Going viral on Facebook is the dream for many page owners and businesses. A viral post can expose your page to thousands of new people organically and lead to more followers, engagement, website traffic, and sales. While there’s no guaranteed method for making a post go viral, there are some best practices you can follow to increase the chances of it happening. In this article, we’ll explore some of the top tips for creating viral Facebook content.
What does it mean for a Facebook post to “go viral”?
A viral post on Facebook is one that gains a huge amount of reach and engagement in a short period of time. While definitions vary, a truly viral post usually:
– Gets at least tens of thousands of reactions and shares within a few days of posting
– Receives a high percentage of shares compared to overall reach
– Attracts engagement from people outside of your existing audience and network
– Generates conversation and buzz leading to additional shares and engagement
Some characteristics of viral Facebook posts include:
– They often evoke a strong emotional reaction from viewers, whether that’s humor, inspiration, shock, or outrage.
– They feature captivating images, videos or graphics that draw people in.
– They tackle trending topics or themes that are relevant to a broad audience.
– They present content in a fun, concise, and easy-to-consume format.
Why is going viral on Facebook valuable?
There are a few key reasons why content that goes viral can provide huge value for your Facebook page:
– **Increased reach and followers** – A viral post can expose your page to tens or hundreds of thousands of new people. Even a fraction of those can turn into new followers.
– **Higher engagement** – Viral posts receive a ton of reactions, shares and comments compared to regular content. This raises your overall engagement rate.
– **Website traffic** – When your viral content is shared beyond Facebook, it can drive massive referral traffic to your website or blog.
– **Lead generation** – The increased exposure and traffic from a viral post provides more opportunities to convert visitors into leads or sales.
– **Brand awareness** – Widespread sharing of your content raises awareness and interest in your brand, products, or cause.
– **Thought leadership** – Viral content allows you to tap into and influence trending conversations in your industry.
How to create viral content on Facebook
While viral success relies partly on luck and timing, these tips can help increase your odds:
Identify viral triggers
Certain types of content tend to spark viral sharing more than others. Consider weaving these viral triggers into your posts:
– **Humor** – Funny videos, jokes, and memes frequently go viral. Just ensure your humor aligns with your brand identity.
– **Aww** – Cute animal photos and heartwarming stories often spread widely, especially when positive emotions are highlighted.
– **Shocking facts or stats** – Counterintuitive facts presented visually tend to get shared. Try creating an infographic.
– **Inspirational stories** – Stories of perseverance, charity and human compassion can strike an emotional chord.
– **Controversy** – Debates and outrage drive people to share their opinions. But take care not to deliberately mislead.
– **Challenges** – User-generated challenges, contests and campaigns can go viral, like the Ice Bucket Challenge.
– **Behind the scenes** – Give audiences unique value by showing something they normally don’t get to see.
– **User-generated content** – People love seeing themselves and their peers represented. Showcase your followers.
Hook viewers immediately
Your post content should instantly grab attention within the first few seconds. Some ideas include:
– Ask an intriguing question or tease a surprising reveal
– Open with a startling fact, statistic or announcement
– Feature an attention-grabbing image, video or GIF
– Leverage FOMO (fear of missing out) with a giveaway or contest
– Provide an urgent prompt to act, comment or share
Keep it concise
Getting your point across quickly and clearly increases the chances of it resonating and spreading.
– Keep videos under one minute if possible.
– Use bullet points instead of dense paragraphs.
– Limit text content if using images or video.
– Craft a catchy, descriptive headline.
optimize visual assets
Eye-catching visuals are key for viral content on Facebook.
– Use high-quality, relevant photos and videos that align with your text.
– Add descriptive captions and titles to images.
– Use meme generators to create funny memes.
– Make clever infographics with key data points from your post.
– Create animated GIFs capturing the most engaging part of a video.
Leverage influencers
Influential users can give your content a boost by sharing it with their own audiences.
– Gift products or offer exclusive access to influencers to incentivize shares.
– Proactively reach out to influencers and share your content for consideration.
– @ mention relevant influencers when you post content and ask them to share if they like it.
– Partner with influencers on co-created campaigns or giveaways.
Promote on other channels
Cross-promoting your viral content increases its reach potential.
– Share posts on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. and encourage others to share.
– Promote posts through email newsletters, website banners and offline flyers.
– Run Facebook ads targeted to lookalike audiences to further amplify reach.
Analyze and iterate
Look at top performing content to identify what resonated and repeat those elements in future content.
– Review comments and shares to see what types of emotions or reactions content evoked.
– Check engagement and click-through rates for different posts.
