Why Do Some Posts Go Viral?
In the digital sense, viral is a good thing. This means that a social media post has been viewed, engaged with and shared all over social media hundreds, thousands or even millions of times. But, why do some posts go viral, while others don’t generate any interest? Read on to discover why some posts go viral.
Emotion
A viral post usually involves an emotional connection. This can take many forms including happiness, surprise, sympathy or even anger. If enough people react in the same way to a post and have similar emotions, then there is a high chance that the post will go viral.
Usefulness
What is one of the first things you do when you aren’t sure how to do something? Do you turn to ‘how to’ videos, articles or posts? Another element of a viral post is how much use it is to the masses. If your post contains outside the box solutions or information that can’t be found elsewhere, people will watch, like and share it.
Sparking Mass General Interest
Sometimes a post doesn’t need to provide an emotional connection or anything that is of any use to anyone; enough people just need to simply love it! Think the Gangnam Style video or the colour of ‘that dress’ and how they took off and became popular very quickly.
So, how does viral marketing help your business?
Post Reach and Engagement
A viral post has the advantage of reaching more people and creating more engagement which increases the chance of your future posts and your business being seen and recognised by more people in the long run.
Cost Reduction
Viral posts can actually reduce your marketing costs by complimenting the social media algorithms, getting your posts dubbed as valuable and being shown in more peoples social media feeds.
What can you do to help your posts go viral?
Provide Value
Always think value. What can you do to provide more value, information and useful content to your audience and followers? Don’t just jump on the bandwagon. Create it.
Fun and Games
People love to relax by getting involved in fun social media posts. If you can get puzzles or riddles to appeal to lots of people, you are on to a winner.
Evoke Emotion
Get inside the head of the people you want to reach and pepper your posts with things that mean a lot to your audience and potential followers. It’s important to be authentic here too.
If you need some help to fill your audiences news feed with good quality and consistent content, I’d love to have a one on one chat with you about your social media goals. Book a time in my diary here.