You’ve been posting short-form videos regularly on social media, and you notice the views for a video start to pick up quicker than usual. You begin to get more notifications about comments and shares that continue to increase each hour. There’s a chance you may be going viral.
Even if you have a video go viral, it doesn’t stop there. There are things you want to do to capitalize on this momentum and keep it going for as long as you can.
Whether you’re still trying to build traction for yourself on social media or you find yourself on the cusp of a viral moment on social media, here are some points to do and consider. It’s always good to keep these points in the back of your mind so you’re ready when it happens.
1. Like and respond to comments to keep engagement up.
It may be a chore but try and respond to as many comments as you can. You don’t need to sit there all day but be sure to check in periodically to engage with your fans. Just be warned that there will be negative comments sprinkled in. Also, review any flagged comments on TikTok or Instagram. I often find positive comments get trapped there too. Lastly, consider going live on the platform where your video is going viral to engage with new potential fans in real-time.
2. Put ad money behind videos that are taking off organically.
This is the best time to invest money in social media ads since the viral video is shown to be effective in gaining attention and hitting a chord with viewers. You don’t need to spend anything too crazy. If you have the funds, a couple hundred dollars would be more than enough fuel to add the fire.
3. Pin the viral video to the top of your profile.
You always want to make sure to keep your top-performing videos on the top of your profiles. Whether it’s Instagram or TikTok, pin the best ones as you go to make sure new potential fans can easily find them so they’re more likely to follow you.
4. Keep posting more videos!
Getting the algorithm to consistently push out your video to non-followers is like catching a wave in surfing. Post another video with the same song within a day or two. No need to overdo it and post multiple videos in a day. Try a different verse or the same verse in a different location.
5. Study the viral video and experiment.
See if there’s anything about the video that may have triggered something for the viewers. Was it the second verse of your song that was used? Was it something you wore or the location of the video? Get a feel for what viewers are responding to and be willing to switch things up.
6. Mix up the types of content.
With this video going viral, it’s going to attract new followers who are just learning about you for the first time. This is a great opportunity to get a bit deeper about who you are, show your personality and introduce other songs and videos. Focus on engagement/nurture type of content or “middle funnel content”.
If you read my campaign breakdown where we had a few viral videos, you can see that we tried different types of content, like an open verse challenge and created videos responding to funny comments. Also, the artist is big into fashion so we tried doing “fit check” videos that did well to entertain and deepen the fan relationships.
7. Need to be nimble and flexible with your plans.
Monitor the analytics and act quickly. Because the video for the first song went viral at the beginning of the campaign, I had to change and adapt to what was going on. Our entire marketing and release schedule changed so we could make the most of this new momentum.
8. Encourage UGC (User Generated Content).
Getting shares on your video will help spread virality, but the hope is it “infects” someone with a large following who will share it or be inspired to create their own video using your song. This could be things like a meme, dance challenge, remix, open verse challenge, reaction or review. A true sign of a video going full-on mega viral is if other people are creating content from your song and it grows exponentially as if it has a life of its own.
The best example that comes to mind to illustrate this is Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road where his memes eventually led to a dance challenge that exploded on TikTok in 2018. The song became a global hit that reached 15x platinum, won multiple Grammys and holds the record for being #1 the longest on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
You can potentially manufacture that next level of virality by paying top influencers, but that can be a pricey campaign. It’s also possible to have it happen organically.
9. Optimize your profile for the next step.
Getting views and engagement on your viral video is exciting. You’ll likely see a large influx of new followers and your other recent videos will get more love from the algorithm. But what’s next? You want to make sure you have a way for new followers to take the next step in this fan relationship. Your profile link should go to either your website or a “link in bio” site where they can follow you on their favorite streaming platform, sign up for your email list, shop for merch or see your upcoming shows.
When you attract new fans into your marketing funnel with your viral video, you want to have your marketing foundation set so they can easily continue down the fan journey with minimal friction.
Conclusion
Even though we have a better understanding of how and why things go viral, it doesn’t make it any easier to do. After all, there is a lot of luck and timing involved too.
However, I’m seeing more and more artists go viral by posting short-form performance videos on Instagram and TikTok. One of the artists I work with had a few videos go viral during an album release campaign I ran. To read about my breakdown on the campaign and see examples of the viral videos, check out this blog here.
