YOU’RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE IF
▸ you want an evergreen strategy for increasing traffic and conversions
▸ you’ve been hit by algorithms and are back at the drawing board
▸ you’re tired of chasing trends and fighting for reach
▸ it doesn’t matter if you have no experience with Reddit or other democratic platforms — what you learn today will amplify all of your social engagements
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INTRODUCTION
▸ Built ex-fiancé’s dog a YouTube channel with 6,500 subscribers and 2M+ views
▸ Broke a server launching my blog | 450K pageviews, first 72 hours, $0 adspend
▸ Made a girl on Tinder world famous | 25 million impressions in under 72 hours
▸ Created “most absurd email to give in bar” | 11K pageviews first 30 minutes
▸ Achieved consistent 2,137% ROI selling information products on Facebook
▸ Increased client conversions 3,100% by suggesting a single UI change
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ONE SIMPLE FORMULA
NEVER EXPECT YOUR AUDIENCE’S STANDARDS TO BE LOWER THAN YOUR OWN.
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@GHOSTINFLUENCEtweet this
BRIAN SWICHKOW
▸ Social Engineer
▸ Founder, Ghost Influence
▸ Host, Ghost Influence Podcast
▸ CMO, PrimeMind
▸ @ghostinfluence
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ADWEEK | BUSINESS INSIDER | FORBES | SEARCH ENGINE LAND | OBSERVER REDDIT | HACKER NEWS | INBOUND | ENGADGET | CRACKED | AL JAZEERA
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
▸ how to leverage the power of democratic platforms
▸ what it looks like to measure the analytics of success
▸ clearly defined steps to getting started
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BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE
STICK TO THE END
▸ link you to download this presentation
▸ baller checklist for getting started
▸ a gif of a puppy
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LET’S GET STARTED
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▸ 450K visitors in first 3 days, average time on site 2 minutes, 17K shares
▸ Featured by AdWeek, Business Insider, Inbound, Hacker News
▸ 1.5M visitors, 7M earned media impressions, 38K backlinks
▸ Covered by Search Engine Journal (x2), Cracked, Observer, Al Jazeera
▸ Media contacts, requests to speak, and introductions to clients for over a year
BLAKE JAMIESON TINDER HACKS
RICHARD LITTAUER THE USER IS DRUNK
UNICORNS
ANON SHIRT WAS CASH
BOBBY EDWARDS SQUATTY POTTY
ALGORITHMS ARE DESIGNED TO PREDICT PEOPLE, YET MOST MARKETERS FOCUS ON THE MATH INSTEAD OF HUMANS.
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DIGITAL EMPATHY IS SOCIAL LEVERAGE
WHAT WE’RE LEARNING
▸ people want to feel understood, not be told
▸ audiences should never outgrow their relevance
▸ treat every follower like they’re your only follower (video)
▸ don’t underestimate the power of depth and detail
▸ accept compliments with gratitude, but bestow credit abundantly
• BECOME A MEMBER OF YOUR AUDIENCE • SPEAK TO A WHOLE, AVOID IRRELEVANCE • FRAME AND PRESENT, DON’T PITCH AND SELL • REWARD PARTICIPATION WITH YOUR ENERGY • AVOID BROAD LANGUAGE IN COMMUNICATION • GIVE CREDIT EVERYWHERE POSSIBLE
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PEOPLE FIRST PRINCIPALS
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MASTER COMMUNICATION
▸ How to Win Friends & Influence People
▸ Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone
▸ Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator
▸ Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking)
▸ Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age
▸ The Definitive Book of Body Language
DEMOCRACY IS MADE OF PEOPLE, YOU CAN’T LEVERAGE ONE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE OTHER.
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@GHOSTINFLUENCEtweet this
THE WORD "DEMOCRACY" LITERALLY MEANS "RULE BY THE PEOPLE." IN A (TRUE) DEMOCRACY, THE PEOPLE GOVERN.
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BRAND PLATFORMS
▸ YouTube
▸ Vine
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS
▸ Imgur
▸ Voat
▸ Hacker News
▸ Product Hunt
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“A VOTE IS LIKE A RIFLE: ITS USEFULNESS DEPENDS UPON THE CHARACTER OF THE USER.”
