How to create popular social media content
Sometimes I’ll be watching cute animal reels with my son and I’ll discover that the lizard we are watching has hundreds of thousands of followers, or the meme account I go to for a laugh has topped a million and I think “why is it so easy for some and not others?”
The short answer is ‘interest’. Those accounts are putting up content that’s relevant and interesting or entertaining to the masses. Add to that - consistency - those accounts are consistently providing content that’s relevant and interesting or entertaining to the masses. Dig deeper and you will find something else - an IT factor or some damn good timing.
I’m talking about virality
Going viral on a platform like Instagram is hard (for most people anyway). Sure there are the people who find it easy - the ones who are already known like musicians, actors, politicians and, you know, famous people. Having a brand or a product or service that appears in other media helps a lot.
But for us, I assume for you - if you’re reading this. It can feel like a bit of a slog to get the kind of numbers we can only dream of.
So let’s start there.
Why do we dream of a large following? Why do we crave numbers when it comes to our social media?
There have been a LOT of studies into this and what it boils down to is our need for validation. For praise. To be popular, to be liked. We all have those needs to a certain degree. And…much like the way we train a dog by giving treats for good behaviour - platforms like Instagram reward us for “good posts”.
But it’s not that simple. As I often say to my clients, it’s not that your posts aren’t great, it’s that they aren’t being seen by the right people at the right time. That, in a large part, is due to algorithms (which I am not going to delve into in this post) but it’s worth mentioning because computers / programming / data - plays a big role in what people see or don’t see on social media. Working with the algorithms requires a bit of thought, a bit of strategy and a whole lot of getting to know your customer. But I’ll get to that.
Today I want to tell you a few important things. Thought starters. I want you to have a think about how you could take this advice and use it to make your marketing better…yes. But also to make your experience better. Because this stuff is stressful and I know a lot of you are spending more time than you have on feeding these hungry little content apps in the hope they will serve up success.
But you’re here because you want to make better social media content - more popular content? So here are my thoughts on just 5 of the key elements to virality and how you might use them in your social media content.
Five key elements to going viral on social media
Knowing your audience and creating content just for them - content that’s relevant, shareable, engaging
Timing - being aware of the ‘moment’ you’re in and posting content that’s timely
Luck - sorry but it really does play a role
Consistency - algorithms AND people love this one
IT factor - entertaining, funny, controversial, special…
Knowing your audience
I bang on about audiences a lot because they should play a central role, not just in your marketing but in your business too. Knowing your customer, understanding their wants and needs and creating products, services and even content to meet those needs - well it just makes sense. But somewhere along the way I think many people have forgotten to create content for their audiences. I think there’s one word in this scenario that makes a huge difference.
We call these channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc) social media but we should be calling them social networks. Media implies a one-way communication channel but social networks don’t work like that. Once you get that you’ll start to understand the power of the network.
If you want your content to reach more people you need people to push it out there for you. So every single follower counts. Every single follower is part of a network and within those networks are your customers.
Your audiences are people. Get to know them. Give them content that they want to engage with, that they want to share. Don’t just give them content that serves your purpose.
How often do you share other accounts’ posts that are salesy compared to posts that are relevant or funny or educational?
I’ll let you in on a secret here - you don’t need a hundred thousand followers on instagram to be successful in business. Every single follower you have right now could be a customer and every single customer could recommend you to their friends and family who recommend you to their friends and family and so one…networks. They are powerful - use them.
Timing your social media posts
I don’t mean what time of day you should post because honestly that varies so much. By timing I mean being relevant, being in the moment, topical. It’s all part of understanding and posting for the audience you have and the audience you want to have.
What is relevant and timely for your audience right now? What season are they in? What stage of life? What country? What might be some of their interests around your products or services? How might they be using them or wanting to use them right now?
Studies show that “you get me” is a key driver of purchases. Do you get your audiences - your customers? Do you reflect that in your content?
Getting lucky with your social media content
Luck is not something you can affect or predict but I do want you to understand that it can play a role. However - you might think that someone is lucky but you don’t often see the hard work that goes into another business’ marketing efforts. Luck may be masking planning, timing, evaluation and a lot of time and energy that goes into creating content.
Using consistency to help your social media content to be more popular or to go viral
Consistency makes you recognisable in the scroll. It means your audience can trust that you will make content that they like. It means new followers can see at a glance what you post and make the decision to follow and engage. It means the algorithms can predict who is most likely to engage with your content and it can add you to their feeds.
Look at any of the social media accounts that have big numbers - they will rarely stray from the topic that got them there.
This is kinda why I don’t love this whole ‘trending’ …trend. Sure there’s a chance that trending reel sounds will get a few more eyes on your post but are you doing what your important existing audience wants or needs or expects? Something to think about…
Harnessing the IT-Factor for your social media content
The IT-Factor, like luck, is a little slippery. If you want to manufacture something special, memorable and engaging with your content, then you need to understand what will resonate with your audience at this time, in this moment and into the future. Then you need to be consistent with that content or that look or style or whatever it is that you’re going for.
I know I brought up the topic of virality, but I just want to finish by saying that if your business’s success hinges on a reel going viral, you’re in a spot of bother.
Social media can play a really important role in marketing your products or services, and it can build wonderful supportive communities around your business but it rarely hand delivers success. As you may already have found out, it can also be a very time consuming and demanding beast that can take you away from important areas of the business or even more successful, more lucrative marketing channels like; networking, word of mouth, email marketing, SEO, retailer or wholesaler relationships or even customer service. I’ve had people tell me they don’t respond to comments on their social media posts because they “already spend too much time creating the content”. Yikes.
So I hope I’ve given you something to think about today. Your homework is to take a step back and look at your own content. Are you:
Making audience focused content that is timely, relevant and shareable?
Are you doing that consistently?
Is your visual identity and brand personality shining through?
And finally do you need to go viral to be successful in business or could you just love your existing customers and audience a little harder and access their networks?
❤️ Hi I’m Erika ✌️ I’m a marketing specialist with a BA in Media and Comms, Masters of Marketing, Certificate in CX (Customer Experience) and over 25 years experience. I’m well placed to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of marketing and social media. I work with you one on one or create fun and action-oriented workshops and webinars for groups, organisations and businesses. Book a free discovery call with me or simply email me to get the conversation started.
For more tips, connect with me on Facebook and Instagram or just get in touch, I'm always happy to help.
🎙This blog post is an excerpt from episode 3 of my marketing and social media podcast Small Town Business. It accompanies a great interview with a business that has had viral success. If you are interested, please listen here or search for me in your podcast app.
