Posts that go viral can reach and resonate with many people who aren’t your followers. This tactic can help you expand your profile reach, boost brand awareness, convert more followers, and bring about business success. In short, viral posts are a great way to get noticed and make your brand Instagram famous.
Viral content grabs the users’ attention and gets significantly more engagement than your regular posts. However, that doesn’t happen by accident — viral posts happen rarely, and you have to work a few angles to make it possible.
In this article, we reveal a few simple tips on how to get people to share your content on Instagram and make it go viral for more reach and engagement.
Know Your Audience
Just like any content marketing strategy, knowing your audience is crucial. You need to know what are your followers interested in, what type of content they interact with the most, and what makes them do so.
If you haven’t already, create a target persona. It will help you define your ideal audience by determining details like age, gender, occupation, income, location, accounts they follow, the content they like to consume, and more. Armed with such information, you can create relevant content that resonates with your audience.
Pick the Right Content-Type
Now that you know the audience, it’s time to decide on the content type. Some content has a greater potential of going viral than others. Take time to research how could you best pack your story. Insightful how-to posts, lists, news, infographics, challenges, memes, step-by-step guides, unusual cases, data-driven reposts, and lifehacks videos tend to attract the most engagement.
Call for an Emotion
Viral posts go viral because they touch people’s feelings. Try to make your message personal, not generic. Being relatable will set you apart from the sea of content creators on Instagram. People are likely to react positively when knowing others have the same experience as you. Moreover, they will probably share the post on their account, doing the outreach job for you.
Make It Visual
Instagram is a visual platform, so your content must be eye-catching and high quality to get people to stop scrolling. Use appealing visuals to create informative posts, infographics, inspirational quotes, or memes that grab the users’ attention and prompt them to share. That said, posting video content also performs well and can further boost engagement and increase the odds of content going viral.
Jump on Trends but With a Twist
To boost your chances of your content going viral, you need to keep up with the latest trends. Whether it’s world news, pop culture, or a sports event, being active on social media and jumping on popular trends will help you stay relevant and relatable to your audience.
Do your research to identify trendy topics and determine which resonate best with your audience. Take time to understand the trend, so you don’t risk missing the point. Then, instead of recreating the post, create your own version of it that fits your brand image and account.
Create a Branded Hashtag
Every campaign on Instagram needs a hashtag that will amplify your message, boost brand awareness, and drive new customers. Keep the hashtag short, simple, and memorable. Be clear about what it represents and set the tone with your own examples. Instead of using a general hashtag that would get lost in hundreds of unrelated posts, choose a specific, uncommon one but make sure to stay on-brand.
Finally, include other relevant hashtags to gain traction. As people discover your content with these hashtags, they will also spot your branded hashtag and might start using it.
Collaborate With an Influencer
Collaborating with an influencer is the perfect recipe for ensuring your content is distributed to a broader audience. However, if you decide to go down the influencer road, ensure to find the right influencers for your audience.
Also, confirm they have solid engagement. It’s better to reach out to influencers with a small but loyal audience than ones with a vast reach and low engagement. Last but not least, assure they are relevant to your brand and will represent your business well.
Final Thoughts
Instagram posts rarely go viral by accident. Usually, they are carefully planned for the target audience and include a wise use of trendy topics, appealing visuals, and a smart message. Even though there’s no guarantee yours will go viral, you can certainly boost your chances by following our tips. Remember, they will only work if you truly understand your audience and business goals. Also, don’t forget to keep track of your metrics so you can determine what works and what doesn’t.
