I'm sure you've seen the posts:
"Steal my trick for growing 10K followers in one week"
"How I got 50K views by using this one trick"
"This one thing made my views skyrocket"
Trust me, I've seen them too and I'm here to tell you, most of these are absolute bullshit.
Going viral is not a strategy. There's nothing wrong with wanting more eyes on your content, that's basically the whole point of posting anything on social media. Who wouldn't want more views on their posts, videos and stories? Results like this aren't even necessarily impossible, but they're not realistic and they may not help your business as much as you think they will. And let me tell you a secret, most of the creators boasting these results, aren't *actually* getting those views anyway. More on that later.
Why Going Viral Isn't a Strategy: Going viral is not a strategy for a few reasons.
It's difficult to regulate: You're not going to ALWAYS create "viral" content. Trends change, algorithms change, and your audience is constantly changing. It's simply not something that can be promised and delivered all the time.
YOUR audience may not be reached: As I mentioned, who doesn't want their content to go viral? It's so cool to see your views, likes, etc. climb. Unfortunately, this doesn't always reach the audience you need it to. Going viral means that your content appeals to a wide group of people. This doesn't work for many businesses because many businesses are specialized. Reaching a specialized audience means creating content that appeals to them, not necessarily a mass audience.
A specialized product won't appeal to a large group, so your content shouldn't either: Social media is all about building and cultivating a community that will continuously come back to your product or service. Creating content that is meant to go "viral" can't do that. Sure you'll reach a bigger group of people, but the likelihood that those people will 1. follow your account and 2. use your service or buy your product, is very low.
Why these "How to go Viral" posts are actually harmful to every day small business owners.
For us every day business owners, these posts can be incredibly harmful. Here's why:
Unrealistic Expectations: These posts often set unrealistic expectations for both business owners creating their own content expecting these results, as well as social media owners working for small business owners who again, are expecting this type of result. These results are not the norm. Many small business owners give up on social media before they begin because it seems too overwhelming to keep up, and these posts contribute to that.
It's Trust Breaking: Many times posts that boast massive viewership and hooks to gain viewers attention, can actually break trust with those that have either followed them for a while or even those viewing their videos for the first time without even creating a relationship first. Why? Three words:
Check the Caption
If you know me, you know how much I HATE "check the caption" videos. Of course these videos get high views, it's because the creator is tricking their audience into giving them views. While you're reading the caption the video continues to play over and over racking up the views and making the video look more "viral" than it actually is. These views are then translated in a way to make those that do follow them think that they've figured out the secret sauce for going viral. So, do these videos boost analytics? Absolutely they do. Are they real analytics or vanity metrics? Usually vanity metrics. Do they convert to sales and actual clients? debatable.
To wrap up, going viral is not the enemy. It can be a great way to get your product/service in front of a bigger audience and no one hates to see some high numbers on their video views. BUT it shouldn't be your main goal and you should never tell your social media manager you want to go viral. "Going viral" is a great perk of social media, but so much more goes into a successful social media profile than just having a viral video.
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