NEVER Copy & Paste your hashtags again!
If you’re using social media to gain exposure for anything – yourself, your business, a product, a service, etc. – you ought to be using hashtags. They are especially useful on Twitter and Instagram... less so on Facebook, because... well... Facebook has become an abysmal, useless void for most newer/smaller businesses at this point – but that’s a story for a different day.
But managing your hashtags can be a bit of a chore. There are countless apps that help you generate useful keywords but there is still a lot of copying and pasting involved.
There is a way, however, for you to drop all your hashtags into your post:
Without ever leaving Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Without having to copy and paste anything.
It’s a simple trick really – using “Text Replacement” which is an embedded function on both Android and iOS devices. This will allow you to type a few characters within the app you’re using and – BAM – all of your hashtags appear.
I have multiple lists of hashtags depending on what I’m posting and where I’m posting. My list is longer for Instagram but shorter for Twitter (given the character limitation). I also have lists centered on Digital Marketing and different lists for Inspirational Quotes, Productivity Tips, etc.
The good news is, there’s no limit to the number of “Text Replacements” you can have – you only need to make sure you remember your Short Codes.
I keep all of my hashtag lists in Google Keep, but you can store the lists just about anywhere. I modify them from time to time when I find a new Hashtag I want to include.
HOW TO DO IT
iOS INSTRUCTIONS (See Video):
Navigate to your stored list of hashtags
‘Select All’ and ‘Copy’
Go to ‘Settings’
Go to ‘General’
Go to ‘Keyboard”
Go to ‘Text Replacement’
Press the ‘+’ button in the upper right corner
In the ‘Phrase’ field, long-press and ‘Paste’ the Hashtags
In the ‘Shortcut’ field, enter a few letters that you will remember, that relate to the tags you just pasted.
When you’re done, press ‘Save’ in the upper right corner.
Create a new social post in your platform of choice.
Type the ‘Shortcut’ you just created and press ‘Space’
ANDROID INSTRUCTIONS:
Navigate to your stored list of hashtags
‘Select All’ and ‘Copy’
Go to ‘Settings’
Go to ‘Language & Input’
Go to ‘Keyboard”
Go to ‘Text Shortcuts’
Select ‘Add’ in the upper right corner
Enter the ‘Shortcut’ Code.
Paste the Hashtags into the ‘Expanded Phrase’.
When you’re done, press ‘Add’ again.
Create a new social post in your platform of choice.
Type the ‘Shortcut’ you just created and press ‘Space’
Voila! Your tags appear right before your eye. Now anytime you want to use them, you can just type that Shortcut Code.
TIPS for creating a good Shortcut Code:
· Don’t use a real word... obviously.
· I suggest having two lists, a LONG list (for Instagram – they currently cap at 30 Hashtags per post) and a SHORT list (for Twitter – which is only limited by your character count).
· Have different Shortcut Codes for both the long and short list.
· For example, for my Long List containing my Digital Marketing Hashtags, I might use the code ‘lgmktg’ (for ‘Long Marketing’). For my short list, I might use the code ‘shmktg’ (for ‘Short Marketing’).
· I also have separate lists for my clients. For my Dental Clients for instance, I use “denttag”.
Bonus Fun: Take your friend’s phone and set it up so that every time they type their significant other’s name, it is replaced with ‘douche canoe’. You’ll have laughs for days.
Okay don’t actually do that. Jerk.
The possibilities are endless. Have fun.