leveraging democracy v2: how to utilize platforms like reddit for growth hacking
TRANSCRIPT
LEVERAGING DEMOCRACYBRIAN SWICHKOW, GHOST INFLUENCE
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
LET’S START WITH A STORY…
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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
INSTEAD OF TELLING THE WORLD WHO YOU ARE, SHOW THEM.
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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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THE WORD "DEMOCRACY" LITERALLY MEANS "RULE BY THE PEOPLE." IN A (TRUE) DEMOCRACY, THE PEOPLE GOVERN.
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BRAND PLATFORMS
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORMS
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USERS SELECT CHANNELS
USERS JOIN COMMUNITIES
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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TAKE YOUR FIRST STEPS
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
@GHOSTINFLUENCE
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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)
LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN HELP.
@GHOSTINFLUENCE
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