Welcome to Part I of Edition No. 15 of my weekly strategy newsletter, providing practical analysis on the latest in the world of digital content.
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Highlights from Friday’s updates:
TikTok is Overtaking YouTube
Bad News from Facebook for Publishers
Down with Twitter Copypasta
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Contents
I. Tip: Google Analytics 4 + AMP
II. Analysis: A Secret About Instagram DMs
Tip: Google Analytics 4 + AMP (+ WordPress)
This week’s tip comes thanks to Kyle at the Connecticut Mirror.
If you run a content website that uses AMP articles, you may have noticed a significant traffic dropoff as you began your transition from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4.
That’s because Google Analytics 4 doesn’t support AMP.
If your site runs on WordPress, though, there’s now a plug-in you can install for this very issue:
This is a simple plugin to add GA4 support to AMP and insert GA4 tags into your AMP WordPress pages or posts.
Since it appears to have been released this month – and updated four days ago – there aren’t any reviews.
A second option, then, would be to use the code provided by David Vallejo. (If you don’t have WordPress, this is for you.)
MORE: How To Install Google Analytics 4
Both Roland (who created the WordPress plug-in) and David acknowledge that their solution may be an imperfect one. But unless Google creates an official solution itself, that’s to be expected.
Personally, I turned off AMP pages on my site, which is run on WordPress. If that’s not an option, investigate which of these options would be best for you, and if you have your team’s buy-in, install them ASAP so you don’t miss out on anymore traffic data in your GA4 dashboard.
Did you find this tip useful? Share it to help spread the word.
Analysis: An Insta Algorithm Super Boost
I have noticed a fairly recent Instagram trend in which people strategically ask you to ask them to DM you. Why might that be?
If you’re trying to boost your algorithm ranking on Instagram, getting invited to slide into someone’s DMs is just about the best thing that can happen to you.
This Reel from @myanichol is a perfect example:
For our purposes, the Reel itself isn’t what we’re going to analyze, but rather, the tactic’s Mya uses to attract interactions. This isn’t just about the DMs, though.
Let’s count the ways she entices her users to train the algorithm that they want to see more of her content in their feed, and creates some highly qualified leads in the process.
1. She asks users – toward the end of the caption – if they “loved this tip?” What’s the big deal about it being at the end?
Here’s what the Reel looks on your screen without performing any interactions:
You’re not going to see the full caption (like in the first screenshot) – i.e. “Loved this tip?” – unless you tap on it and scroll down.
Algorithm Boost No. 1: Opening the caption and scrolling down to read more
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2. Going back to the question: “Love this tip?” If someone answers “Yes” in their mind, she gives them a next step. After a one-sentence description of a course she’s selling, she tells users to comment with a “❤️.”
Algorithm Boost No. 2: Commenting on the post
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3. What happens if the users do comment with the ❤️ ?
I’ll DM you a link to the course!
Since she’s (probably) only going to DM users who comment on her post, she knows that they are already expecting her to do so.
By commenting on her post with the ❤️ , she has the user’s implicit permission to DM them, something that would otherwise be considered spammy and intrusive. Not only that, but she confirms to those users with a follow-up comment that she’s going to message them.
The user also knows what to expect. The fewer surprises in the DMs, the better.
Algorithm Boost No. 3: DMing users who gave “permission” to do so
Boost No. 3A: Responding to all comments
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4. Lastly – and this is something you wouldn’t catch unless you watched to the end – she asks users to “save” the Reel so they can refer back to it later on.
Algorithm Boost No. 4: Saving the Reel
Boost No. 4A: If a user did see the part of her Reel where she said this, it’s because they watched until the end. The longer someone watches your Reels, the better
You don’t have to be selling something to use this tactic. It could simply be free resources, or additional information you didn’t put in the caption. “Want the recipe? Comment with a 🍞 and I’ll DM it to you.”
If you look at Mya’s comments, you won’t see a ton of ❤️ replies. And that’s fine. Keep two things in mind:
She has more than 160,000 followers, and it’s not as if she had thousands of ❤️ comments. Don’t be frustrated if you have a smaller following and get even fewer responses when trying this.
That being said, the more attractive the offer, the more likely people are to want to know more.
If you sell subscriptions to a news website, you could ask users to DM you for a discount. e.g. “DM us to get a code for 50% off the first 6 months of your subscription.)Even if the number of users who do respond is small, that’s OK, too. These are highly qualified leads. Remember, in order for the user to even receive the DM, they had to 1) watch the Reel 2) open the caption 3) leave a specific comment.
Do you have any tips for boosting your algorithm ranking? Let me know in the comments.
See you Friday for a practical analysis of the latest news in the world of digital content strategy.