Hello, my badass! We are diving deep today talking about one of the biggest factors that is going to drive and fuel your growth on social media, your audience growth, for your business, on any social media platform, and that is the algorithm. Ooh, the pesky algorithm.
Now, the algorithm is a big word, and it's often used as a little bit of a scapegoat. A lot of people become very obsessive about the algorithm to the point where, honestly, it's just distracting them from a solid, sustainable approach to content creation. The hacks, the gimmicks, do this, don't do that. And when you actually break it down to the fundamentals, you boil it down to the fundamentals of what any algorithm needs to stay happy, and you just focus on those, I can't tell you how much freedom it gives you as a content creator, because behind the machine, behind the algorithm, are human beings and human behavior, and that's what we want to focus on because those things very rarely change.
Now, the little hacks and gimmicks and tips and tricks to explode your Instagram growth overnight, yeah, they can change as the platforms are rolling out new features, whether that's YouTube, whether that's TikTok, whether that's Insta, whether that's podcast publishing platforms, whatever it is, there may be some things that you can do to boost your chances of appearing in search and making the algorithm happy, of course.
But what we want to focus on is the long-term game, because we're interested in growth on social media. Not from the perspective of going viral and getting more followers, because we know that these superficial hacks and getting more followers won't translate into sales if you don't have the business and the content strategy and the home base for people to discover that's going to back it up.
Okay, so we're talking about growth on social media from the lens of business success. The right people are finding you. The right content is going out and it's resonating with them and they're feeling seen and that becoming a member of your audience, of your community, they want to be there and they want to stick around.
We're gonna be talking about the algorithm, playing with the algorithm, and clocking the algorithm from that perspective, okay? Because if you have a video pop off, but less-than-ideal community members are rolling in and then unfollowing you little by little over the following month because they don't actually resonate with your message, I’m not interested in that.
But if your followers stay stagnant, but it's because people are leaving because it's not quite the right fit for them and super aligned leads are coming in and they're magnetized and drawn in by your content and it's leading to better trust, Better relationships, better conversations, and more sales and success, I'm happy.
Okay. So when I talk about social media growth, it's not necessarily, zero to 500 K in two weeks. It's really growth from the perspective of a healthy, engaged audience that fuels your business. And I think there's a lot of fear around this algorithm, this big bad wolf of social media because people feel like it's complex, I can't understand it.
And they feel therefore like they're victims of the algorithm. It's the algorithm that's in control. I hear sometimes, the algorithm keeps changing, and I can't keep up, It's exhausting. At the moment on Instagram, what's working? It's working to put some, footage of you going about your day, super authentic, with a seven-second long trending sound over top, and read more, because the value is in a really long caption.
And as people read that caption, guess what? The reel is looping over and over again. TikTok at the moment is going more longer form, for example, breaking down complex topics, using green screens, a little bit more educational, or, breaking down a true crime case, or whatever it is. It can afford longer form content at the moment, and they're using carousels quite a lot.
And what's hot at the moment can change next month, and the month after that, and the month after that. And I'm not saying that You don't have to keep up with trends. It can be really useful and you can try it out, but you need to remain focused on the long-term game and stay true to your content creation that works for you and your business.
So that's what we'll be talking about is identifying what are the rules that are always working for the algorithm, regardless of the latest thing right now, what can we always know to be true? Okay. I also have people saying. My account stopped growing. I'm not getting any engagement anymore. The algorithm must hate me.
And if your content used to do well and isn't performing anymore, or maybe it's never performed, I can tell you, it's much more likely to be a messaging issue and a fit between the things you want to share and the things that your ideal client wants to hear right now. Then it is going to be the algorithm.
Believe it or not, the algorithm wants you to succeed. The algorithm wants people to enjoy the content that they are experiencing on the platform because they want them to stick around. If anything, if your content was resonating and was landing, it would want that to amplify. Okay. So I'm not saying there aren't things that we can do to optimize our content and strategize our content for search.
Of course, we'll talk about that. But at the end of the day, we've got to get the fundamentals right and understand how the algorithm truly works so that we can become expert content creators and grow our social media for our business with really aligned audiences. I don't want you to go out there hustling nonstop, obsessing over the trends, changing your style, changing your strategy every week to try to keep up.
That's no fun. That is exhausting. And it's honestly just really confusing for your audience. Let's talk about some of the risks of playing at the level of hacks and tactics versus a sustainable long-term strategy. Imagine, for example, you are always chasing the latest content format. And there are often new features rolling out on social media.
