Growth hacking is the use of marketing tactics and strategies to gain followers/subscribers on social media. Social media growth hacking can be used to build an engaged audience, sell a product/service, or simply record one’s life.
Learning the art of social media growth hacking is essential in today’s digital age. But what exactly is it? What does it mean to growth hack one’s social media? This article is going to provide 5 tips/strategies on how to growth hack.
Before you start growth hacking, take into account two things. They are:
A niche is an audience that a creator has in mind when creating content. It is a specialized, specific group of people. The easiest way to determine your niche is by asking who you’re making the content for.
For example, if you’re giving college advice, my niche is high schoolers/college students.
The secret to growth on social media is being seen as an expert on a topic. If people are looking for crypto advice, they know to go to Person A. If they’re looking for makeup application tips, they know to go to Person B.
So before starting and growing your page, ask yourself, “what do I want to be known for?” That is your first and most crucial step.
It is important to note that to grow on social media, you must understand the social media platform you are using. The tips that work for Tiktok won't work for Instagram, the tips that work for Instagram won't work for Facebook, and the tips that work for Facebook won't work for YouTube.
The biggest mistake content creators make when growth hacking is thinking the tips translate. Every platform is different and should be treated as such. Some methods can be used across multiple platforms, but it is safe to assume it won’t.
This section will go into some strategies of growth hacking that you can utilize. Here is a list of strategies that we will be covering:
Let’s dive into the first one!
When building a platform on a topic on social media, you must show your credibility.
Simply put, why should people listen and trust you? What makes you knowledgeable and well-versed in speaking on this topic? The easiest way to gain credibility is to have gone through and experienced something related to your topic/niche.
Would you trust a 600-pound man to advise you on staying in shape? No. Who would you ask for marriage advice: a 40-year-old spinster or a woman who has been married for 35 years?
As you can see, credibility dramatically influences who we take advice from and is even more important on the internet. On social media, experience is key. You can’t speak about something you haven’t experienced.
When building a social media page from scratch, your primary goal is to get some eyes on your page. The easiest way to do so is by following the trends. The trend can be a certain dance or song/sound that is viral or about to be viral.
When deciding on a trend to use, it is essential to note the virality of the sound. You want a sound that is on the way to becoming viral or semi-viral. You don’t want a super-viral sound because so many videos are already being made. Since the market is already oversaturated, your content could potentially get lost in the mix.
On Tiktok, a good rule is choosing a trend/sound with 750-10,000 videos. If it's less than 750, it may never go viral and decreases your chances of being found. If more than 10k videos have been made with a particular sound, it's already viral and reduces your chances of being found.
PRO TIP: When following trends, be sure to relate them back to your niche! You have eyes on your page, so they know to follow you for more content like that! If it’s not relevant to your niche
This tip may seem like the stark opposite of Tip #2, but it isn’t. While using trends is important to growth hacking, you must also create unique content. The trends are used to bring eyes to your page, but it’s your unique content that will make them stay. What makes you stand out from the other competitors in the same niche as you?
As mentioned before, every social media platform is different. Understanding their differences is the only way to hack the system. Youtube is for long-form content, and Tiktok is for short-form content. This is great for repurposing your content!
If you posted a 10-minute video on Youtube, you could create 10-20 second clips that you can post on Tiktok as different posts. Spreading your content across different social media platforms also increases the likelihood of people coming across your page.
Social media is a very volatile thing. There are new trends every day and these platforms are changing their algorithms and policies to keep up with them. With the success of Tiktok and short-form content, the big social media tech giants are taking note and want to replicate that!
Last year, according to Mitchell Clark on The Verge, Instagram (Meta) announced that they were no longer a photo-sharing platform and would be pushing short-form content like Instagram Reels. This was a huge deal because Instagram is known for being a photo-sharing platform. By staying up to date with changes like this, you know to start posting Reels on Instagram in order to get pushed out by the algorithm.
Some social media pages are solely focused on keeping you updated on information like this, so be sure to follow them. Also, follow the social media’s official page.
For example, follow the Instagram account on Instagram, the Tiktok account on Tiktok, and so on.
You’ve learned how to growth hack. Now it’s time to see it in action. This article showcases 20 examples of growth hacking.
Let’s focus on Airbnb. Airbnb was created when hotels were sold out and people needed another housing option. Airbnb allowed people to rent out other people’s rooms/homes for a lower price.
So how did they do it? How did they growth hack their business and how can you do the same?
Their main source of marketing was word-of-mouth. It was simple, easy, and cheap, the perfect trifecta for a startup! The quality of their service was so excellent that people were constantly talking about it and referring it to their friends and family.
You too can emulate the success of Airbnb. When creating content on social media, make it so great, so different, and so unique that people have no choice but to share it! By doing so, you gain eyes on your page.
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to social media growth hacking. It is unique to the creator, niche/topic, and platform. These tips should not serve as the end-all-be-all and are merely a starting point.
As you make your content, remember to have fun and provide value to your audience. With these tips, your social media accounts will grow as you’ve never seen before.
Please comment below on any social media growth hacking tips you learn along your journey!
For more marketing articles like these, visit Stiddle.com.
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