Social Media is one of the biggest sources of growth for companies, personal brands, and individuals alike when looking to appeal to the public eye. According to Social Media Today’s CEO and Co-Founder, Greg Hihlstrom.

“With 88% of people trusting online reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust recommendations from personal contacts, and 81% of people saying they’re influenced by what their friends share on social media, an organic social strategy is imperative to building positive brand perception and share-of-voice.”- Greg Kihlstrom

Furthermore, utilizing target marketing can benefit the individuals being reached by an organization as well. Steven Houragan, a Brand Strategy Educator focuses on teaching these methods to organizations and CEOs around the world through his platform on BrandMasterAcademy.

 “A target audience is a specific group of people most likely want or need what your brand offers.”- Steven Houragan

Together, let’s explore what brands are doing in addition to these ideas to expand their reach and utilize those social media growth-hacking strategies.

• Collaborate with Clients

“The plan is to collaborate with the athletes and showcase them in a different light. Collaboration is key. We want to be an outlet for them to be themselves and show who they are without a helmet or a uniform on. If an athlete has a new charitable initiative they’re  launching or a new partnership with a brand or even if they want to showcase their talents in the kitchen, we want to be that outlet for them.” – Ryan Rottman

Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder and CEO of OSDB Sports has found that this tactic has helped athletes immensely. His platform provides these athletes with the tools and resources to market themselves in a similar way to the way iMDB provides a platform for actors and actresses. 

• Stand Behind a Cause

“At Healist, we believe now more than ever it is crucial to prioritize wellness and mental health is a key factor in one’s overall wellbeing. We are honored to work with such talented artists that are able to use their art to deliver important positive messages that can drive change. We hope this inspires more people to speak out so that we can start to normalize the conversation around mental health.” – Sarah Pirrie

Sarah Pirrie, the Brand Director of Healist Naturals is passionate about not only her own brand which provides health products to consumers, but she promotes mental health awareness through artistic exhibits around the topic of overall wellbeing and the cause of mental health awareness.

• Cherish Customer Feedback

“What gets me up is making sure that we’re making customers’ days with an incredible product. And the best part of my week is on Instagram on Friday and Saturday, seeing people’s creations come in.” – Seb Evans

Seb Evans, Co-Founder of Banquist, has realized the true value of customer feedback. By creating a product that initiates social interaction, he has ensured that his product will not only be shared organically with friends on social media, but it’s also a weekly motivation for those that are operating behind the scenes of the brand.

• Be Transparent

“We are creating a future for consumers who don’t have to worry about the efficacy or safety of their beauty and wellness products.” – Evan Zhao

Evan Zhao is a Co-Founder and CEO at Revela, a hair product company. What sets his company and their vision apart is the recognition that the younger generations are craving authenticity and transparency. Through scientific research shared on social platforms and their website, they are able to be completely transparent with their consumers by providing the data and studies they’ve performed on their products in an easily accessible and understandable way. 

• Fill the Gap

“As frequent online shoppers, Lee and I noticed new products and brands emerging almost daily – and we had no trusted source assessing these brands for things we consider to be really important, like quality, design, aesthetic, and ethos. We launched The Quality Edit to be that source so that shoppers can spend less of their time hunting for products and more time simply enjoying them.” – Lauren Kleinman

Lauren Kleinman has spent her time as a Co-Founder of The Quality Edit striving to become that trusted source for their clients by providing truthful reviews and a transparent and authentic look into the brand itself through social media posts so that consumers can see an entire picture of the organization and their products.

• Don’t Forget Existing Customers

“The biggest thing companies can do right now is to use all the touch points we have already and use them to continue to reach our existing customers. If you want to make it, you have to care about every single touch point with customers.” – Jason Wong

Entrepreneur and CEO of Building Blocks, Jason Wong has been inspiring other entrepreneurs with his brand to encourage success. While it can be exciting and motivating to see social media numbers increase overnight, it’s important that the focus is not solely on those new potential clients but on historical clients as well.

• Make Purchasing Accessible 

“There’s a reason why diabetes products have the reputation they do. Our goal was to change that and make them way more accessible. The process should be straightforward and not overly expensive. It’s a common-sense approach that was a long time coming.” – Michael Hennessy

Diathrive CEO and Founder Michael Hennessy uses social media to share his products to their target audience of consumers with diabetes. They provide easy links to purchase locations that make the sales process significantly easier than their competitors.

• Competition Isn’t Everything

“Our goal is always to be able to connect as many people with the natural world as we can and help them realize that an indoor garden or jungle is absolutely achievable and even easy. We firmly believe in biophilia and the positive health benefits associated with having greenery in your home. If we can reach folks anywhere in America, that’d be Gucci.” – Ryan Lee

As previously stated, transparency and authenticity in social media have become more important than ever. That’s what Ryan Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of Rooted has embraced. Rather than comparing your company to the competition, focus on the good that your company does and allow consumers to see you rise above those competitive bashing. Forbes has even released articles supporting the idea that you are more likely to attract customers when you avoid comparisons.

Growth-Hacking Strategies: Summarized

Focus on collaborating with clients and understanding their needs. Find a cause to stand behind and disrupt the media for good reason. Listen to your consumers and don’t forget about your existing client base. Focus on transparency and authenticity in social media approaches – it’s what the younger generations who make up a majority of social media users want to see. Find a need or niche area and focus on your brand and not comparisons with competitors. These concepts have led many young brands to success through perseverance and thinking outside the box to come up with these ideas.

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