I remember when Reels became a thing on Instagram for the very first time. Of course, the algorithm will push that content format to drive use and engagement and wants to get people into it. It's a big change, but imagine if you really change your entire business persona and strategy just to focus on this.
And you rely on that for growth. And I'm thinking specifically about characters like Monique from the social Easter. So she is one of the founders and creators of Reels Queens, which is a course that I've done. I really enjoyed, but she was an early adopter of Instagram reels and she really mastered that original style of hook-cool transition.
So maybe she changed outfits, clapped in your face and then was wearing a different coloured t shirt, whatever it was. And call to action. And so that became her thing and she exploded. I remember watching her go from 10k followers up to 98k followers, but guess what? Now that Reels isn't being pushed particularly differently from any other content format on the platform because it's established, it's mature, she has remained around that 98k, 100k follower mark, up and down and up and down and up and down.
For well over a year now. And so she's built her whole business on, I help you grow on Instagram using reels, and ironically, she's not growing on Instagram using reels. And so I've had, I've been seeing her change and pivot towards more business coaching and things like that, but that's a massive business risk.
If you rely on the format, like Reels will grow my business, because that's a sexy new thing and it works for a while, what are you going to do when it stops working? What's your game plan? And the other big risk of playing at that level of hacks and tactics in the latest shiny object is trying to grow just to grow.
For example, if you see that really relatable, funny memes are working right now, those CapCut memes that people are using, and you've seen something related to your niche, get over a million views. And you're like, yeah, I could do that too. You put it out there. It does well. What are you going to do when it does?
People have a laugh and maybe they follow you, but then they realize you aren't a comedy account. And you don't post memes very often. I posted a fun, funny meme about careers. And now I'm trying to tell you how to find your purpose or how to work on your personal brand strategy. What's going to happen?
They're going to leave. They're going to unfollow. They followed you for the wrong reasons. So grow for growth, views for views. It doesn't mean anything. Followers for followers. It doesn't mean anything. So that's the risk you're running is that there are sometimes random strangers on the internet who happen to come across your content and you're hoping that out of a thousand of them, one or two might actually be in your ideal client avatar kind of range versus just creating really sticky, polarizing, exciting content from that person for the get-go that hits and brings you an aligned.
Leads and followers in and of itself, even if it's not necessarily getting those vanity metrics up. Okay. Honestly, just playing that game, always trying to keep up with what now it's exhausting. And there is an easier way to think about the algorithm, which we're going to dive into right now.
So let me reveal to you the big secret. Let me unveil behind the scenes what it takes, the fundamental principles, to keep the algorithm happy. And what I find so often is that this One truth is something that people think they want to know, but they don't actually want to hear because it puts a lot more responsibility back on them as the content creator.
And the big secret is that social media algorithms are complex, but the principles which drive it are not. So algorithms are formed using millions, of bits of data about human and social behaviour. The algorithm can understand the impact, to some extent, that content is having on people. It has the metrics around likes, comments, shares, saves, and whatever platform-specific metrics you want to think about.
It knows that If it shares that piece of content with someone and puts it in front of their eyeballs, it understands whether that person with that profile and all that it knows about that human being will click on it or not. And if they do, how long does it take them to click on it? They have all of this information, an amount of data that we cannot possibly comprehend.
At that level in terms of machine learning in terms of the systems and data driving this thing. Okay. But at the end of the day, we can understand all of these platforms want. The reason they have this algorithm running is the same across every single platform. And it's that they want people to feel seen by the platform, and they want people to stay on their platform.
Because the longer people stay on their platform and consume media on their platform, the longer more money they're going to make from advertisers and the happier their customers will be. So it really boils down to that. Every algorithm is chasing this Holy Grail. Do people feel seen? Do they enjoy their time here?
And do they stay on the platform? So what that means for you is that as a content creator, you will be rewarded if you create content that makes people feel seen, make, you create content that they want to consume, and you make sure that they can find to this content. So clocking the algorithm on any platform, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, you name it, essentially it boils down to four key principles.
Number one is knowing your people. Number two is earning the click. Number three is keeping them watching. And number four is driving traffic. I'm going to break each of these down. And these are the four things that you need to focus on regardless of the sexy new feature that's just popped up on that platform.
