So, you want to go viral? OK then, repeat after me:
Going viral is not just pure luck, it’s a strategy 👏
Wait no longer! In this article, we will share the 10 steps you need to go viral on Instagram Reels and TikTok in 2022.
The very first step would definitely be to agree with your niche, as the platforms’ algorithms are incredibly smart at determining your industry and making appropriate recommendations to your perfect audience. Now that you’ve done that, it’s time to dive in and test those tips. Make sure to read the last tip carefully as it might change your whole Reels & TikTok strategy significantly!
- Focus On The Community, Not The Product
Are you a brand? Then stop making reels of your product and/or services as if it’s a TV commercial. It’s a big No-Go if you want to go viral. Users of Reels and TikToks are very smart and they can distinguish a sales-y video in milliseconds; the second they realize, you lost them. Instead, focus on fun tips & tricks, educating and engaging content that will be shared and saved, and also increase the opportunity for organic virality and loyal community growth
- Powerful Copy With The Search Bar
Research is King! Before making a video, head to the search bar of the platform and type key words related to what your video is going to be about. There are two ways to learn more about what users are looking for and what goes viral. One way is to make a note of the very first words that appear in the search bar; they signal what users are mostly looking for in relation to these topics, so make sure to use those words in your copy! Secondly, research for similar videos by filtering them with most liked & latest posted; analyze and adopt the copy of the most trending videos. If you give your audience the content they are looking for, you will increase your chances of going viral.
- Post Content Designed To Be Re-watched
Consumers’ attention span has been shortening over the years and that’s why bite-sized videos still perform best! That means you should purposefully design them to be as short as possible to increase their chances of being re-watched. So next time you decide to give an important tip, share a location or show a must-have product and make it last as short as 1 second. Your audience will probably need to re-watch and pause the video time and time again, automatically increasing your re-watch rate. Completion and re-watch rates will affect the algorithm and determine your video as interesting enough to push it to even more users, and ultimately make it viral.
- Cross-Promote On Other Channels
Although this might sound controversial, sharing the exact same video on other channels actually increases your chances for virality. Short and Catchy videos are popular everywhere: Pinterest, Facebook Reels, Youtube Shorts, Twitter etc. Promoting your TikToks and Reels on additional channels increases your reach by driving the traffic to its original source.
- Be Controversial & Give Opinions
We are not suggesting you get into politics or religion, but we are suggesting you press your consumers’ “harmless hot button”. The goal is not to offend anybody, but to spark an interesting conversation. Imagine you own a pizza restaurant; a great example would be to debate if pineapple goes on pizza or not (which it does by the way). Controversial topics drive engagement and therefore increase your chances for virality.
- Intros With Strong Hooks
As mentioned previously, consumers have a short attention span, which is why you MUST grab their attention in the very first few seconds. Hooks such as “Have you ever…” or “I bet you…” will work magic on your content. We advise you to go back to tip 2, to understand the mentality on how to research trending keywords, which will allow you to come up with a more appropriate and provocative “hooky intro”.
- Subtitles Are A Must
There is a reason why TikTok added auto-subtitles in 2021. There are 3 significant benefits from this: to increase the potential audience, grab attention and help the algorithm. How? Well, here’s the thing: not everyone watches your videos with the sound on (especially not on Instagram). So, once you add subtitles, you immediately increase the capacity of your potential audience (with sound on or off), as well as visually grab the attention of both groups. We suggest adding subtitles manually because not every region has this feature on TikTok and Instagram. Not only will it increase your audience, but it will also allow the algorithm to analyze your text and organically target your video to the right consumers.
- Interact With Others
TikTok and Instagram Reels are purposefully designed so that you can interact with each other. We are totally past the era where we simply liked or disliked the content; the new age is all about sharing, talking and connecting. Start using features like Stitching, Duet, Reply comments with a video etc. Apart from the fact that these formats are generally trending on the platforms, they are also a great way to expand your audience and community, as the videos will be recommended to the very same audience that has already watched the original content. So be smart about it, and perhaps stitch your content with an already viral trending video to increase your personal chances.
- Trending Sounds Are Still Relevant
We cannot stress enough the importance of audio and music on both platforms. Trending sounds are still relevant, and if you jump on the trend early, or use a popular sound, you increase your chances of going viral. However, make sure you use these audios accordingly for the best results. Use audios that genuinely go with your personality and/or brand, create concepts that match the audio trends, and master the skill of lip-synching and beat-matching.
- Steal Sounds
Here is the tip that will blow your mind: Steal a trending sound from one platform and use it on the other! If you are using TikTok and Instagram religiously, you may have noticed that many times one platform may start a trend that is already exhausted on the other platform. Our tip is to hunt for the trending sounds on TikTok and bring them to Instagram Reels. If it performed very well on one platform, chances are, it will work on the other platform just as great, and YOU will be the originator of the trend. What does that mean? You will have the viral video, and viral audio and be crowned as an “original” on the platform; now isn’t that a smart tactic? ;)
Inspired by these tips, but still unsure how to create an effective TikTok strategy? How about we help you?
Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/tiktok-tricks
https://www.shopify.com/blog/how-to-go-viral-on-tiktok
https://recurpost.com/blog/how-to-go-viral-on-tiktok/