Sharing a #hashtag is a cool way to get people to interact and follow. Hashtags have been around for numerous years, mostly on Twitter, but are seeing an increased usage across most social platforms. This is due to savvy entrepreneurs maximizing the power of keywords in their marketing.

But what the heck is a hashtag and why should you use it?

A #hashtag is the number sign followed by some keyword or phrase. Easy-peasy.

Hashtags aren’t copyrightable as of yet and I hope they never will be…but time will tell.

Hashtags can be used to promote your products and services and find out what your competitors are doing in their marketing attempts.

Hah, you can even use a competitors hashtag in your marketing and essentially swipe their clients. Not the most ethical thing to do…but like I said, hashtags are not owned by anyone. They are all free to use. But here’s the thing…pick a word or phrase thats unique to you and don’t worry what your competitors are doing. If you use the hashtag everywhere (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and anywhere else you can think of) you will dominate the searches when it comes to people looking at your hashtag.

Rob Anspach of Anspach Media

“I just hashtagged myself!”

#RobAnspach

#AnspachMedia

#IJustHashtaggedMyself

Yeah, it’s just that easy.

One of my clients is a Gastric Sleeve Doctor so we used the hashtag #GastricSleeveDoctor to help boost his branding across the social verse. The cool thing that happened is he now dominates 8 full pages of Google searches for that hashtag.

Want to track your hashtags? Or those of a competitor?

Use Tagboard to track hashtags

Use www.tagboard.com and discover who’s using what hashtag and for what purpose. Tagboard displays pictures, links and where the hashtag was posted to. Really cool stuff.

I use the hashtags…

#Social Media Debunked #Share27ways #OptimizeThis

…when mentioning, promoting and selling my books!

Here’s my advice when using hashtags…

1) Don’t over do it. Keep it simple. Limit to just a few hashtags in your post.

2) Not every post or picture or link needs a hashtag so know when to use them.

3) Use hashtags that have relevance to your product or service.

4) Be specific in the hashtags you use and avoid generic common everyday ones.

5) #CopywritingQueen works a lot better in branding and recognition than just using #Copywriter

6) Use hashtags on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and more…they can all be tracked.

7) Use Tagboard and Google Search to track and monitor your hashtags.

If you found this article helpful please leave a comment, would love to hear your thoughts.

Now go #HashtagYourself

-Rob

Rob Anspach

Anspach Media | Website | + posts

Rob Anspach is an Authority Architect, Legacy Builder, speaker, author, podcaster, and Founder of Anspach Media.

For more than 30 years, he has helped entrepreneurs build authority, create meaningful relationships, and leave a lasting legacy through books, speaking, trusted guidance, podcasting, and immersive experiences.

He is the host of the E-Heroes Podcast and the creator of Embracing The Magic and Exploring The Magic.

1 Comment

Jonathan on March 1, 2015 at 10:15 pm

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the great info. I never really knew the power of hash tags and how they can actually boost your search engine rankings.

You’re information is always valuable and practical.
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