Guide: Creating an organic content strategy and outsmarting algorithms

This article was written with the precious collaboration of Rosalie Gilbert.

Did you know that the algorithms used by the different social networking platforms alter the visibility of your company? These underlying rules can have a big impact on your reach and interaction with your audience. Let’s see what it’s all about, by first answering the basic questions in order to better understand the issue of algorithms.

What is an algorithm?

An algorithm is actually a real charmer. Its goal is to keep you on its social platform as long as possible by analyzing your data and presenting you with content that you might like, and that meets certain criteria the platform is trying to push (e.g., the video format content that has taken instagram by storm 😫)

How do algorithms affect the number of people who view your content?

Algorithms are very difficult to master, as they are constantly evolving over time and each platform has its own to define the portion of organic content on it. It is therefore important to stay informed of new changes and adapt your organic strategy as needed.

If, instead, you stay in your posting habits without taking into account the latest changes, you could see your organic reach – the number of people who have seen your content not from a paid source – decline without much understanding. Faced with this phenomenon, and in the lack of time that characterizes our crazy days, many companies opt to monetize their publications. This serves the platforms well, let’s face it.

Basically, publishing in an organic way seems rather simple. All you have to do is create an account and share content on social media without investing any money (media budget).

Is this the option that generates the most views/views? Unfortunately, no.

But how do you stay on the organic side, and make it worthwhile? How do you create engagement with your audience and be visible on platforms to the people who care? This is what we try to elucidate in this summary guide.

Step 1: Learn about your audience

Investigate and retrieve key information about people being attracted to your content like:

• Their age
• Their genre
• Their profession
• Their cultural environment
• Their Family status
• Their Education
• Their Lifestyle and interests

Then, take the time to analyze them to help you create a marketing strategy other than on your social platforms. By knowing exactly who your audience is, you will know how to address them. Facebook and instagram share this kind of data in your account settings.

Step 2: Choose your platforms strategically, then optimize them

Do you know which social platforms your target audience uses? Don’t hesitate to ask directly at the source using a survey to find out what your current subscribers and visitors think. Who knows? You may be surprised at the results!

Knowing where to spend your time and energy is more than important! Then, in order to know how to target your ideal audience, you need to know them. It is therefore not necessary to be on absolutely every platform if the people you want to attract only use a few of them frequently.

Social media optimization (SMO) means helping search engines and paid advertisements get your business in the top results when someone searches for a type of service, product or company like yours. To do this, you need to increase your brand awareness and visibility.

Here’s how:

1. While logged into your company accounts, get involved in discussions under other companies’ posts. Like and share! Be active.
2. Prioritize quality over quantity by having engaging and informative content. And aesthetically appealing.
3. Make sure your company name, contact information, website and logo are easily recognizable and identical wherever they are mentioned on your platforms of choice.
4. Determine the best time to publish based on your past statistics
5. Always add a call-to-actionthat is, a phrase or button that prompts people to take an action. Whether it’s sharing, commenting, liking, retweeting or clicking a button. This reminds people to interact and will help increase engagement. Sometimes when you ask… 😇
6. Take the time to research the most used keywords and hashtags according to your field and topic of the day. Keep in mind: “What might my audience/customers be looking for to get to see my content?” Here is an example to guide you in the choice of your hashtags: 3-4 general keywords to the domain and very popular, 3-4 specific keywords to the domain, but more niché, 3-4 keywords based on location, or the topic of the day for example!

Step 3: Adapt your strategy to each platform

As mentioned earlier, each social platform has its own algorithm. Your strategy could therefore vary from one to the other depending on the order of importance.

We referred to a reference in the field, Hootsuite, to get the latest information on the type of content.

Facebook

1. Create news that your audience finds interesting and informative
2. Publish clear, authentic and honest content
3. Interact with as many people as possible who comment on your posts and mention you (more interactions = positive)
4. Boost your audience’s engagement by creating a community
5. Prioritize stories and reels that are exempt from the main Feed algorithm (more people will see them)
6. Keep some content-only posts simpler.
7. Invite your friends and colleagues to share your content for added credibility. Sharing is easier and more instinctive on facebook.

Instagram

1. Add portrait mode reels that are entertaining and musical
2. Schedule your content at the right time
3. Engage your audience through surveys and storytelling sessions
4. Use hashtags as a way to communicate with the algorithm that doesn’t understand what your image represents
5. Maintain consistency across your posts and topics (content pillars)
6. Look at your statistics to see what works best, repeat or adjust your marketing strategy if necessary.

TikTok

1. Change your account type to TikTok pro (Creator or Business) to have access to your statistics
2. Find your community, which has a For You page similar to yours
3. Grab your audience’s attention in the first few seconds
4. Write a compelling description (there is a maximum of 150 characters so each word must be chosen wisely)
5. Publish high quality videos, it’s essential
6. Share your content when your audience is most active
7. Chat with other Tiktokers and don’t be embarrassed to do a Duet, Stitch or video in response to another
8. Use hashtags
9. Add popular music and sounds to take advantage of current trends

YouTube

1. Use the right keywords in the description section
2. Create an attractive thumbnail (a cover photo of your video) to entice people to click
3. Encourage viewers to watch other videos on your channel and “like” it.
4. Attract views by promoting your videos on other social networks
5. Stay engaged by replying to comments and commenting on other channels
6. Ask questions during your videos, inviting people to express themselves in comments. Survey their interests and ask for their input.
7. Experiment!

Twitter

1. Tweet regularly (1-2 times a day) to increase your visibility
2. Check your account to add credibility
3. Know the best times to publish
4. Use popular hashtags
5. Add photos, videos, and GIFs to your posts
6. Create content that prompts a response, a notification or even a Gif in return
7. Try the questionnaires for more engagement
8. Stay tuned for events, parties and trends
9. Share again your most successful publications (while being original of course and not just with a retweet)
10. Keep track of your statistics

So there you have it, we hope these tips will guide you to a better organic content strategy on your social media of choice. In any case, consistency and persistence will guarantee your long-term success. Need help? Contact us: we will see to help you or put you in touch with experts 🙌