Today, more than ever before, content goes viral on the Internet. This viral content can spread from person to person like wildfire, going from millions of viewers in just days or even hours.
But why does this happen?
Why does some content go viral while other content languishes in obscurity?
The answer may be surprising to you – and it’s not what you might think.
Today we’re going to look at the entire strategy behind going viral – and we’ll also look at the science that explains why it works so well…
Create an informative, humorous, or shock value piece
It seems to be more important these days to try and get something that you created on social media noticed by as many people as possible.
- To achieve this, one technique used is to create content that will be shared by people for different reasons.
- Shock value works well with some people and humor tends to be pretty popular across the board.
- People often share things they find useful because it helps them deal with any problems they may have.
- While other types of viral content offer their viewers a way of escaping from their reality or gives them an outlet for their own emotions which can make them feel less alone.
- Creating a post or video with all three aspects of shareability can ensure that your content gets seen by lots of people and the odds of it going viral increase drastically.
Know your audience
Knowing your audience is crucial in determining how to create a piece of content that has the potential to go viral.
For example, if you are trying to engage teenage audiences and want to put out a meme, you would need to do some research into what kind of memes speak most closely with this group.
Determining who your audience is also entails understanding their values and beliefs as well as lifestyle and where they spend their time online.
This way, you can create content that speaks closely to them in a way that will catch their attention.
Use Your Influencer Network
Networking with influencers can do wonders for your brand. If you want to take the first step, try reaching out to influencers you admire or who are in your niche on social media.
Make sure to comment, like and share their posts, so they know you’re following them. You could also reach out to them on a more personal level through email or phone calls–the key is consistency.
Schedule the posts with social media management tools
Another aspect to consider is scheduling posts in advance so that they go live at certain times throughout the day or week. Doing so will help grow brand awareness and customer loyalty as well as increase the number of shares on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Share it on Pinterest before Facebook and Twitter
A recent study by Social Fresh found that content on Pinterest has twice the engagement rates of Facebook and Twitter. They also found that tweets with a link get only 2.5 times as many retweets as those without. It may sound counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you think about what is the point of each social media site
- Facebook for communication
- Twitter for short updates and gaining followers
- Pinterest for curating boards on what you like
Social media managers are putting a lot more time into making content for Pinterest because of its high levels of engagement. However, if you want to go viral, make sure your content gets shared on other platforms before posting it on Facebook or tweeting it out.
Promote it with paid Facebook Ads
The two important factors to take into account whenwhile creating your Facebook ads are targeting and copy.
- Targeting is important because it will help you reach the right audience with the right message. The idea behind this is that if you spend more time targeting specific people, you’ll be more likely to get a response from them.
- Copy is very important for getting people to click on the link in your ad and go visit your website. If you write something with excitement and that really conveys what the post will be about, then there’s a higher chance people will actually click on it and read it!
Monitor Reddit to see if you get any traction there
Monitoring Reddit to see if your content gets any traction is a good way of gauging how successful it might be. Plus, you never know, it could lead to an influx of new subscribers.
Likening viral content to the hottest restaurant in town is a good analogy–everyone’s interested in checking out what all the fuss is about. And even if they’re not particularly hungry themselves, they’re still going to try and drag their friends and colleagues with them, just so they can have something juicy to gossip about at lunch the next day.
Conclusions
Also many businesses and agencies work to create content that they believe will go viral and are often disappointed. The unfortunate reality is that a lot of companies just don’t know the full strategy behind why content goes viral. To really understand how to make content go viral, you need to pay attention to your audience, always be authentic, and understand their needs.