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This one is from the vault!

It’s an old post, but hoping there’s some wisdom (or entertainment) in here.

When social media platforms launch a new feature, they really want it to succeed and they really really don’t want it to fail. To make sure they get the results they’re looking for they give an extra boost to posts that use of them. Here’s how you can take advantage:

The second you see a platform launch a new feature, you want to start thinking about how you can create content for that medium. There’s no “golden window” of a timeframe where the benefits start or stop, but it’s generally accepted that the earlier you get in on it, the better.

You usually won’t have to look super hard for their new features.

Every day you wait to hop in on a new trend is a day you’re missing out on the boost that they provide.

As an example, let’s take Instagram Reels. Instagram has a huge interest in the success of Reels, so they’re going to try to get as many people using it as fast as possible. Right when you start to notice they’re rolling it out, you want to scour your existing content for anything that could be trimmed to 30 seconds or less. Obviously you want to create original content for Reels, but at first it’s important to just participate and show Instagram that you’re an early adopter.

This is huge, especially for smaller accounts. We all know that it’s easier to grow an account from 500,000 followers to 1 million than it is to grow an account from 0 to 500,000. New features though, are an equal playing field. Smaller accounts can get the same push that a larger account gets providing a real chance to compete and grow extremely quickly.

My colleague started an account to foster a community interested in honing their leadership skills. He started the account in September 2020. As of February 3, 2021, he’s grown the account to over 108,000 followers almost exclusively using Instagram Reels.

Let that sink in. He grew an account from 0 to 100K in less than 6 months solely by hopping in on a new feature.

It’s not just that he used the feature though. He added value with the feature.

Instead of coming up with brand new content, he used the account to curate advice and tips from other creators. So, not only did he grow an account from 0 to 100K, he did it without creating much content.

This adds value in so many ways. His followers now know and trust him as a source of leadership advice that promotes a variety of people and perspectives. It also adds tremendous value to the original creators of the content who get featured by expanding their reach and ability to capitalize on his growing audience.

Because this content resonated so well with his audience, Instagram showed it to more people. And then more people. And then even more people. The initial boost he got from using the platform has now been supplemented by the boost he gets from maintaining such a high engagement rate. Typically, his posts have an engagement rate of over 4.5%! This rewarding cycle means that Instagram will continue to put his content in front of a relevant audience and then that audience will continue to like and share and signal to Instagram that it should be shown to more people.

When you see your content getting a ridiculous number of views and likes, it’s tempting to bask in the success. Enjoy it, but don’t let up.

Keep using the new feature, but don’t stop expanding. In this example of success with Instagram Reels, a next step would be creating more IGTV videos, more interactive story content and more traditional posts. Now that you’ve signaled to Instagram that you’re an account that people engage with, they have an interest in showing your content more across the platform, not just in Reels.

Get creative about how you’re sourcing the content. Create original content, edit existing content, and curate content from other accounts (with permission, of course).

Don’t get discouraged if some posts don’t work and you bomb a couple times to start off. Kill it and move on to a new style, a new idea, and repeat the process until you see some traction. Then lean in watch it take off.

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