“Going viral” is the quickest way to become famous these days. With a viral post, you could find a massive new audience of people who might buy your product or service.
Unfortunately, going viral involves as much luck as it does skill. It’s not something you can force or predict.
The good news is you can do a lot of things to increase your odds of going viral. Here are our top tips.
Focus on High-Quality Content
Nobody wants to share second-class content. Focusing on putting out a high quantity of social media posts without worrying about quality is pointless. You would be better off putting out fewer social media posts that are of higher quality content.
Think about Current Events and Trends
What’s the latest hot topic that everybody is searching for? If you can capitalize on that topic, you have a better chance of your post being found and going viral. After all, everybody wants to share content to be part of a trend.
Check the Trending pages of Twitter and YouTube to get a real-time idea of what topics are hot right now.
The only downside to making posts about current events and trends is that you must act fast. The news cycle moves quickly these days. Take too long creating the perfect post on a trending topic, and it will be irrelevant before you post it.
Know Your Audience and Partner with Influencers Popular with Them
As a small business, you should already know who your ideal audience is. Now, you can take that a step farther and partner with an influencer who is popular with that demographic.
This works especially well if you have a younger audience. What better way to go viral than have somebody promote you who has millions of idolizing fans?
It’s important to note that influencers often make deals with companies to promote a product. They probably won’t stumble upon and promote your brand for free. However, you could get a great ROI by paying an influencer to promote your product.
Use as Many Relevant Keywords as Possible
The more relevant keywords you can use in your social media post, the more likely it is to be found. That’s how you can connect with people who don’t already follow you on social media. People often search for a keyword on a social media platform just to look at posts on that topic.
One caveat is that you shouldn’t use pointless or countless keywords. Using keywords that aren’t relevant to your post turns people off. So does using more hashtags than real words.
Tell a Relatable Story
The more somebody relates to a story or social media post, the more likely they are to share it. Find something that many people relate to, and you’ll have a better chance of going viral. Obscure topics and stories won’t be shared as much as relatable ones.
Be Funny
More than ever, people love to laugh. Funny social media posts are arguably more likely to be shared than other types of posts. In times of stress, people want to share the relief of a laugh with their friends and family.
Have an Interesting Headline
You don’t want to create clickbait headlines that use lies and tricks to get people to click. However, your headline does need to be interesting. The most interesting story in the world won’t go viral if the headline doesn’t inspire people to click on it.
Start a Contest
Everybody loves the opportunity to win something. The prize doesn’t even have to be that big. Even a $25 gift card giveaway could have the chance to go viral.
Obviously, though, the bigger the prize, the more likely it is to go viral. How much is a viral post worth to you? It’s a bit of a gamble to offer a large prize to get millions of clicks. However, it just might work.
Stay Brief and to the Point
Attention spans are getting shorter. Sadly, many people don’t have the time or attention span to read long posts these days. Short posts or articles are more likely to go viral than long blog posts.
Better yet, use infographics or videos. Visual content is easier to digest and gets shared more often than just words. Again, though, your videos or infographics shouldn’t be overly long, or you’ll lose attention.
Use Interactive Content
Take advantage of Instagram polls or Facebook quizzes to really engage people. You can also use interactive content to get people’s opinions on your content or products. Getting feedback and increased engagement is a good way to go, even if you don’t go viral.
Be Unique
What’s something you can offer the world that’s unique? People don’t like to see the same thing all the time. Anything truly unique is automatically more interesting than typical content.
Beyond just unique, though, your content should hit people in their emotions. The more of an emotional gut-punch you can deliver, the better. Whether it’s laughing, crying, or contemplating, people will share content that affects their emotions.
Thinking about Hiring a Social Media Marketing Expert?
If you’re worried that you don’t have the skills to create viral content, a social media marketing expert could help. They can be expensive, but one good viral post could bring your business millions of new views. That’s a lot of potential for new customers.
Maybe you should consider taking out a business loan to hire a social media marketing expert. First Union Lending, with 9 different business loan types, should be the first call you make.
At First Union, we have exceptional financial experts to help you find the best business loan to hire a social media marketer. Investing in the skills of a social media marketer could pay off with one viral post.
Invest in your social media presence today. Contact First Union by clicking here or calling 863-825-5626. You could get a business loan as soon as the same day and be one step closer to viral fame.