4 Key Tips for Creating Viral Content for Social Media

Learn to create viral content for social media and see your likes and shares soar

Social media has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives: we swipe, click, share, like, and save posts every day. Our desire to share content with our friends, family, and followers is what causes posts to reach more and more people and even become “viral.”

In the digital world, if a piece “goes viral,” it means it has become incredibly popular in a matter of hours or days, having been shared by thousands, if not millions, of people on social media. The term is used as a marketing strategy to promote products and services. While, in general, viral content has a short shelf life, it’s still very effective.

Publicist Renato Farfán (@nato_farfan) is an expert in creating viral content for social media. In this blog, he shares four key points that will help arrive at the best ideas for your next viral post.

Key tips for creating viral content for social media

Renato Farfán has a strategy for learning to use your intuition, laying the foundations for your creation, and defining the limits within which you will come up with and execute an idea. This strategy is supported by four pillars.

1. Find inspiration

Consume every piece of content you can to find new examples that inspire you. The more cultural references you have, the better your ideas will be: watch series and films; follow art, fashion, and popular culture; observe what is happening around you on the subway and how people behave in different public spaces; go to the theater; read about science and technology; consume all the news you can and know what’s going on in the world; analyze why content has gone viral; look at advertising; see what’s trending on YouTube. In conclusion, always be curious and observant and always participate because you could find the idea for your next viral campaign anywhere.

2. Evaluate your ideas

It’s important that you know how to distinguish between good and bad ideas. A good indicator for Renato is if he has doubts about an idea being successful because it is risky, or there could be problems executing it for logistical, social, political, or legal reasons, or because it is too controversial.

3. Create

To make a viral piece, you don’t need to know lots about a particular topic, you just need to be curious about lots of things. You can explore the unexpected and create a great story.

Grab those ideas that present unusual challenges, that are captivating, unique, and present opportunities. Those that feel like they’ve never been done before (and, of course, check whether this is indeed the case, at least in your country or community). If it is too similar to an idea that has already been done, find a way to make it different or better. Being original is key.

4Stay on top of your budget

It’s important to know the budget you’re working with before you get to work, as this will decide whether your ideas are realistic or not. Knowing your budget will help you to work out what you can and can’t do so that you don’t get carried away with impossible dreams.

Renato Farfán teaches the Domestika course, Viral Marketing: Campaigns That Share Themselves. You’ll learn all about viral marketing, how to organize a campaign with or without planning time, and get advice on what to do if your content goes viral or ends up struggling to be seen.

You may also like:

–Content Marketing for Social Media, a course by Reina Rodríguez
–Creative Copywriting for Entrepreneurs, a course by Christian Caldwell