My 60 follower Instagram account went viral with 1.4 million+ views on my 100th video, just 3 months into posting. Here's how I did it and what happened afterwards... 

But what does it actually mean to go viral? And why is it not what you think? Should you even try to go viral? 

Let's talk about it! 

My name is Mark, and this is the #012 edition of Marketing Right Side Up newsletter, your source for social media and marketing news, updates, memes, and weekly stories. 

As always, if you hate reading, here’s this article summed up in a youtube video:

Here are the Top Social media news from the past 2 weeks (sorry):

• Facebook’s seeing unexpected Gen Z growth despite overall decline; TikTok is projected to see boomer users grow next year.

• Turkey blocks Instagram and Bangladesh bans all social media platforms in response to protests.

• Hootsuite shares Social Media Benchmarks for Q2 2024

• TikTok tests custom thumbnails for videos! (Youtube Shorts, still sleeps on them)

• Reddit launches lead generation ads with a Zapier integration

• Threads crossed 200M users globally; Whatsapp grows in US to 100M users.

• Meta launches custom AI chatbot platform while pivoting their celebrity-driven AI chatbots to voicebots 

And here’s the Winning meme of the past two weeks? Also with analysis in the article below.

marketingrightsideup

View more on Instagram

So…

Why should you NOT want to go viral?

Three months ago, I started from scratch with three brand new social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, posting at least one video a day. 

These were short-form videos, a mix of my own created media and memes, all related to marketing or social media marketing. Occasionally, I'd touch on general internet news, like the Meta AI, the Adobe scandal, or the CrowdStrike global outage. It took exactly three months or 100 videos to go somewhat viral with 1.4 million views on a single video. 

I'll tell you everything about it, but first, what does it actually mean to go viral?

 And why is it NOT what you think..?

Basically, “viral content” is any type of content that distributes itself, like a good flu!
And there are layers to this. 

There's no specific number that constitutes viral. 

If you have 20 followers, even having 10,000 views on a single reel means you went viral. Usually, the more engaged followers you have, the higher the number of views your viral hit will have. However, keep in mind there's a massive level of unpredictability to this. 

And NO, your product video will not go viral. And if it does, it's usually for the wrong reasons. Sure, some business videos go viral, but often because of humor or absurdity behind it, which can and does overshadow the product or service you're promoting.

YES, you can have 20 million views on a funny real estate selling video, but don't expect to see a significant increase in sales. More often than not, viral hits only marginally impact sales. As I said in my previous article, the more content you push, the higher your chance of hitting the jackpot. The more content you push out, the more you will grow if you do it right and are prepared. Going viral could mean nothing for you business-wise, or it could mean growth. 

It's up to you how ready you are.

The process

My goal with my social media was to get a functional proof of work and gather data for my newsletter and youtube video. To keep the process as scientific as possible, I created one video a day and distributed it to TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts simultaneously. I tend to create all my short-form videos in CapCut, then edit them in TikTok, download without the watermark, and distribute them to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

This approach isn't because TikTok is my main focus, but because TikTok is the most sensitive platform when it comes to the video creation process. Instagram likes when you use trending audio or insert text, and YouTube Shorts loves SEO.

When I publish a TikTok, I create the first comment with a call to action. With Instagram Reels, I share it to my stories. YouTube Shorts, however, I don't give a shit, although YouTube is my priority for long-form content. After uploading to all three platforms, I let them be for a few hours to gather data.

The data

I've picked three of my 100 short-form videos to show you the data across all three platforms, using the same video and creation method, but with vastly different results. 

First, the YouTube success - a Social Media Manager’s presence meme: only a few weeks into my content creation, the video 

• got zero views on TikTok because it was auto-flagged as low effort

• 63 views on Instagram, 

• and 12,700 views on YouTube. 

Second, the TikTok success - a video shot and recorded in the TikTok app about BeReal acquisition got 

• 70,000 views on TikTok, 

• 1,400 views on Instagram Reels, 

• and 43 views on YouTube Shorts. 

Lastly, the Instagram success - a CrowdStrike meme: 

• 20,000 views on TikTok, 

• 75 views on YouTube, 

• and 1.4 million views on Instagram Reels.

While this might look like randomness, there are clear differentiations for each platform: 

• TikTok thrives on originality, freshness, and longer content. 

• YouTube Shorts loves SEO and well-described content, regardless of the video quality.

• Instagram craves shares, even boosting low-effort memes as long as people watch and share them.

The findings

What I learned from these cases:

• YouTube Shorts drives my new subscribers the most, even if I don't post my most successful content grows hundreds and thousands of views weeks after. 

• TikTok yielded minimal results with gain of 50 followers from 134,000 views. 

• Instagram saw a more than 100% growth in followers from the one viral Reel, but otherwise, growth was stagnant.

Using organic social media content as the awareness phase of the funnel is crucial. YouTube provides long-term growth, while TikTok and Instagram live very much in the “NOW”. Timing and luck play a significant role. Viral hits often benefit influencers and content creators more than businesses.

The next step

The value of my viral hit for my business was minimal. The successful content was mostly memes or breaking news, serving brand awareness but not converting into meaningful engagement with my educational content or consulting services. 

However, this is not the end. The second part of my experiment will focus on converting the reach from top-of-the-funnel meme content into actual leads and potential customers. BUT this will have to be a topic for a future video/article.

If you'd like to boost your sales and business on Instagram, what are you waiting for? Subscribe!

If you're interested in 15 questions and answers about Instagram growth, from beginner to advanced levels, feel free to read my previous article.

I wish you all a bountiful week.

Cheers,

Mark.