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Growth Hacking: Why you SHOULDN’T do it

My clients constantly forward me sales pitch emails from growth hacking companies with the promise of an overnight audience boom. Sound too good to be true? That’s because it is! The truth is, there is no such thing as overnight growth.

Growth hacking can be super detrimental to your brand as companies use bots for engagement — and Instagram knows… Let’s dive into why that is, and what you can do instead to attract the right audience.

*Scroll down to watch the video.*

Instagram wants users to spend as much time as possible in their app

It’s no surprise that Instagram wants users to get on their app and stay there. That’s why the algorithm watches closely for engagement activity like commenting, liking, saving, and sharing.

Think about user behaviour

We want to find our audience wherever they are. How are they using the app? When are they most likely to engage? Now put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to see in those moments? This is the kind of content we want to create for our following.

So, we know Instagram’s goal is to keep us on the app. And we know what keeps our own audience in the app. How can we make this work for brand growth and engagement? Hint: growth hacking isn’t the answer.

When we approach with growth hacking run by bots and algorithms, we completely lose the humanistic touch. What the bots deliver is purchased followers, unengaging comments, and likes from people who don’t fit our target audience. This signals to Instagram that you’re not using social media in a social way, and the app responds by dropping our ratings — doxing future engagement and making it really hard to build a loyal following.

Let’s combat this.

Engage, engage, engage

The real way to ‘growth hack’ is to engage. Interact with your audience in an authentic way! Use all of Instagram’s features and get social. Check out my Instagram 101 video for more tips on boosting your followers and engagement.

Tune into how the app responds to your actions

Think about how you use Instagram. The people always popping up at the top of your page are the people who you naturally engage with comments, back and forth tagging, and DM-ing memes. Take that knowledge and apply it to your audience interactions. When you speak like a real human, Instagram takes note and rewards you for it.

What’s driving you nuts about Instagram these days? I’m curious to know. Drop a comment below and let’s chat about it.

The best way to increase your Instagram followers and engagement

While people and brands have been annoyed with the Instagram algorithm, I’m thankful that they’ve come up with a way to filter out posts that don’t appeal to me, are low quality, and are often spammy ad-first content.

Remember, Instagram’s main goal is to keep users active in their product as much as possible. So while the algorithm is lowering visibility for some accounts, the algorithm provides a huge opportunity for those of us who can make it work in our favour.

Here are my top 10 steps to increasing your engagement and growing your following.

1. The first hour is the most important

Within the first 60 minutes of posting new content, Instagram decides whether it’s engaging or a bit of a flop. This is your first tip, but it’s going to affect the first 8 steps here.

2. Know when you should be posting

There’s no magical time of day that all audiences are active. It depends on a plethora of demographics, location, and habits of your specific audience. If your account is set up as a company (which I recommend if you’re trying to grow it!) and you have over 100 followers, you can use Instagram’s built-in analytics tool by clicking the hamburger menu on the top right corner of your profile. Select Insights then Audience. Scroll down to the bottom of the audience section for exactly what time of day your followers are the most engaged for each day of the week.

Post during those times.

3. Share your feed post to your story

Immediately after posting to your feed, be sure to use the little paper airplane icon to share your feed post to your story. Before you feel weird double posting, or how it wasn’t formatted for a story, remember this: 79% of Instagram users open stories before scrolling. That’s big.

Capitalize on this audience by sharing the feed post, but teasing it in a more stories type way. Extra points for using a poll or asking a question to increase engagement.

4. Use comments for conversation

Be sure you’re replying to comments as quickly as possible, especially within that critical first hour. If you’re creating valuable, engaging content (which I hope you are!) you’ll get some genuine conversation starters and questions in your comments section. Take that opportunity to add even further value, show off your expertise, and speak to people like you would in your place of work, or over a coffee. Full sentences are a lot more human, and asking questions in return is a great way to keep the conversation going.

It’s called social media after all.

5. Like every comment on your previous post

Ok, I usually don’t like “hacks” but this one is a goodie. Reply to comments on your posts as they come in — this increases engagement, both algorithmically and humanly. However, don’t like (with the little heart) the comments on yesterday’s posts until you’ve posted today.