Theodore Roosevelt
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goodreads.com/quotes
NOTABLES
▸ content is tied to a community (not an individual)
▸ this affords the message to be larger than the individual
▸ people’s responses are binary (acceptance or rejection)
▸ it’s a strikeout or a home run, nothing in between
▸ every outcome offers communication intelligence
▸ circular feedback loops amplify future success
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THERE AREN’T “INFLUENCERS” WITHIN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PLATFORM, BUT THERE ARE ELEMENTS OF TRUST THAT BESTOW CERTAIN FREEDOMS
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“GETTING PEOPLE TO HEAR YOUR STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THEN ACT ON IT, REQUIRES USING A PLATFORM’S NATIVE LANGUAGE, PAYING ATTENTION TO CONTEXT, UNDERSTANDING THE NUANCES AND SUBTLE DIFFERENCES THAT MAKE EACH PLATFORM UNIQUE, AND ADAPTING YOUR CONTENT TO MATCH.”
Gary Vaynerchuk
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ON AVERAGE, FACEBOOK USERS CONSUME 660 PAGEVIEWS PER MONTH
ON AVERAGE, REDDIT USERS CONSUME 1,300 PAGEVIEWS PER MONTH
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PEOPLE HUNT FOR WHAT’S BEST AND COMPETE TO BE FIRST TO SUBMIT
THEY’RE PROGRAMMED TO BE OF VALUE TO THE COMMUNITIES THEY’VE JOINED
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CONTRIBUTION TO THE DISCUSSION IS RAISED FOR THE SAME REASONS
STANDARDS ARE HIGHER, CONSUMPTION PATTERNS ELEVATE UNDERSTANDING
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NOTABLES
▸ democratic platforms are the ultimate proving ground
▸ win within a democracy and you win everywhere
▸ epicenter of content coverage and syndication
▸ communities validate content for publishers
▸ publishers source democratic platforms for proven content to cover, winning there equals massive free press
▸ when content is interlaced with a brand, you win big
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MASTER OPPORTUNITY
▸ Mention
▸ Google Alerts
▸ Textwalker Alerts
▸ Google Search Operators
1. SELECT COMMUNITY 2. IDENTIFY LANGUAGE 3. ESTABLISH FRAMEWORK 4. LEVERAGE UNDERSTANDING
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FRANKENSTEIN FORMULA
1. INITIAL WAVES OF TRAFFIC 2. EARNED MEDIA IMPRESSIONS 3. CIRCULAR LEVERAGE
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ANALYTICS OF SUCCESS
NOTABLES
▸ distill the essence of those you want to model
▸ understand your market and make targeted investments
▸ fertilize the perspectives and beliefs of the community
▸ use alert systems to “be everywhere” and bring value
▸ create circular leverage and focus on supporting others
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YOUR FIRST STEPS
▸ like you would learn a language, immerse yourself
▸ join, observe, read, converse, and then begin to speak
▸ join communities that are relevant to you
▸ different communities are relevant to you in different ways
▸ use the frankenstein formula to evaluate and predict
▸ use the ‘rising’ section and make bets on performance
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THE ONE THING
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THERE ARE NO “TRICKS” TO USE HERE. EFFECTIVE LEVERAGE OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PLATFORMS REQUIRES CONTRIBUTION… WHICH YOU CAN (AND SHOULD) DO STRATEGICALLY
DEMOCRACY CAN BE LEVERAGED THROUGH STRATEGIC CONTRIBUTION
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HOW DO I APPLY THIS?
THE OBVIOUS QUESTION IS…
▸ Download this presentation — http://ghostinfluence.com/leveraging-democracy
▸ Download the reddit checklist — http://ghostinfluence.com/reddit-checklist
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BIG STEPS OR SMALL STEPS?
MEASURE YOUR BANDWIDTH
▸ Ghost Influence Community — www.ghostinfluence.com
▸ $97 per month / $997 per year (16% discount)