The Viral Spiral
For most content creators, going viral is the goal— but it’s time we forget about it.
Let’s be honest, going viral is one of the biggest goals for a lot of social media managers. And if I’m being completely honest— I’m guilty of this too.
Fast forward to today, I look at going viral as just an added bonus. My content going viral is not really my priority anymore. The reason why is because going viral or being a viral Instagrammer can really put you into what I like to call the Viral Spiral. This is where business owners and entrepreneurs get stuck in their own way, creating content over and over and over again that they think is going to end up being viral. They end up getting obsessed with insights and social media platforms. They tend to spend an unhealthy amount of time watching the trends— which can be a huge time suck for business owners.
How my journey towards Viral Spiral started.
The viral spiral is something that I witnessed and underwent when I launched Meraki Media Management. When I took an Instagram Account from 18,000 followers to 500,000 followers in under a month, we completely went viral and we were reaching people all over the world. What was really important about this campaign and going viral was that we were actually connecting with people within their ideal client section right within their zone.
Have a clear strategic business strategy (in case of WHEN you go viral).
If you don't have a clear strategic business strategy, and you go viral, where are you funneling these people? How are you getting money offline? Was the whole point of the campaign you set up to go viral? Let’s say that was not the real goal and so now you are overwhelmed with the flooding of new followers that are coming in.
This is a really important conversation to have for entrepreneurs who are active on social media. When you go viral, it’s automatic that your numbers across all platforms will go through a dramatic increase. However, these numbers can mean all sorts of things.
Take, for example, when you set up a promotional campaign or a giveaway and one of the mechanics is to follow your page, people will follow your page with no questions asked. BUT after the campaign, they sure are quick to unfollow. People are leaning out of the content because it’s something that they are not interested in anymore.
Don't let your ego move first when going viral.
I want you all to really think about why you want to go viral?
Do you want to go viral to be famous and make money? Do you want to go viral to feel important and relevant? Do you want to go viral to feel seen and heard?
Simply put, here’s my final take on it: don't do it for the ego.
My Personal Takeaways
My viral spiral journey has led me to discover what really matters as per my content creation process. My limiting beliefs then are what ultimately held me back from creating content that was out of genuine passion and purpose.
We are so consumed by what we see, hear, and read online that we are all influenced to be the same. However, as with anything in life, people’s journey on the world wide web is unique and personal. Every content creator’s journey is different and so we don’t have to feel pressured about going down the same path as theirs.
The next time you plan and create content, do it based on your identity and your brand’s purpose. You don’t have to put out a grand series of content to get attention— because when you create real and honest content, it will resonate and the right people will come at the right time.