Okay? Step one. Know your people. Now there are a few ways to do this, but the most obvious one Is you need to niche down. You need to niche down to blow up. You need to know who you are speaking to, what they're going through, what they need from you right now. There's a lot of content going out. If we take YouTube specifically as a platform, there are over 500 hours of video being uploaded every minute to YouTube.
So how do you stand out? And this is why you need to niche down. You need to get specific. You need to create specific content for a specific person. Who is looking for a specific result. Imagine you are really, playing at that generic, vague level of being a self-worth coach for anyone. You'll take on any client who comes your way, who wants to work on their self-worth.
If it's a man in his fifties, a woman in her twenties. Corporate professional, like whatever it is, you'll take them on. Anyone can benefit from self-worth coaching. And because anyone can benefit from self-worth coaching, you create content that anyone might be able to resonate with. You put out a quote post that say something like, remember you are and always have been enough.
It's too vague. It's lukewarm. People might like it, yeah, sure, that's a nice message. But will it evoke emotion? Will it have them feeling seen in their specific case where they are right now? Now compare this to a self-worth coach who is niched down. This self-worth coach is on a mission to empower single millennial women To heal from the emotional pain of past relationships, and heartbreak, and to feel deeply secure, whole, and confident in themselves so that they can eventually attract in and cultivate an aligned and fulfilling relationship that's a bonus in their lives because they know who they are, what they want, they feel so whole and so good.
Good, first and foremost on their own, that they're ready to attract in a relationship that really works. That is when you can start creating sticky, memorable, curious, spiking content. That's when you can start putting out a carousel that says Five baby steps to take after being blindsided by a breakup in your twenties.
That's when you get more engagement. for fewer people who have seen your content. And then once the algorithm knows who likes and resonates with your content, the kind of person that's enjoying your content, they start working with you and for you. And they will find and recommend similar profiles to come your way.
They will push your content to them on the explore page or on the suggested for you videos page on YouTube, on the feed. Okay. And they cannot do this for you. The algorithm cannot work for you in this way. If you are creating this lukewarm content to be liked by everyone, but loved by no one. And they say there's a hierarchy in the kinds of engagement.
And there's a big difference between someone giving something like and being like, haha, relatable. And someone sharing that post with a friend, chatting about it in the DMS, saving it for later, the algorithm knows the effect you're having on people to some extent by knowing your person and creating for them and where they are right now, and it hits differently.
That's. going to be constantly and consistently rewarded by the algorithm. Principle number two, earn the click. So earning the click is all about the packaging of your content, making it clickable. Because the algorithm can work for you and show your content to people and put it on the explore page. But if it is unattractive, difficult to read, or Doesn't evoke anything the click-through rate now, whether that's a YouTube video whether that's you know LinkedIn post whether that's a carousel, whatever it is the click-through rate won't be high and so it won't recommend Your content as much, you know if it shows your content to a hundred people it thinks may like your content and three people click through Versus another content piece with 10 people clicked through.
It will learn that about your content and your account, and it will create this virtuous cycle for you. Okay. So you've got to think about what makes people click through on a content piece when they are being bombarded with options. Now the packaging essentially comes down to things like on YouTube, you've got the thumbnail.
Both the visual, the facial, if your face is on it, and the text that you have on the thumbnail itself. You've got the video title, you've got the channel name. That's the triple threat. If it's a reel or a TikTok, you've got a cover photo or a freeze frame of the first sort of like few seconds of the video.
And usually, on that first few seconds of the video, you can see the hook, the text, which says, five ways to do, or I achieved this result when I changed that one thing. You often have a person in a particular stance or showing some kind of emotive reaction as well. There's, there might be movement, there might be something else that, that piques that curiosity as well.
Or if it's a podcast, for example, your podcast name, the podcast imagery in terms of that, that cover photo for your podcast, and of course the title as well. And a lot of these things come down to marketing psychology and also just using data and testing sort of A-B testing. So try out different styles, see what typically works for you and your people.
But if we take the concept of a good title, what I found through putting out hundreds and thousands of content pieces and analyzing what works from a human psychology perspective is that titles often will work better if you turn it into a mistake. Imagine you're a dating coach and you want to create a content piece around.
Why guys won't see you as wife material? You're stuck in that girlfriend zone. Instead of saying, why guys never see you as wifey material, you could transform it into something like, stop guys from never seeing you as wifey material, and it might do better. Or, instead of YouTube 101, build your channel step by step, You can make it benefits-infused and say something like how to start a YouTube channel in 2024 brackets, the only video you need to watch, right?
