How to Go Viral in 10 Steps

April 30th, 2024

Social media is a bustling place where people share their musings and creative content with everyone instantly. Statistics reveal that approximately 5 billion content items are posted daily on Facebook, while over 500 million Tweets go out daily.

Given this abundance of content, most content creators and entrepreneurs keep waiting for the moment their posts go viral. However, remember, going viral isn’t merely a stroke of luck. Instead, the process of how to go viral on social media requires you to follow specific strategies and stay persistent in your approach.

To help you ace the procedure of how to go viral, we will discuss some top tips along with the platform you should choose to get the desired visibility. So, let’s start!

What Does Going Viral Mean?

In simple terms, going viral refers to a phenomenon in which your video receives thousands and millions of views, likes, comments, and shares.

It means the audience has shown exceptional interest in your content, and it’s the talk of the town in online communities. Content virality often leads to increased visibility exposure, and sometimes, it brings unexpected fame and recognition to the content creator.

How Many Views Do You Need to Go Viral?

The number of views you need to go viral can greatly vary depending on the platform. Typically, it’s said that for your video or post to be considered viral, it should at least reach more than 5 million views on a post within a week.

What are My Chances of Going Viral?

It’s difficult to predict the exact chances of your content going viral on social media. However, as per Microsoft and Stanford University, your chances of going viral are one in a million. But there’s nothing to stress about, as you can maximize your chances of gaining maximum reach by following effective how-to-go viral strategies.

10 Tips to Going Viral

Here are the tips that you can use to make your “how to go viral on social media” journey easy:

Understand the Best Video Formats

Certain types of videos tend to perform better on social media. But what’s liked by one audience doesn’t necessarily have to work for everyone. Therefore, you should keep on experimenting with different video formats to see what truly resonates with your audience and increase your chances of going viral.

Here are some video formats that you can try:

How-Tos

People love learning new things and mastering new skills. Whether it’s a makeup tutorial or a DIY home renovation project, how-to videos are getting huge traction. So, to capture the attention of such an audience, you should create clear and concise videos. Make sure the information you share is authentic, actionable, and visually engaging. Some YouTube channels that you can follow to get inspiration are HouseholdHacker and eHow.

Inspirational Videos

Unfortunately, the negativity in the world is increasing, and most people are trying to bring each other down. To get away from this stress, people seek positivity and inspiration. You should create inspirational videos that uplift others; for instance, you can share success stories, tips on overcoming challenges, and practices to boost self-esteem. This allows you to capture the interest of this wide audience, and you take a step toward how to go viral dream.

Funny Videos

Regardless of the platform, funny videos have a universal appeal and can quickly grab attention. Making funny content that can make people laugh is a great way to go viral. Whether it’s a funny sketch or playful challenges, aim to entertain your audience with humourous and light-hearted content. You can also create videos on popular jokes and memes to stay relevant.

Test Different Types of Platforms

Another tip on how to go viral is to test different social media platforms to find the best fit for your audience. It’s because each platform has its unique features and demographics, greatly influencing how your content will perform.

Let’s look at some popular social media platforms:

Instagram: Since its launch in 2010 as a photo-sharing app, Instagram has come a long way. The platform now has more than 2 billion active users, and you can use its Stories, Reels, and IGTV features to share your content and engage with audiences.
TikTok: The next one is TikTok, a leading short-form video content platform. This social media platform saw a whopping 700 million downloads in the first quarter of 2023, indicating its popularity among people. You can post short, attention-grabbing videos like doing popular challenges or trying a new trending sound.
YouTube: Having 2.70 billion users worldwide, YouTube is a leading video platform. It’s ideal for posting long-form videos like educational or entertaining content.

Make it Relatable

Making your content relatable to your audience is essential for making your how to go viral journey an ultimate success. Create posts that connect with your audience on a personal level, resulting in emotional attachment and encouraging engagement.

For this, you can talk with your friends and colleagues to get an idea of what resonates with them. What do they find interesting, funny, and inspiring? By understanding what clicks with people, you can create content that’ll have broader appeal, and your post may go viral in online communities.

Use the Right Keywords and Hashtags

Now that you’ve created the perfect video or post, you must sprinkle some keywords and hashtags. Social media platforms and search engines like Google and Safari rely on keywords to deliver content to viewers. Therefore, when you are aiming to go viral, using the right hashtags and keywords can make all the difference.

Tips for keywords

Once you’ve found the keywords your target audience is searching for, you should:

Place the keyword naturally in the title to convey the topic and theme of your video.
Incorporate it in the video description to increase your chances of ranking high.
Also, add the keywords you searched for in the captions and subtitles to improve SEO.

