whatsoever!!!
Oh, it’s like…!
Stew Smith: I’m not sure man, not sure.
Jim Edwards: What the hell?!
Anyway, but these are you notice, oh look is your boy Gary Vee!
Stew Smith: Yeah, I like him.
Jim Edwards: But again these are giving me ideas too about little infographic type things, and just looking at these, this is giving me ideas actually for my book.
That’s it that’s something we didn’t say before what are hashtags and stuff, they’re also breadcrumbs.
They lead you from one thing to the next and to the next and to the next…
And again you can see we started with that one hashtag thing, that one hashtag.
And it led us to another to another to another.
Right.
So, let’s see, we got some questions here real quick.
And then we’re going to wrap this up.
Do you design hashtags based on what you think your audience is typing into a search engine?
Or is the algorithm guessing based on what they’re looking for versus what you’re offering?
I just look at the numbers, I look at the numbers and how many posts are using that hashtag.
And then what you do is you go through, and you see, there’s a crap ton of hashtags for this email marketing, there’s a crap ton of posts that have this hashtag.
And then you want to go through and kind of see what kind of posts people are making and what kind of reaction they’re getting…
And then you can also look at other hashtags, but I mean, this one’s, 1000 1500 likes and 100 comments.
Couple thousand, that’s what’s possible in here. Why?
Let’s see this could this might they might be using this hashtag, but it has nothing to do with where her actual things are coming from.
This is probably more of the social media marketing thing, and if you look at the comments oh you’re so cute, so beautiful, so bullshit!
And then that’s they’re coming not from that hashtag but obviously this one, and he’s got his hashtags and stuff like that and consultant, digital marketing, all this other stuff.
Again, that’s why you can use more than one hashtag.
But you also want to, if there’s the shotgun approach, and there’s a sniper approach, and I wouldn’t I would advise using both.
Stew Smith: Yeah.
Jim Edwards: But they don’t charge extra, for using hashtags…
So there you go,
Stew Smith: I tend to, if I write a decent amount of content for a post, I tend to pull out all the big words that I’ve used maybe consistency, fitness, training, push-ups, swimming, running, whatever I used in the content to make those hashtags.
On the back end and then also add in some of my own like Stew Smith fitness, Stew Smith…
Jim Edwards: There’s, and there’s more write your own branding tags.
So, somebody might say, “Oh, let me follow Stew Smith fitness hashtag Stew Smith fitness, and it’ll be less crowded.”
It’s almost like you want to bring them to your own personal Hashtag.
Um, the big thing Though, you notice that I wasn’t saying, “Oh, this Hashtag is going to make you rich.”
It’s like the Hashtag leads the way.
And then once we started seeing the hashtags, and the posts that were coming up under those hashtags, and we start analyzing those actual posts, what does the picture…
What’s the hook in the picture?
Is it an infographic?
Is it a tip?
Does it have an article?
Is it just designed for people to go?
Ah you so cute?
As opposed to “Wow, that’s some useful information” now with us, and people go. Oh, it’s so handsome, and he gives us great information.
Let me subscribe to through Smith fitness.
We know it’s a burden, but a guy got to live with it.
So, Kevin says this is cool. Installed the software. Messing with it now.
Okay.
Go to hashtag scraper calm and download your free copy today.
Make sure you take the one time offer. How, do we know which hashtag is most people using the hashtag versus just the most post?
And that’s I just answered that.
I’ve typed that question before I learned your hashtag scrapers.
Legit love it cool.
Okay, so let’s sum this up.
The biggest thing to understand with hashtags is that they’re, they’re more like a way they’re talked about several things.
They’re unlike keywords.
They’re a way to take a pulse of what’s popular right now and trending on social media.
They are also a way for you to brand yourself.
They are a way for you to put your message in front of people who don’t know who you are yet.
It’s a way for people to add you to subscribe to something to basically a feed of things related to that particular topic.
So, it’s a way to organize the way to leave if I said breadcrumbs already.
I’m going to say it again, but it’s a way that one hashtag leads to another leads to another.
So, it’s they’re just, they’re a dynamic, organic way for you to categorize your content and help people to find you…
I don’t think that if Instagram, it’s like, they let you use 40, but they’ll penalize you for doing it.
It’s like such bullshit when people say things like that, it’s like, if they give you 40 and you want to use 40, then use them.
Who cares?
Test it and see what happens.
It’s not like they’re charging you by the post, right?
Put your picture up, put up something cool, put in some hashtags.
See what the hell happens?
Take it easy chuckles!
It’s not like you’re going to make one post and become a millionaire becoming I had somebody in the helpdesk who got the free version of the software didn’t take the upsell or any of the training or anything.
And then they came in to help desk and said, is it to an effect?
Is it possible to do it? Choose the right hashtags and post once and to become an Instagram superstar overnight?
And I’m like for real?!
Is this a legit question?!
Are you really serious?!
And they didn’t know kind of answered it and stuff.
I said, No, this is a process.
I mean, if anybody I know Stew’s the biggest Instagram star of anybody, I know personally.
Let’s see how many followers do has, as of this moment, Stew has 44,000 followers.
And he’s only following 1092, so it’s not like it’s the tit for tat follow game.
And he also has almost 3500 posts.
And it looks to me like you post basically every day or twice a day.
Stew Smith: Once or twice.
Jim Edwards: He’s so sexy!
Look at some of these pics, and he’s getting 1100 likes 1200 likes, or this one has 666 likes.
I’m going to like that.
This just saw the damn number will change.
Stew Smith: Oh, thank you!
Jim Edwards: You’re welcome.
Stew Smith: I found that ads don’t get likes.
It’s got to be a picture of somebody doing something gets more likes.
So, like, if I saw a picture of a book up there, not many likes.
Jim Edwards: Yeah.
But yeah, you got to throw those in there.
Well, yeah, because some people are going to want to know more about Ya!
Right?
Cool.
All right, well, that’s all we got…
So, if you guys, you folks and say guys anymore, I need to get a PC dictionary.
You remember, in the 70s, when Jimmy Carter became president, and they came out with this book called How to Speak Southern?
Stew Smith: Yeah,
Jim Edwards: I had that book.
I thought it was hilarious.
Stew Smith: It was pretty funny. And his brother Billy.
Jim Edwards: Yeah, Billy.
Stew Smith: Billy beer.
Jim Edwards: Billy beer.
Yeah.
I might have to think about that.
So, okay.
So, if you’re not a member, The Jim Edwards method premium you should be because we have tons of cool software and wizards and other stuff that will help you to create amazing content.
You’re not a member of Funnel Scripts. You should be because Funnel Scripts will help you write all the copy you need for your funnels.
If you’re not a member of the Sales, Copywriting Content Marketing Hacks Facebook group you should be, and that’s free, by the way, and you can join a community of like-minded folks, and you can see us do this life, which is always a hoot.
And I violated my two months old pledge of not any cursing in my videos or podcasts.
I apologize for that today.
It’s okay, I will do.
I will do my best to do better in the future.
And ain’t happen.
So, Stew, any final words for the folks?
Stew Smith: No, that was fun.
Get creative with your hashtags.
If we’re going to talk about a theme here, talk about creativity, talk about hashtags, get creative with both
Jim Edwards: There you go.
Stew Smith: Jeff just asked where do I get a premium head on over to theJimEdwardsmethod.com, and you will see, and I was going to say you’ll see an ad, but you will see a promotion that you can click on and find out more.
Stew Smith: It’s good man. I use it near daily still uses. It is like the second biggest power user of the Jim Edwards method wizards.
Stew Smith: Thank you!
Jim Edwards: Then I am Okay, everybody…
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