Saying it's clear, it's simple, and it's going to save you time. You're going to get it done in this video. It's very attractive as a title or instead of something like how to think like a monk. That's already given away the answer. It doesn't evoke curiosity. You could say something like how to train your mind for peace and purpose, and then explain the methodology within the video.
So sell the benefits and then explain rather than telling them already what you're going to tell them, use curiosity to get them in. So there are all sorts of marketing and psychology principles that go on behind the scenes in terms of. Emotion titles, packaging, and it's up to you as a master content creator to learn about these things and to study these things.
Because again, this is the level of human behavior that very rarely changes. And it's also up to you when it comes to earning the click to understand. The search engine optimization required for your platform of choice and become a master of search. And it's all pretty much the same principles, but there are slightly different, obviously tactics or tools depending on the platform.
So search engine optimization ultimately comes down to being able to Sync up your content with what your ideal person is searching for. So you want to have keywords in your content or your title, your description, or your tags on YouTube or you're, in your caption or your hashtags on Instagram, or your auto-generated captions that You know, you've used on your real, you want to make sure that you're using keywords and search terms that real people that you're trying to reach are searching for.
So you need to be able to get into their mind and understand what they're looking for. The keywords they're using, the terms they're looking up to find the content that they enjoy and weave that into your content. For example, And this is why it comes back to our first principle around really knowing who this person is.
Because once you really understand who this person is and where they're at right now, you can get very targeted with what they're searching. And the same for the packaging. What kinds of titles resonate with them? What kinds of aesthetics or emotions on your face will resonate with them for the cover photo?
And so on and so forth, okay? The more you commit to mastering this concept of earning the click and the more the algorithm sees that you have a higher than average click-through rate, the more the algorithm is going to again work for you and push your content out to people outside of your current followers.
Expand your audience by putting your content in the face of relevant people, knowing that it's worth doing so because there's a higher chance that they will actually click through. So again, you've got your assistant, the algorithm, actually working for you. Now, key number three is about keeping them watching.
And every social media platform prioritizes this one metric. It is watch time. Watch time. How long can you keep them watching your content, this content piece, and the others that you've created, and keep them on the platform? And at the end of the day, good content is good content. Watch time comes down to creating good content, which means it's highly relevant to your ideal viewer.
You hook them in well with a benefit to them, or they get a sense that they're about to be educated, inspired, and entertained in some way. Within the first few seconds, you capture that attention and they know what they're going to get. You deliver on that value and you increase binge ability on your account.
Now, there are many different ways that you can increase watch time. Some people, for example, do true crime deep dives using green screen, showing photos, doing full-on analyses, and It takes up so much time to watch the first part that they say, follow for part two or comments for part two. And they get people watching a series out of their content.
For example, that's a great way to increase watch time. Some people are using a current, more superficial tactic at the moment where they make their Instagram reels super short or use looping-style filming tricks. With lots of text on top or lots of text in the caption with the idea that you're tricking the viewers into staying on your content piece longer.
Meanwhile, it's looping and telling the algorithm, Hey, I'm getting lots of views on this. Now you've got to be really careful with using hacks like this, of course, because the algorithm knows, and maybe it will start to realize that five views of a seven-second reel aren't worth as much as one view on a two-minute content piece, right?
But that is one example of another way that people are currently trying to increase watch time. And so whether you are getting a greater number of views or fewer views, but more time spent on your content piece, either way. More time spent on that content piece, more time spent on your page and more time spent on the platform that's going to have the algorithm pushing your content and working for you, right?
Another point I want to add here is that another thing that can increase your watch time. Which we often don't talk about is your energy and your vibe. If you have a calming personality or a funny personality or a very thorough, research-informed approach to your content, the way you Do it as well can absolutely increase watch time.
And I'm sure you can think of some creators right now that you watch, and maybe you spend hours watching mundane day in the life logs because you just enjoy their presence and their personality. So that also has a factor to play in the game as well, which is why get again, you should be as you as possible because That's one of your main competitive advantages.
And when you're truly yourself, because there's only one of you guess what? You're automatically going to pique curiosity and stand out as well. And then the fourth key is driving traffic. And this ultimately comes down to a lot of the things we've already touched on and some new ones as well, but essentially having traffic circulate within the platform.
