Growth Newsletter #118

Here’s a quick tactic for you. It’ll take about as long to implement as it will to read. 

Ever find yourself mesmerized by a GIF or Instagram Reel, only to realize you've watched it like 10 times in a row?

Well, that's actually a solid way to ensure an algo boost on social platforms.

If you make your video loop seamlessly (and keep it interesting and engaging throughout), you'll have a chance of hitting a retention rate over 100%. That signals to platforms that it was a really good video and increases the chance of it going viral.

Author James Clear was an early adopter of some interesting content marketing techniques—such as click-to-tweet for nearly every part of his newsletter.

Recently, he turned an entire article into a chain of Instagram Stories.

The Stories ended with two links: one to the complete article on his site, the other to his newsletter signup page. See the last two slides below:

Now remember, most people on Instagram are looking for dopamine hits of cats being silly.

So many will not be bothered to read each image—which means that the folks who do click through and subscribe are genuinely interested.

James uses the same strategy as a featured Stories highlight on his profile, where he shares the first chapter of his book Atomic Habits for free. It’s a simple showcase of his work for anyone new to his writing.

Execution here is pretty easy. Use Canva or any other basic image editor to break up an article into separate images. This is worth trying if your product is content and you’re building (or already have) an audience on Instagram.

Instead of having an influencer come up with an entirely new concept for your brand, ask them to recreate one of their best hits.

But make just one tweak: feature your product.

Example:

• Here’s an original viral video from Michael Incognito, which first appeared on TikTok.
• And here’s the version posted on Reformation’s Instagram, featuring Michael in the brand’s clothing.

There's no script, no testimonial, not even a brand mention. But the recreated content went viral just like the original—except this time, on a brand account.

This is a clever way to partner with influencers to get more impressions and engagement in a fairly risk-free fashion. Viral hits often stay as viral hits.

Look for high-performing content that shows products like yours, even if the product itself isn’t the main focus. For example, a furniture brand could recreate a creator speaking to the camera in one of their showrooms, rather than the creator's studio.