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Emerging Trend

How to Create Viral Content

Last week, one of my posts on LinkedIn went semi-viral.

The thing is, I knew it was going to happen before I ever hit publish.

Creating viral content isn't as hard as you might think.

I'm going to walk you through what's needed to make viral content & a few things to consider when thinking about going viral.

1. You can't make everything go viral

A common misconception is that almost anything can go viral, it's simply not true.

Some types of content & topics will literally never go viral, no matter how bad you want them to.

If you're pursuing virality be prepared to have limited options in how you achieve it.

2. There has to be unique substance

When trying to create viral content, it's critical that you have unique substance included.

A basic definition would be that your content includes something that isn't available somewhere else, is genuinely interesting/valuable, and is wholly your own.

This could be:
- A bit of clever humor
- A unique experience
- A interesting insight
- A new data point

For example, let's look at the recent post of mine that blew up.

I noticed something unique about Justin Welsh, a prolific creator on LinkedIn.

By posting about it, I offered a unique point of view + an element of humor. A fresh perspective that his audience wasn't aware of.

3. Connect with an audience

While reading this you may already have an established audience.

But, for the sake of inclusivity, I'm going to assume that you don't.

When creating content with the intent to go viral, you have to attach it to an audience.

This means that an audience has to already exist for the type of content you're creating.

Let's use the above example again.

Justin Welsh has an established audience.

His established audience is on LinkedIn.

So I identified my unique perspective & identified an addressable audience.

Now to actually create the content.

4. Perfection

If you want a piece of content to go viral, it needs to be near perfect. Meaning that you need to communicate in the most effective way possible.

In this example, I demonstrated my perspective immediately with a scroll stopping image.

Followed up by a curiosity engaging hook.

Hook = The first line in a piece of content. Responsible for grabbing and holding a readers attention.

Additionally, I kept the text on the post concise & to the point.

Tagging Justin further increased the likelihood that I would engage his audience, and the possibility that even he engaged.

5. Questions, questions, questions

Did you notice that I asked 3 different questions in this post?

The first question was aimed at the general audience.

"Did I find an easter egg in Justin Welsh's profile photo?"

Anyone could respond and give their opinion.

The second & third question was aimed directly at Justin.

These questions were conversational in nature, this was intentional.

No one wants to be talked AT, they want to be talked TO.

By adding these questions this way, it gave the readers a feeling as if they were on the inside of a private conversation.

Equally, these "conversational" questions helped encourage a response from Justin.

6. Put fuel on the fire

It's rare that any platform will enable a viral post without work from the creator.

If you want to add fuel to the fire, you need to stay active on the post.

That post had over 100 comments, about 50 of them were me.

That's because every time someone commented, I made sure to jump in and respond. Engage in conversation, drop a funny one liner, or simply thank them for engaging with the content.

Anything you can do to stoke the fire will make your content perform better & over a longer period of time.

TLDR

1. You can't make everything go viral
2. There has to be unique substance
3. Connect with an audience
4. Perfect your post
5. Ask the reader questions
6. Put fuel on the fire

Keep reading for this weeks Viral Campaigns & Copywriting Tips

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Viral Campaigns

1. A Christmas love story that's written better than most actual Christmas romance movies. Link​

2. I struggled to find great NEW ads this week, so here's one of the most popular ads from 2022 instead. Link​

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Copywriting Tips

1. Use emotional words in your copy, as often as possible. Link​

2. Write in one full stint. Edit in batches. Your copy will thank me.

3. Always write as if you're speaking to an individual. "You" is your best friend.

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