Grow Your Business Even When The Algorithm Keeps Changing
Grow Your Business Even When The Algorithm Keeps Changing
Does your business take a hit whenever there’s an algorithm change on your marketing platforms? Here’s how to get around this.
Prateek Katyal
First off, let me be clear that there’s really no way to beat a platform’s algorithm. This won’t be a how-to on how you can finagle Instagram’s algorithm or “secrets” to show up first in a feed.
You can try to stay on top of algorithm changes and adjust your behavior accordingly, but that in my opinion, is an uphill battle and not the best use of your business’ time or energy.
Many of you have businesses that heavily depend its success on social or sales platforms, and algorithm changes on these platforms are devastating from a numbers perspective.
Here are a few ways you can continuously leverage the benefits of a platform and foster meaningful engagements with your audience despite what an algorithm is doing that week.
Have a “thing” you’re known for
You will stand out in someone’s memory stronger as that business that sells pastel-only handbags than a brand that sells handbags for stylish millennials.
There is simply too much content consumers are exposed to on a daily basis to remember generalizations and broad strokes. The approach of taking a painstaking niche position is not only strategic from a branding perspective, it’s also a way to uplift your brand’s memorability above an algorithm.
When you take a strong stance to proactively bring a voice to a specific style or perspective, people categorize your voice as a beacon to follow. The only way for your brand to rise above an algorithm’s favorability is by making such an impression on someone through your voice, that they will self-select your brand to always be visible to them.
To accomplish this, think through these questions for your business — what is my brand known for? Can I distill it in one sentence and plaster it everywhere? How can I make a continuous effort to showcase my brand’s unique perspective through my content?
Create friendships
Algorithms can’t pack dirt on friendships.
If you’re following someone you have a rapport and relationship with on a platform, you will constantly find a way to stay connected with that person and check in on them.
As a brand, you need to do the same with your most engaged customers on your platforms. Startups that are in the nascent stages of building an audience will benefit from this — create a document, or find a way to organize your most engaged followers within a platform and make it a point to stay in touch with them.
If Instagram is a major social platform for you, using the “Collections” tool under the “Saved” feature is a great way to congregate your most engaged followers and check in on new posts and stories they’ve put up. This way, you can steward conversations with leads and existing customers on a consistent basis in a meaningful way.
Come hell or high water with the algorithm, your conversations and the connections you’ve made will have staying power. Make it a point to nurture business friendships to stay top of mind.
Don’t be vulnerable to algorithm changes
The above tips are helpful, but I share them with the caveat that you shouldn’t build your marketing strategy to be vulnerable to algorithm changes.
You can reduce your risk by strategically treating social platforms as networking rooms for your business, not as end-to-end lead to sale platforms.
The more that you burden your social platforms with the full spectrum of your marketing and sales needs, the more volatility you’re introducing. You should instead, have a solid plan in place to entice your audience to join you off social to an owned platform of yours, like your email list.
Email is one of the few online spaces where you can control the room, the conversations, and the frequency at which you connect with your audience — a place where an algorithm doesn’t hamper your efforts.
To truly rise above platform algorithms, design the content on your social platforms so that they are temporary interaction rooms that steward your audience to stronger, premium content in your permanent home — your emails.
Want to turn your startup chase into a victory lap? My Friday morning emails will help you get over your Crux.