Marketing

How To Create Viral Content For Social Media: 5 Expert Tips

Popular social media sites like TikTok and Instagram use sophisticated filters to decide which content will become popular. These algorithms favor early interactions – likes, comments, and shares within the initial few hours of posting. Achieving a 10% engagement rate within the first hour after posting increases the likelihood of the content going viral. In this post, we share practical advice on how to create viral content, along with real-life examples and the thinking behind them.

How to Create Viral Content in 5 Easy Steps

1. Identify and leverage popular trends

There is no better approach to going viral on TikTok than leveraging trending topics. Launches, movements, hashtags, challenges, and popular music are the building blocks of viral posts. For instance, Charlie D'Amelio gained her TikTok fame by being timely and participating in trending challenges. That’s how to go viral on Instagram reels and TikTok feeds.

When determining how frequently to recommend your content, social media algorithms consider content with quick interactions. Leveraging top trends can help you meet the threshold for viral content. For instance, if within 24 hours of posting, the ratio of likes to views has reached 10%, the algorithm recommends the post to more people. On the other hand, if after 60 minutes, you have less than a 10% engagement rate, your content gets deprioritized and downranked in feeds.

2. Create high-quality visuals 

Engaging visuals can make a social media post 94% more engaging. So, when creating short, funny videos, images, or infographics, make sure they look stunning. Posts with high-quality pictures gain significantly more shares across Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media platforms.

Kim Kardashian's social media accounts and pages have thrived on this principle. The content creator hires professional photographers to achieve a high degree of aesthetics that attracts thousands of clicks and shares on her content. So get ready to spend more money on creating quality content because that’s how to go viral on TikTok and strengthen your brand.

3. Add value with giveaways and contests

Here is how to go viral on TikTok within a short time: provide real value. Giving value through giveaways or freebies spikes engagement rates immediately. Brands such as Gymshark know how to play this game. At one point, the fashion company started a $10,000 reward challenge; anyone would compete by creating viral TikTok videos while wearing Gymshark. Clever marketing, indeed!

"People participate in what helps them," says David Rubin, the chief branding expert at the New York Times. For everyday companies and entrepreneurs, that means providing eBook downloads, tutorials, free trials, or exclusive content access to followers to spark engagement. A software company could frame it this way: “The first 100 people to like and share this post will get a month-long free trial with access to all features.” This trick helps your content go viral quickly.

4. Automate comments for higher engagement

This is how to go viral on Instagram if you have no money to spend on giveaways. Leave hundreds of comments on people’s posts using tools such as ManyChat and Botstar. These tools can help you increase engagement with features like auto-response to comments and likes. Remember that with social media, the faster the interaction, the more the algorithm pushes your content to new viewers.

Entrepreneur Neil Patel uses Hootsuite and Sprout Social and says this strategy increased his social media growth by 25%. However, when using automated tools, ensure the bots comply with your social platform’s policy and guidelines. Excessive robotic activity could get you blacklisted and banned.

5. Emotional and interactive appeal

In case you’re still wondering how to create viral content, consider heartwarming or emotionally charged content styles. Content that makes people feel a strong emotion gets more likes and shares. Interactive content, like quizzes, polls, and live Q&A, creates even more engagement and increases profile visibility.

In 2012, Oprah Winfrey shared a heart-wrenching story about the war in the Congo that went viral in hours. You can also go viral on either Instagram or TikTok if you have a passionate story to share. But remember authenticity is a significant element in what users respond to when going viral on social media.

Conclusion

Going viral on either TikTok or Instagram isn't an art; it's a science. The recipe is easy to implement, from using trends to automation and emotional storytelling. Go viral by following these expert tips and keep learning from viral sensations to help your brand increase its audience reach and make waves.

How To Create Viral Content For Social Media
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Marketing

How To Create Viral Content For Social Media: 5 Expert Tips

How To Create Viral Content For Social Media

Popular social media sites like TikTok and Instagram use sophisticated filters to decide which content will become popular. These algorithms favor early interactions – likes, comments, and shares within the initial few hours of posting. Achieving a 10% engagement rate within the first hour after posting increases the likelihood of the content going viral. In this post, we share practical advice on how to create viral content, along with real-life examples and the thinking behind them.

How to Create Viral Content in 5 Easy Steps

1. Identify and leverage popular trends

There is no better approach to going viral on TikTok than leveraging trending topics. Launches, movements, hashtags, challenges, and popular music are the building blocks of viral posts. For instance, Charlie D'Amelio gained her TikTok fame by being timely and participating in trending challenges. That’s how to go viral on Instagram reels and TikTok feeds.

When determining how frequently to recommend your content, social media algorithms consider content with quick interactions. Leveraging top trends can help you meet the threshold for viral content. For instance, if within 24 hours of posting, the ratio of likes to views has reached 10%, the algorithm recommends the post to more people. On the other hand, if after 60 minutes, you have less than a 10% engagement rate, your content gets deprioritized and downranked in feeds.

2. Create high-quality visuals 

Engaging visuals can make a social media post 94% more engaging. So, when creating short, funny videos, images, or infographics, make sure they look stunning. Posts with high-quality pictures gain significantly more shares across Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media platforms.

Kim Kardashian's social media accounts and pages have thrived on this principle. The content creator hires professional photographers to achieve a high degree of aesthetics that attracts thousands of clicks and shares on her content. So get ready to spend more money on creating quality content because that’s how to go viral on TikTok and strengthen your brand.

3. Add value with giveaways and contests

Here is how to go viral on TikTok within a short time: provide real value. Giving value through giveaways or freebies spikes engagement rates immediately. Brands such as Gymshark know how to play this game. At one point, the fashion company started a $10,000 reward challenge; anyone would compete by creating viral TikTok videos while wearing Gymshark. Clever marketing, indeed!

"People participate in what helps them," says David Rubin, the chief branding expert at the New York Times. For everyday companies and entrepreneurs, that means providing eBook downloads, tutorials, free trials, or exclusive content access to followers to spark engagement. A software company could frame it this way: “The first 100 people to like and share this post will get a month-long free trial with access to all features.” This trick helps your content go viral quickly.

4. Automate comments for higher engagement

This is how to go viral on Instagram if you have no money to spend on giveaways. Leave hundreds of comments on people’s posts using tools such as ManyChat and Botstar. These tools can help you increase engagement with features like auto-response to comments and likes. Remember that with social media, the faster the interaction, the more the algorithm pushes your content to new viewers.

Entrepreneur Neil Patel uses Hootsuite and Sprout Social and says this strategy increased his social media growth by 25%. However, when using automated tools, ensure the bots comply with your social platform’s policy and guidelines. Excessive robotic activity could get you blacklisted and banned.

5. Emotional and interactive appeal

In case you’re still wondering how to create viral content, consider heartwarming or emotionally charged content styles. Content that makes people feel a strong emotion gets more likes and shares. Interactive content, like quizzes, polls, and live Q&A, creates even more engagement and increases profile visibility.

In 2012, Oprah Winfrey shared a heart-wrenching story about the war in the Congo that went viral in hours. You can also go viral on either Instagram or TikTok if you have a passionate story to share. But remember authenticity is a significant element in what users respond to when going viral on social media.

Conclusion

Going viral on either TikTok or Instagram isn't an art; it's a science. The recipe is easy to implement, from using trends to automation and emotional storytelling. Go viral by following these expert tips and keep learning from viral sensations to help your brand increase its audience reach and make waves.

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