When it comes to all things social media, ‘organic’ is the name of the game. Whether it’s organic reach, organic engagement, or organic content, a genuine process or post is always better than something automated or fabricated. Only one thing stands between you and the organic goal you’re seeking: the algorithm. Luckily, in her talk titled “Organic Traffic is NOT Dead” at Social Media Marketing World 2020, Holly Homer breaks down how you can up your organic traffic game.
In what should come as a surprise to nobody, it essentially boils down to conducting extensive testing on your previous work to see how it has performed in accordance with the algorithm. Just as scientists conduct tests to see what research yields results, you should be conducting tests to see what social media strategies yield results. It’ll be different for everyone, but Homer provided her audience up to thirteen places to start. In the words of Homer herself, take in the following information about all thirteen places to test, pick one, and start there. Getting yourself on the right path only has to start with a single step.
One great place to start is to download the Google Search Console. This will allow you to conduct testing on your posts in two different ways. The Search Console will allow you to see how many clicks your posts are getting for a given search. With this information you can see what posts are driving more traffic to your page and, hopefully, replicate the strategies employed by those posts.
The Search Console also gives you access to Google Discover – the section of Google where you see recommended posts curated for you. By filling out a quick form, you can make your posts eligible for recommendations by Google Discover and then analyze the data surrounding how often your posts are recommended to others. Just as you did with the more basic function of the Search Console, take notice of the posts that are recommended the most, analyze what worked well in those posts, and replicate. Homer noted at the beginning of her talk that nobody should be afraid to “rinse and repeat.” In fact, once you’ve mastered how to succeed within any given algorithm, recycling the same types of content is simply the smartest way to operate.
Pinterest is also a creative place to conduct testing, and if you’re not already using Pinterest this may just convince you to get started. According to Homer, Pinterest places significant value on the opinions of casual, everyday users of the platform. If someone who rarely pins posts decides to pin one of yours, that post will be elevated within the algorithm. With a business account set up on Pinterest, you can view analytics related to how many pins you get, how much traffic is driven from Pinterest to your website, and more. I’m sure you can guess what your next step will be; see what performed best, analyze your strategies, and repeat.
A relevant concept that Homer continually brought up throughout her talk was that of cold traffic versus warm traffic. She described cold traffic as people you don’t know, typically measured in thousands, who will come to your website or click on your post. They may not stay, they may not engage, but they’re still important. The reason they’re important is because you can “heat them up” and transform them into warm traffic – the people who know you, measured in much smaller numbers, who genuinely interact with your content and care about it. All the tests you’re conducting should be done with the goal of converting cold traffic into warm traffic.
Homer listed a variety of other places to conduct testing, which include your Facebook Business Page, Instagram, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, your personal Facebook Profile, your email list, and more. If there’s one takeaway from her talk, it’s that there’s certainly no shortage of places to conduct tests to see what pieces of content perform best. However, in the end it’s up to you to utilize the abundance of resources that surround you and maximize your performance. Homer is right – organic traffic isn’t dead. So long as you put in the effort to see what your audience wants, you’ll be well on your way to converting cold traffic to warm traffic.