Organically attracting new traffic through social media has always been difficult. Yet the sheer number of brands attempting to do so today makes it even more so. Even when you’re employing the best social media techniques, organic growth is usually a very slow process.

This is exactly where growth hacks come into the picture. These special social media marketing tricks are used to optimize social media success. The key here is to try many different things at once, rather than focusing all of your efforts on a single technique.

Below we discuss the best growth hacks for social media in more detail. When implemented correctly, they are a great way to supplement organic growth to all your social sites. The growth hacks below have all been shown to build and retain social media audiences.

1. Pay-to-Play

While it might have been true in the past, effectively using social media for marketing is no longer free. The vast majority of social platforms are still free, but using them to actually attract new customers no longer is.

If you seriously want to use social media to grow you business, you need to jump in willing to spend some money on your marketing campaign. This is especially true of platforms like Facebook that have built-in paid advertising features. Along these same lines, it’s essential to set a solid marketing budget for your social media efforts.

2. Choice of Platforms

Just because there are a lot of social platforms out there, doesn’t mean your company needs to be active on all of them. It’s more effective to select one or two that most closely match your business’s target audience and focus on these.

For instance, some businesses are better suited towards platforms rich in visuals. Think Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Others do better with the short-length, text-only posts that Twitter is known for. Of course, Facebook is still king in many ways and provides newcomers to social media with a solid introduction to this type of marketing.

3. Create Community

The biggest appeal of following a brand you like on social media is being “in the know.” It makes your audience feel like a part of a larger community. So play up this community feel as much as possible.

How can you do this? A few of the easiest ways include posting events, promotions, discounts, and special offers on your page. When doing this, try to give your customers a unique, behind-the-scenes look at your business.

4. Engage With Your Audience

Perhaps the most important social media marketing tip of all is to actually engage with your audience. Social media isn’t designed as a method of advertising. It’s designed as a way to promote community and to engage with others.

So take the time to listen to what your fans and follows say on your pages. Take their suggestions and feedback into account in the future. Better yet, respond to as many comments as possible. Anything you can do to strengthen your customer relationships through social media is a good thing to be doing.

5. Avoid the Hard Sell

Social media is not the place for the hard sell. It’s not the place to force your brand or message onto your audience. People want to connect with your brand on social media to build a relationship, to become a part of your community, and to see what your company is really like.

Take this idea to heart and use your social media platforms to connect with others. Don’t include overly promotional posts and pictures that brag about how awesome your company, services, or products are. Follow the tips above to engage with your fans and followers and grow these relationships. If you do this and create a good image in their minds, conversions will follow.

There is no one technique that can be used to achieve social media success. You must dabble in a number of different areas and try different many things to truly be successful. See what works, see what doesn’t, and go from there.