– A/B test post content, headlines, images, etc. to see what variants perform best.
Best practices for viral content
Here are some recommended tips when creating content aimed at going viral:
Match the format to the platform
Every social platform has its own style and format of content that performs well.
– **Facebook** – Short videos, shareable images, lists/tips, infographics.
– **Instagram** – Vertical videos, Stories, Reels, natively formatted square images.
– **Twitter** – Threads, screengrabs, reaction GIFs, text opinions.
– **YouTube** – Longer videos (>10 minutes).
Localize your message
While some themes like humor are universal, others need to be localized regionally.
– Reference locations, landmarks, celebrities, and issues your target audience cares about.
– Adapt slang, cultural references, and examples in your text and visuals.
– Ensure language translations capture the right regional tone and expressions.
Make content mobile-friendly
Mobile devices account for most social media usage, so optimize content for small screens.
– Use short sentences and paragraphs for easy smartphone reading.
– Format visuals suitably for vertical viewing.
– Ensure videos are horizonally shot for mobile screens.
– Verify content renders properly cross-device.
Encourage sharing
Explicitly prompt your audience to share helps increase virality.
– Ask viewers to tag friends who would also appreciate the post.
– Set a sharing goal, like 100 retweets or 1,000 shares.
– Run caption contests asking people to come up with creative ideas.
– Leverage hashtags to tap into broader conversations.
Avoid hard sells
Softly branded viral content gets better traction than heavy-handed marketing messages.
– Focus on entertainment, information, or value over promoting your product.
– Use branded visuals and messaging subtly.
– Link to your products or services contextually where relevant.
Time it strategically
When you post can significantly impact how much reach content gets initially.
– **Weekdays** – Post during weekdays, when more people are active on social media.
– **Breaks** – Post during lunch breaks, commute times, and after work hours.
– **Dead spots** – Avoid early mornings and Friday nights when engagement dips.
Here is an example weeklong posting schedule for optimal timing:
| Day | Best Posting Times |
|---|---|
| Monday | 10 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM |
| Tuesday | 9 AM, 12 PM, 5 PM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM, 2 PM, 4 PM |
| Thursday | 10 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM |
| Friday | 9 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM |
Measuring the success of viral content
To determine the effectiveness of your viral content efforts, track these key performance metrics:
Reach
This indicates how many unique people saw your post through organic and paid distribution. Benchmark numbers:
– Small business pages: 50k is viral.
– Brand/publisher pages: 500k is viral.
Engagement rate
Engagement rate measures the percentage of people who interacted with your post out of the total reached. A good rate is:
– >5% for small business pages
– 1-3% for large brand pages
Higher is better, so long as it’s organic and not inflated by ads.
Shares
The number of shares indicates how much your content spread peer-to-peer. Highly viral posts should achieve:
– >5,000 shares for a small business page
– >100,000 shares for a global brand page
Comments
Relevant comments suggest your post resonated enough for viewers to voice reactions and opinions. Great content generates:
– >100 comments for small pages
– >1,000 comments for large pages
Referral traffic
Analyze how much traffic to your website comes via social referral sources. Viral posts should spike this metric.
Conversions
Ultimately, conversions such as email signups, purchases, and downloads indicate how viral reach translates to measurable goals. Track conversion rates from social alongside other metrics.
Do’s and don’ts
Keep these guidelines in mind when publishing viral-focused content:
Do:
– Monitor trending topics and pop culture for relevant tie-ins.
– A/B test multiple variants of images, copy, etc.
– Promote new viral content via existing popular posts.
– Consider boosting engagement through paid ads.
– Respond to commenters and influencers who engage with your post.
– Analyze and learn from your top performing viral content.
Don’t:
– Just copy existing viral content trends. Add your own twist.
– Force trends that aren’t resonating authentically with your audience.
– Buy fake likes, comments or shares from bots. Social platforms penalize this.
– Overwhelm your audience across social channels. Space out viral content.
– Neglect compliance, rights clearance, and permissions in the rush for virality.
Conclusion
Going viral on Facebook can seem like winning the lottery, but you can significantly increase your odds by strategically crafting content designed to resonate and spread rapidly. Keep these best practices in mind:
– Tap into emotional and psychological triggers that prompt sharing.
– Craft compelling social-friendly visual assets.
– Promote viral content across channels and with influencers.
– Analyze and double down on what performs well.
Viral content takes effort to perfect but pays dividends in expanded audience reach when you achieve that golden combination of engaging and highly shareable. With smart planning and experimentation, your next viral post could be just one publish away.