What does going viral mean?
Do you recall the famous ice bucket challenge, which went viral on social media?
When content goes viral, it becomes widely popular and talked about. Celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Chris Pratt, Bill Gates, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and others took the ALS association's ice bucket challenge to the internet to raise awareness for Gehrig's disease.
So, what exactly does 'going viral' mean?
It refers to a post, video, image, or other content that circulates rapidly on social media platforms, receiving much attention, likes, shares, comments, saves, and engagement within a short timeframe.
Though there is no universal view count for content to get viral on social media, a post with 1,00,000+ likes or views and 1000+ comments moves you to the safer side, and there are high chances for it to go viral.
Do you want to know the tips & tricks on how to go viral on social media? Let’s explore some secrets in this blog, do try and keep up till the end.
How To Increase The Chances Of Going Viral?
Not every post will go viral, but we can put in as much effort as possible to make it happen. M21 lists the following points to increase the chances of your content getting viral.
1. Know your audience & post consistently
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- If you want to make your content viral, as a first step, you should understand your audience first. Know what content your followers enjoy and understand their core interests, needs and desires.
- By conducting Q&A, polls, and live, you can gain valuable insights into your target audience’s preferences. Through research and analysis, you can create content that resonates with them and connect on an emotional level.
- Post consistently to keep your audience engaged and anticipated. It is also a secret key to building a loyal community.
Ensure to post different types of content, and here’re a few for your reference.
- Motivational content
- How-to guides
- Behind the scene videos
- Memes
- Case studies
- Static images
- Long & short videos
- Infographics
Pro tip: To post consistently, plan your content calendar, mixing up images, videos and text in advance
2. Utilize trending topics, keywords and hashtags
- Always have an eye for trending topics, challenges and create content quickly to gain more reach and engagement.
- Participating in trends boosts your profile’s visibility and enhances the chances of your content getting viral.
- Use relevant keywords and hashtags to increase the content’s reach to social media users.
Do you know?
Posts with at least one hashtag receive 12.6% more engagement on average than posts without any hashtags
3. Optimise your content for different platforms
- You should customise your social media content for specific platforms.
- You can reach your target audience in different channels by adjusting your copy and its length, resizing your images, and changing hashtag selections.
- Flexing your creativity actress platforms is the key to yielding the best results.
Do you know?
Instagram’s engagement rate is higher than other platforms, so visually appealing content works best
Here’re 7 Secret Tips To Go Viral!
Going viral may be difficult, but it is not impossible. Here M21 reveals the 7 secret tricks to creating viral content
#Tip 1: Create high-quality and engaging content
- Ensure your content is well-crafted, informative, visually appealing and relevant to your target audience.
- When you create high-quality content, it captures the attention of your followers and makes them want to share it with others.
- Include compelling headlines, enhance your storytelling techniques and change your interactive elements
#Tip 2: Be authentic and unique
- When your content is original and unique, it stands out from others, making people engage more and share because it is different.
- Instead of following trends mindlessly, you can share personal stories, experiences or perspectives that reflect your authenticity.
- Create content that often relates to audiences on a deeper level.
Brands like Zomato or Nike are great examples of amping up the creativity factor in their campaigns
We hope your doubts about how to go viral on social media are clearing up! Read further for definite success.
#Tip 3: Using the power of influencers
- You can find influencers specialised within your niche and ask them to circulate the message speaking of your brand, product or service to reach a broader audience.
- Partnering with a notable influencer can increase the possibility of shares and engagement.
#Tip 4: Using a lot of visuals/videos
- Do you know that the human brain processes visual content faster? Yes! So, visual content is more likely to be shared on social media platforms, and you have your catch now!
- Using eye-catching images, infographics, and videos (short and long, depending on the platform to be posted) instead of text can make your content more sharable
- Also, when you provide information via video, your followers can take it in more easily
#Tip 5: Add a little humour
- Humour always works the best! It is because when the content is funny, users share it. It is a ripple effect; when shared, others enjoy it before sharing it with their friends.
- However, humour should be within the limits depending on your brand's values and tone.
#Tip 6: Include User-Generated Content
- Whenever you share content, make way for your audience to share their experiences, stories, or creative interpretation related to your content.
- You can create a specific hashtag or theme and build a community.
- Including user-generated content increases community engagement and fosters a sense of belonging.
#Tip 7: Start A Challenge
- When more users interact with your post, there are more chances for it to get viral. Challenges are one such way to increase participation and interaction.
- Create a challenge that aligns with your niche and circulate it under specific hashtags or these.
How To Find Viral Content Ideas?
Your content might go viral in the future, but what are the best ways to keep up with the trend?
Idea 1: Always keep an eye on topics discussed in the news and popular forms
Idea 2: Follow what your competitors are creating and what’s working for them
Idea 3: Ask for content ideas from your audience and understand what they are genuinely interested in
Idea 4: Stay current with your industry’s current topics and trends.
Idea 5: Check Q&A sites like Quora to find content ideas
Idea 6: Closely follow influencers in your niche to see what content they are creating to take inspiration
Idea 7: Hashtags are like a door to trending topics. You can check for specific hashtags to investigate those discussions
Idea 8: Attend events like creator meetups, digital marketing boot camps, etc., to create new content ideas
Analyse the reach and engagement
To track if your posts have gone viral or any viral post’s engagement and reach, use any of the tools below. These are only a few out of many.
Instead of doing everything yourself, you can rely on so that they can do the part for you.
Sometimes managing it all can be overwhelming and you can rely on digital marketing agencies like M21 to reliably handle your content creation and monitoring.
Why choose M21 for viral marketing?
With over a decade of experience in branding and creative marketing, M21 became a member of Dentsu International in 2017. M21 is a Muscat-based full-service agency focusing on digital marketing, advertising, event management, and public relations.
M21 is a one-stop shop for all your branding needs because its professionals objectively examine your issues and provide comprehensive solutions. Dentsu M21 has received numerous awards and recognitions for its innovative and tailored services that aid in the success of your business.
Conclusion
Here you have- a total of 10 secret tips on how to go viral on social media. Though a viral hit requires a stroke of luck and good ideas, the chances of your posts becoming a trending sensation are easier with these hints.
It is also to be noted that what works for one might not work for another. But over time, with consistent effort and learning from your audience’s responses, you will be able to create content strategies that stand better chances of going viral.
DentsuM21world: The Social Media Agency that Makes Your Brand Shine
Reach out to us today and see the difference we can make for your business.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1). What type of content goes viral?
Content that taps into strong emotions like humour, awe or inspiration, and those of shareable, relatable and connect broad audiences, oozing uniqueness and clarity, usually go viral.
2). How many views make a video viral?
Depending on the platform and the context, the number of views required to make a post go viral varies. Usually, a post with 1,00,000+ likes or views and 1000+ comments is considered viral.
3). Which is the easiest social media platform to go viral on?
Though there are no guaranteed results, Instagram, which focuses on short, engaging videos, is easier when compared to others. It is because of the app’s algorithmic emphasis on discovering and sharing trendy and creative content.
4). Why is my post not going viral?
There are so many factors, including relevance, timing, content quality and engagement, that amounts to a post to get viral. Creating content that emphasises your audience, that is sharable and encourages interaction and using appropriate hashtags can increase the chances of your post getting viral.
5). What percentage of videos go viral?
With an enormous amount of content shared online, only a small fraction captures the attention and engagement required to go viral. Typically below 1% of videos go viral, and those also depend on factors like content quality, timing, relevance and social sharing dynamics.
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