Tips for Hashtags

Here’s how you should use hashtags in your videos or posts:

Don’t just rely on one hashtag; use a minimum of 3 to 5 hashtags. For instance, Instagram allows you to use a maximum of 30 hashtags; on YouTube, up to 15 are the limit.
Use niche-specific hashtags; for example, if you are posting about a face wash, hashtags like #skincare, #facewash, #nightskincare, etc., make sense.

Hone in on Your Niche

General content may seem easy to create, but it’s the biggest hurdle in your viral journey. Because of high competition, general content is more difficult to rank.

The best solution is to become an expert in your niche. Start by finding a niche or topic that you are passionate about. It can be anything like travel, fashion, beauty, and more. Search what your audience is searching for in that particular niche.

For instance, if your niche is beauty and the target audience mostly searches for skin care products, you can curate your posts around various skincare products and tips. This will help you attract a dedicated following and make it easy for your content to gain traction.

Some Popular Niches to Try!

For suggestions, here are some trending niches you can explore:

Dance: Dance is quite popular on TikTok as it utilizes the core potential of the platform, which is music and visual appeal. You can pick this niche if you love to dance and are adept in ballroom, street dancing, hip-hop, etc.
Food: Before the food goes into your stomach, it goes into your phone, especially Instagram. The hashtag #food is used around 250 million times monthly on Instagram, which is huge! So, don’t wait and start creating content on various food recipes and cooking hacks and get the attention of foodies from around the globe.
Beauty: This is a popular niche on social media platforms, as 65% of teens discover and purchase beauty products through social media and influencers, indicating this topic’s great potential. You can use your beauty expertise, like makeup tutorials, skincare information, and other beauty hacks, to connect with a wide audience interested in beauty.

You can also opt for travel, pets, or health and fitness niches if your interests lie in them.

Get Help from an Influencer

Collaborating with other influencers or content creators is another helpful tip in the viral process. When you team up with influencers with similar expertise, you can tap into their following and reach a wider audience.

You should start this by identifying some credible influencers. Once you’ve shortlisted the best options, you must create a personalized pitch to approach them.

The pitch should provide a peek into what value you can bring to them, such as your audience and unique content ideas. Be respectful and professional and emphasize how the collaboration is a win-win for both parties.

Try a Contest

How to go viral on social media quickly? Well, you can host a contest! To start a contest, you should post the details on the social media platform, be it Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. Clearly mention the rules for participating in the competition and mention a prize that resonates with your audience.

For instance, if you are running a skincare brand, you can offer a skincare products bundle to the winner or simply provide a cash prize. Compel your followers to engage in the contest and share with their friends and family who may be interested.

Actively engage with everyone throughout the contest period and answer queries promptly. This will create a buzz around your post, driving more engagement and new followers.

Make it Visually Appealing

No one likes to watch boring content, especially at times when the attention span has shortened to 8 to 10 minutes; your content should be engaging and visually appealing. You can achieve this by using a camera with good resolution.

Lighting is everything, so you need to shoot your video or images in a well-lit area. Utilize dynamic angles and movements to keep users interested and avoid static shoots.

Lastly, incorporate visually pleasing graphics and animations to keep the audience hooked for a long time and make your viral process an ultimate success!

Be Unique and Original

Being unique and original is important for your journey to go viral. Offer your audience some fresh perspective on various topics via strong storytelling techniques. Don’t try to copy others; instead, give a glimpse into your personality.

Share stories with them about how you’ve overcome challenges and achieved milestones. This authenticity and originality make your content compelling for viewers, increasing its chances of becoming popular.

Post Consistently

The last tip on how to go viral is to post consistently. Find out the time zones when your content receives the most engagement and aim to post daily during that peak time. This consistency actually establishes a predictable rhythm for your followers, and they tend to come for more.

What’s the Best Platform to Go Viral?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, and the answer to which platform is best to make you’re how to go viral dream turn into a reality varies for everyone.

It mostly depends upon the format, content demographics, and your niche. For instance, TikTok can pave the way for your virality if you are into short-form videos. However, if you prefer to create reels and long-form videos, Instagram and YouTube are suitable platforms.

Conclusion

The process of how to go viral isn’t a tough one, especially if you know all the hacks to make your mark on different social media platforms. Some tips that help you in this are being original, posting consistently, finding a specific niche, opting for the best video formats, and collaborating with other influencers.

Yet, if you feel this is a lot of work, we at NowaDays Media have your back! Our viral marketing agency possesses next-level marketing skills that will make your brand content go viral. We aim to incorporate emotions into every post and ad, enticing the audience to take action and spread word of mouth.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact us today, and let us help your brand shine and reach its potential!