Beat the Social Media Algorithm in 30 Minutes or Less
I have something big to share with you that will rock your social world. It's the real secret sauce to social media engagement for your business or brand. It's not hard, it's free to do and it only takes you minutes a day. (And I have a freebie to help you at the end!)
Beat the Social Media Algorithm in 30 Minutes or Less
I'm serious. You can beat the social media algorithm in under 30 minutes a day without paying a cent. And it works. I have done this with every brand/business I have ever worked with. We are talking YEARS of success. Like since the days of MySpace years of success. And you can do this on any social networking platform you have a presence on, you may have to adapt some terminology, but it has worked on every platform I have ever used. (This has even worked for me on Pinterest, but that is really an image-based search engine and not really a social network in the way we are using it here.)
So today I'm going to tell you the secret to increasing your engagement for free. And I'm telling you all this because at the end of the day, it's not really a secret how small brands become big brands online. So I'll tell you. (If you don't have the time for this long-term, you can hire teams like mine and we can do it for you. Because this is a task that should be done no less than 5 days a week in order to continue growing your engagement.)
First and foremost though you need to know when your audience is online, who they are and where they are (in all honesty, you should know who and where your audience is before you create your first profile).
Now utilizing your analytics, schedule your post just as your people are getting online and don't half-ass this post either, think about your message, call-to-action, and hashtags. If your business is location-based (i.e. you have a brick and mortar shop you need bodies in), tag your location.
Next, share your post to your stories and/or fleets to encourage those who might not see your post in their feed to take notice. Be sure to utilize (and hide as needed) hashtag, location tags and profile tags. This will also help you appear in searches multiple times for the same content (both as a post and as a story).
Finally, comment (nicely and professionally) on 5 profiles that are your competitors/draw a similar audience to yours. Do this again for 5 posts using 1-2 the hashtags you use and again for 5 profiles you follow. Do this again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day. Not sure what to say? Look at your competitors and see what they are saying. Do this because without this piece of the puzzle, you will not increase engagement or expand your reach.
How the cycle works
The reason for this exact plan is this: you are posting and sharing to your stories just as people are getting on but they probably won't see it anytime soon, if at all (especially if you don't currently get a lot of engagement). So, you comment on their posts. May be give a like or follow as well (provided they fit your brand, don't follow and unfollow as soon as people follow, that is bad social etiquette and I will never approve of such rudeness). Person sees your comment, they are curious who you are, they look at your profile, stories/fleets, and posts (increasing your reach), and they give a like or comment on one of your recent posts (most likely, your most recent post), which has now increased your engagement. If your profile really hits home with them, they will even follow you, giving you an organic follower (always better than paid IMHO) and THEN they will see your posts more frequently for the first few days, so as you post each day, you will naturally pop up in their feed. Stay on brand and you will keep those followers and by default, they will engage more with your profile, thus keeping your posts at the top of their feed. You are creating a cycle of success here, stop posting and that cycle stops, requiring you to start all over again.
But seriously, that's how you beat an algorithm. That's how you increase engagement. That's how you get people talking about your brand. You can't post and run. You have to engage. They're called social networks for a reason, you gotta network.
And soooooooo, here is that freebie I mentioned way at the beginning. A weekly tracker that allows you to focus on one platform a day. I have it in 3 sizes (US letter, 6 x 9, and 5.5 x 8.5) as both a PDF and PNG, all free. Go forth and beat the algorithm!!!
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| Request your FREE weekly social content planner and engagement tracker! |
Until next time, my lovelies!
-M
Like this post? Check out the follow-up Beat the Social Media Algorithm Part 2: You Don't Have To Do It All
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