Right after posting, go back to your previous post and like all of the comments that you’ve already replied to. This ensures your most recent pic will be prioritized in the commenters’ feed the next time they open the app.

6. Tag people, places, and things

It’s important that you tag anything that contributes to your post. For example, tag the restaurant or city you’re in. If you’re speaking about your clothes, tag the designer or shop you bought it at. Or both!

This will not only alert that specific brand or person, but help Instagram index your content. (ie: is this a post about dogs, kids, clothes, or pizza?) They like rewarding people for making their lives easier.

7. Add alt text

On the topic of indexing…

Words are incredibly easy for computers to index. A typed word can be translated and categorized as soon as it’s typed out. Now, it’s even easy for the internet to provide context to words based on their combination. The more words we type, share, post, or write on the internet make SEO smarter and smarter.

However, images are much more challenging. So you can imagine how much harder indexing is for Instagram since it’s image, not text, based. Adding alt text to your images after posting helps Instagram decipher what sort of pic you’ve posted. Is it wedding based and people who always save bridal images would like it? Is it about gaming so maybe not for someone who doesn’t follow even the biggest gaming accounts? This indexing keeps Instagram out of hot water and helps them keep users engaged with what they’re seeing.

Instagram has an easier job not showing scandalous images to kids, and you’ll get rewarded for the helping hand.

8. Add hashtags

It doesn’t matter whether they’re in your caption or you’ve put them in a comment, but they do matter!

While there are some niche hashtags that people follow, again, this is about indexing. If you let IG know what type of content you’re posting it helps them show it to more people who will like it and engage with it.

Rule of thumb: 3, 6, 9. (See the video at 10:23)

9. Five posts a week (ish)

This is my benchmark, but very, very, very open to adjustments. Decrease this if your company has a small number of SKUs, you’re between seasons, your service isn’t an aesthetically pleasing one, or any other time content feels like it’s being forced. Increase this if you’ve just dropped a new capsule, launched a new location, have multiple promotions or collaborations going on at once.

Play around to find your sweet spot.

10. Engage!

Engagement is the holy grail of any social platform.

You wouldn’t expect to go to a party, stand by a wall, and have other people come over and get to know you. You have to reach out, make connections, and find people with common interests. The biggest mistake I see people and brands making is that they post into the abyss. Go find your flock and get flying.

Watch the video for more on this.

Thumbnail for "Are branding and marketing the same thing?" video

This is the difference between Branding and Marketing

Branding and marketing are often confused, but they are not the same.

Clients often asked why I specify branding and marketing. Others simply say they don’t need help with their marketing because they’ve had their brand developed by a creative agency.

Thinking branding and marketing are the same is a common mistake. But understanding their differences is simple. Here’s how you can keep them straight and ensure you’re being intentional and have a strategy for both.

*Scroll to the bottom of this page to watch the video*

What is branding?

Branding is the emotional, intangible things you feel about a brand. It’s the way Lululemon and Nike sell many of the same products, but when you think of each brand you have a different visceral feeling. You can associate each with the five senses. For example:

	Nike	Lululemon
Sight	Strong athletes, dark and bold colours, sharp angles	Light and airy spaces, open rooms, light flooring
Sound	The squeak of sneakers on the court, heavy breathing, a golf ball off a tee, a crowd cheering	The wind through trees, sound baths, running water
Smell	The gymnasium, chalk, sweating outdoors	Eucalyptus, the rubber of a yoga mat, the forest after it rains
Taste	Salty sweat, Gatorade	Fresh water, air
Touch	The firm flexing of a muscle, quick stops on the court	Stretching, flowing movements

They both sell gear for running, hiking, yoga, and athleisure. But they’ve diversified their brand to attract a different customer through how they make you feel and where you feel like you fit in.

This builds brand affinity through community and a sense of belonging.

What is marketing?

Marketing is your strategic approach to telling your story. These are the actual tasks and touchpoints that get your brand’s message out there.

Common examples of marketing initiatives include:

Social media
Digital advertising
Events
SEO blog content
Print materials

You can see how each of those requires tactical creation and execution. A good marketing plan allows you to track your success, generate leads, or provides another form of data to help you improve your efforts and drive business.

If you’d like help creating or fine-tuning your brand or marketing strategy, get in touch!

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