3 Fast Ways to Grow Your Digital Community

When it comes to new tools in marketing or brand promotion, it’s best to be … discerning. “Best practice” marketing services grow like weeds in sidewalk cracks – they’re everywhere.

Whichever way you sway on best practices, we want to tap into an important notion to remember: social media platforms sell us new tools and power plays for our businesses just like the thousands of cold pitch marketing emails flooding your inboxes.

Reels are a great example of Instagram’s latest power sell … Yes, we love them. Yes, we still know simple, square images can drive engagement and action like crazy.

Here’s the point: Shiny tools be damned (yes, we said it!), because your community is what matters most.

Here’s how to tap into the energy of your community for growth:

• 1. User Generated Content

  60% of consumers believe User Generated Content (UGC) is the most authentic marketing content, and 84% of consumers say they trust peer recommendations over all other kinds of advertising.

  Action Item: Monitor UGC like crazy and engage like it’s your job!! For example, let’s say a micro-influencer creates an awesome music video using your product. Your brand was mentioned but never tagged. When you’re social listening, you’ll catch valuable UGC.

• 2. Re-Use What Works

  Do you have a good book that you’ve kept for years? You’ve flipped and finished through its pages, but you keep it sitting on the shelf like a valued piece of gold. Perhaps you’ll open it again for reference, or just not to forget its impactful material.

  Good social content can be just like that book you keep. After all, there’s a reason why your audience valued it (or saved it!).

  There is no shame in re-purposing content that is true to your brand, and true for your audience. Obviously, stick to repurposing evergreen content (not the Christmas post that performed well back in December).

  Action Item: You don’t decide what your community likes – they do. Harsh … we know. Which social posts, blogs or web pages are performing best? Why? Reproduce what’s working and show your audience that you’re listening (and if you aren’t, we will!)

• 3. Know They Enemy: Dark Social

  Dark social is the large portion of brand’s shared content and conversation that goes unseen. Dark social typically happens over Messenger and Direct Message, or in indirect link shares over text or WhatsApp. When it comes to how to interact as a brand with dark social, Chief Growth Officer of ICUC, Nicole Van Zanten says, “Take it offline, through dark posts to dark social, to provide that one-to-one customer service management.”

  Action Item: For starters, create a “Dark Social” segment in Google Analytics and find out what percentage of your traffic is being attributed to the wrong source. Loop earned, owned, and paid traffic together. You can also start using Bitly or Owly link shorteners for a clearer image of where clicks are coming from. When you’re ready for a deep dive into dark social engagement, book a consultation with us at ICUC.Social.