Or actually get them to the platform. Thanks to you. So that means doing the research you need to do so that you're showing up in search as often as possible when people are searching for things, your content, your profile comes up, maybe it's about having a really optimized Instagram bio with keywords in it, making sure that you're.
Content as well, codified and search engine optimized and using the relevant search terms, whatever it is, right? So you're showing up in search when people are searching for words related to a niche. You're showing up on the explore page. And again, this is because you have a specific message for a specific person.
People are sharing your stuff. People are engaging with your stuff. People are sending that to a friend. And so you're helping. The algorithm to help you and show up on that explore page, you are keeping people coming back for more. Okay? More traffic to your page because you create a series or you have people searching for you, or people save your content, and so they find you in their saved folders and they come back and check you out later on, whatever it is.
Or again, you're being shared amongst friends and new people are coming to your page because of that. Consistency is another big one to drive traffic. When you're showing up consistently, your followers will see your content more often and it will keep them engaging with you and coming back to your profile and saying, Oh yeah, that's right.
And when you're, putting stories out there or putting posts out there, it just gets people again, sending more and more traffic to your profile. Because you show up often enough that people are reminded that you exist, essentially. And then of course you've got things like external traffic sources.
Could you push people towards their platform from other social media platforms of yours? Or from your email list? Is there a way that once you've posted on YouTube, for example, you share a teaser of it on your Instagram, you email your list about it, right? It's about driving traffic. So anything that gets traffic coming to your profile internally or externally is always going to be rewarded by the algorithm.
So to sum up, if we demystify the algorithm, it comes down to these four keys. Knowing your people relentlessly, who they are, what they need to hear from you today, earning the click. So doing what it takes to package up your content and optimize it for search in a way that gets it in front of more people and then has those people clicking through to see what it is.
And on that point, we talked about hooks. We talked about titles as well. We talked about emotions that they can see on that thumbnail or on that cover photo. Keeping them watching, so increasing watch time, ideally by being yourself, by being a good storyteller, by having strong messaging, by creating content that evokes an emotion, that it evokes in response, that really makes people feel seen and makes them say, yes, this is what I needed to hear today, or this is so useful for me right now.
Or I'm feeling so inspired to take action because of this, right? And then driving that traffic to your profile, whether that's internally or externally to the platform, okay? And, If you keep the algorithm happy on these four principles, if you're always staying true to these four keys, it will work with you.
It will help you out so you can really focus on what matters. Keep these four keys in mind and leave the rest. You don't need to be chasing every new hack and tactic and format that's out there. Your business isn't going to die if you don't jump onto Instagram threads. So if a new feature does pop up, it will allow you to decide, is this something that I need to focus on right now?
Is this going to help me with a part of the algorithm that I do need support with or I would like a little boost for at the moment? Is this necessary for our account and for our content strategy? Or can I stay true to what I'm already doing? And keep building up those brownie points with the algorithm as we are.
And remember that nothing is the Holy grail solution. There are, if you go to Instagram, you'd have the impression that you have to create reels to succeed. Whereas there are many accounts of multimillion-dollar entrepreneurs that are carousel only and always have been, and are absolutely thriving.
So there is no one way, there is no one format or tactic that's going to work for everyone. Keep coming back to these four keys, these four principles, and you'll get the algorithm to fall in love with you. Remember, quality aligned human beings in your audience, trust, and relationships. Any day overviews and cheap tactics to get more eyeballs on irrelevant content that doesn't actually bring them one step closer to working with you.
So my badass, I hope that you found that useful. I'd love to hear from you over on Instagram. What's your current content strategy? What are your pain points or struggles when it comes to growing your audience? Or engaging with your audience and which of these elements are you going to focus on and start taking some baby steps on to make that turn around and make this audience and community a place where you have people who are eating up what you create and you're building the kinds of connections and relationships that make social media the good side of social media.
Otherwise, until the next episode, keep growing, keep evolving, keep learning. You can do this. Keep building that empire of yours. And we will talk very soon. A shit ton of income, crazy impact, a business that you adore. Just by listening to this episode, you will one step closer to your very own badass empire.
Now I want to hear from you. Tag me in your stories or send me a DM over on Instagram. So I can learn what resonated with you most. Oh, and if you're the kind of badass who is willing to help us out big time and take a few minutes to rate and review this podcast, make sure you send us a screenshot of that review at hello at badass empires dot com.
So I can send you a juicy freebie to say, thank you until next time. Keep showing up for your future and we'll keep smashing goals in the next episode.
