Secrets of Successful Online Growth

According to 2025 reports by Sprout Social and Hostad HubSpot, 81% of consumers regularly make purchasing decisions influenced by social media content. This shows that online platforms remain a powerful advertising tool and a profitable one. Slobodian Andrii, a digital growth expert, a creator of closed, automated media ecosystems, and a winner of Ukraine's "XM Leader Awards 2024" in the "Digital Transformation Leader" category, shares how to grow your channel fast, capture audience attention, and choose the right platforms for your brand.

"My system is based on five years of social media analytics. By optimizing processes, I built an entire network of entertainment communities from scratch. Today, our combined audience exceeds 5 million followers, with a daily reach of 8.5 million views."

The key element of this system is the use of "closed access mechanics," which is a strategy that increases the perceived value of the content.

Four Steps to Building a Million-Follower Audience

Step 1. Preparation

• Choose your niche. If you're starting from scratch, go with a broad, high-virality niche such as humor, news, or entertainment.
• Source and adapt content. Top sources include Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok. Don't just copy; make the content your own: translate, redesign, or reframe it to increase uniqueness. Study accounts with fast growth and borrow successful formats and topics. Working with trends ensures organic algorithm boosts.

Step 2. Warming Up the Platforms

• Create consistent accounts. Use similar handles across TikTok, Instagram, and Telegram so your brand is easy to find.
• Warm up your account. A week before launching, be active in your niche (like, comment, and follow). This helps algorithms understand your topic and recommend your profile to the right audience.

Step 3. Traffic Flow and Retention

• In your viral platform bio, use only one link: an application link. The "closed club" effect increases perceived exclusivity. In your content, use teasers or cliffhangers that lead viewers to your main channel for the "full story." The closed-access model is a growing media trend and a powerful retention tool. Users consciously apply to join, which builds loyalty and engagement. One of my entertainment channels reached 1 million followers in just one month.
• Audience retention. Before opening access, fill your channel with content so new members don't enter an empty space. In the early weeks, post less often and keep comments closed to reduce unsubscribes. Inside the private community, offer something unique (content they can't find elsewhere). For example, in one of my channels, I post a daily "Morning Meme Pack"—six of the funniest memes of the day, published each morning. This approach works perfectly: even Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has visited and reacted to my content.

Step 4. Scaling Up

• Monetization. Viral platforms generate income through native ads and creator funds. Closed communities bring direct ad sales. Top brands such as Sberbank, Yandex, Alfa Bank, Cooper, Beeline, and Lenta advertise with us. We've also partnered with big names like rapper Morgenstern and popular streamer DungerLyoha to launch successful channels.
• Scaling. Create new accounts and expand to new platforms. With automation tools, you can scale your business without hiring a large team. The combination of viral content and closed-community mechanics drives organic growth and engagement.

Why Build a Network of Media Communities?

We use targeted traffic flows between our channels and products. For example, our visual novel game, which we promoted through channel traffic, gained 1.1 million active users. We also run joint giveaways for brands that need visibility. For large-scale reach, we offer platform customization, for instance, a successful campaign we did with Alfa Bank.

This "traffic flow" strategy works long-term, both for new channels and established ones. Here's a case study: in just 3 weeks, we gained 102,000 new subscribers for an existing entertainment news channel.

How it worked:

1. Finding a hot topic. When the whole CIS region was obsessed with the TV series "Slovo Patsana" (The Boy's Word), we knew rumors about a "second season" would hook people instantly.
2. Launching traffic flow. We chose TikTok for virality. Several creators ran ads saying all details about Season 2 were available in our channel and the ad linked to the application form.
3. Building anticipation. We started collecting sign-up requests and waited for a real news hook. As soon as rumors about the second season dropped, we opened the first wave of invites. During the waiting period, our promo TikToks kept gaining traction, bringing in even more requests. Later, when the next update hit, we opened the channel again and let in the rest of the subscribers.
4. Handling an Already Active Channel. Usually, with a new channel, I recommend posting sparingly and keeping comments closed. But this was an active showbiz news channel, so we couldn't just shut down comments without disrupting followers' habits. Naturally, some people unsubscribed. They came for the series teaser, saw other content, and left. Even with that, we still added over 102,000 followers, growing from 264,000 to 366,000. Today, the channel has over half a million followers.

Traffic-flow algorithms work worldwide. Our next move is to expand into Western markets, fully tailoring content, memes, and hooks to the local audience. Our tech lets us quickly test ideas and find the right approach for each new audience.

Promotion Trends

Right now, Telegram is leading the pack in terms of engagement and user activity, making it one of the hottest platforms to work with. Click-through rates on Telegram channels can be 3–5 times higher than on Instagram.

Telegram also has its own Mini Apps ecosystem, complete with an internal currency called Stars, kind of like crypto. My new Mini App, currently in beta, is powered by AI and built around user interactions with characters. After training, the AI responds almost flawlessly, giving us a powerful way to monetize our engaged audience.

The AI trend isn't going anywhere. I use AI to supercharge my strategy for moving audiences into closed communities. By understanding how exclusivity and intrigue drive people, I create precise AI prompts that instantly generate dozens of viral hooks, encouraging users to join my main channels.

What used to be a one-channel operation can now grow into full media ecosystems. AI lets us scale faster, save time, and produce unique content tailored to every platform.