Nowadays, it’s easy to get viral from posting a meme or a piece of clever content. It may be in the form of a tweet, a short write-up, a funny image, or a video clip.
There’s no telling what makes a post go “viral” per se. There’s no specific guidelines to follow if you want your content to be considered in the trending list. You’d only know once you’re bombarded with hundreds to thousands of notifications the next time you go online .
What You Should Do Next If Your Post has Gone Viral
How do you make the most of the thoughtful comments and shares on your content? If your post has gone viral and you want to take your internet fame to the next level— here’s the next steps you should do:
1. Look into content licensing
Protect your content from greedy people who want to use it for their own advantage! There are lawsuits and legalities around user-generated content on the internet, and you can use that to ensure that you’d benefit from the original content you produced.
If your post has gone viral, say a funny video clip, you can look into video licensing agencies to help you make the most out of the attention. These agencies help distribute your content to major media outlets around the world, while getting a commission for your copyright.
Don’t forget to add contact information of the licensing agency you’ve chosen to partner with on your original post. You can just attach their business email under the comment section so any interested audience will easily become aware.
2. Be consistent
Turn your overnight success into a long-term one by being consistent. If your post has gone viral, take note of your subject and the nature of the content— and try to make more of it. Your entertained audience may be looking for more, who knows?
For instance, if you’ve gone viral for your funny pet videos, try to feature more of your pets in your content. They might even become internet sensations in no time. If you’ve gone viral for your short yet funny stand-up comedian skits, think of more jokes to include in your next posts.
The good thing about being a viral internet sensation is that you’re not limited to 5-10 categories. You’re basically free to do and post whatever you want, provided of course they’re not abusive or illegal. You wouldn’t want to get viral for all the wrong reasons.
3. Create a brand identity
Celebrities and influential people have their names for people to easily remember them. But how do you make your audience remember you as an internet sensation? Take your viral piece of content and create your brand identity from there.
Take for instance Newton Nguyen (aka @milktpapi on Twitter), a breakout internet star who became viral and famous for his own cooking videos. Nguyen chose to keep the unvarnished demos of the cooking process to appeal to his millennial audience in particular, known to have a short attention span.
Along with his amusing narration and funny cooking antics, he became viral on the internet across platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube. He’s even made a catchphrase for himself, “Parsley!,” which he then used to sell his own merch.
Milktpapi’s videos are not only easy to follow, but more importantly— they’re short. His content style is both consistent and effective, targeted to an audience of first-time chefs stuck at home over the quarantine period.
Speaking to LA Times about his newfound online fame, Nguyen says:
“I’m just a regular guy, and not a chef at all… I’m genuinely having the time of my life while I’m filming these videos, and I think the viewers can tell when content is coming from a real place.”
4. Use your fame for a good cause
You might have seen this a couple of times on Twitter, but when tweets become viral— chances are there are donation links or other charitable websites attached under the replies.
These may be Gofundme links or just informative URLs needed to reach more people.
Using your newly found fame to speak up for a good cause is always a great idea. Your audience will also have an idea of your personality by the causes you actively support. There’s nothing like having a good heart in real life and online!
5. Promote your links
Aside from being charitable, you can also inform your audience about the plenty of ways they can support you in your content creator endeavor.
If you have a Patreon link, feel free to attach it on your viral piece of content. Generous audience may even send a donation your way for making them smile or completing their day. This is especially true if you’re a female online personality— more people are encouraged to financially support you in your craft just because.
This is also a great way to promote your socials to reach new audiences. If you’re an aspiring YouTuber or Twitch streamer, don’t forget to share your channel links under the comment section of your viral post.
6. Share the post again after some time
When viral posts stop gaining traction, it’s encouraged to share them after quite some time. Some influencers do this as a way to #throwback or give the viral post a new push. As a result, your posts can gain new reactions, likes, shares, or comments.
The key to being viral is to be relevant. If your post becomes more time-relevant given recent events, try to give it another boost as much as you can. It might even become viral again and open new doors of opportunities for you.
There’s no limit when it comes to re-posting your viral content, so use that to your advantage!
7. Remind your audience to stay connected
If you decide to keep creating content, don’t forget to remind your audience to stay connected and tune in to your next uploads. Remind your viewers to give your channel a well-deserved sub!
Create content in a way that you convince people why they should click the sub button. This will ensure the quality of the posts you create, as well as keep a great brand reputation online.
Viral videos rarely strike more than twice on a single person. Strike while the iron is hot and redirect the attention towards long-term ventures, such as starting a YouTube channel.
The Magic Formula on Going Viral?
Brian Swichkow, Adweek’s “reddit marketing expert,” believes that there’s a formula for making viral happen. Do note that this isn’t only limited on Reddit, but following these steps may help you go viral across social media.
Swichkow says the key to being viral is to understand which type of content is of value to specific online communities. Once you figure that out, the next step is to create a plan on how to deliver the content to your audience.
Curate Valuable Content
Create content which people can easily relate to. If your content is rather exclusive, not a lot of people can understand its appeal and therefore will not contribute to gain traction. Ensure that your content speaks to everyone in the online community you have in mind.
Speak The Language
Twitter dialect is different from Reddit, and such is the way in many different online communities. Therefore, it’s important that you know the language of the community where you want to share your post. Before you even think of a funny caption, immerse yourself and discover how the users usually speak. Doing this can maximize the impact of your viral post!
Give Before Receiving
Before even thinking of the many ways you can enjoy your rewards after going viral, ensure that you’re giving the best of your content first. Nobody wants to share a viral piece of content that’s only half-heartedly done. Make sure that your effort is seen in the post you want to appear on media headlines.
Avoid A Hit & Run
Don’t leave your viral post unattended after it gained traction. Keep an eye out and engage with replies in the comments. This will create thousands of opportunities to take your views and viral traction to the maximum level. Be active in the discussion happening under your post!
And last but not least…
According to Scott Stratten, president of Un-Marketing, going “viral” is when you achieve a greater reach than your own following. It’s when you attract the attention of people who aren’t even following you in the first place.
Viral isn’t a number. If you want to be included on the internet’s trending list, do not pressure yourself with specific numbers on your views or shares. In the simplest sense, being viral is merely going farther than you can usually reach.
Anybody on the internet can do it: famous influencers, a funny grandpa, or even a cute cat. With that in mind, there’s no one stopping you from joining the Viral list.
And once you go viral, don’t forget the list of things you must do to make the most out of your time in the limelight.
