This past year, I was lucky enough to have a few posts go viral on social media and I have to admit, it’s one of the best feelings ever.a
It usually starts with a few notifications from your social channels, followed by a huge increase of emails telling you that you’re getting a lot of new subscribers.
Hmm.. something is up, you think.
Then you head over to your Google Analytics and see the towering graph for that day. That’s how you know a post is going viral!!
AWESOME!
The first time that happened to me, I had no idea what am I supposed to do. I was happy about the surge of traffic and the new subscribers but that’s about it.
It wasn’t until I had a few other posts go viral that I thought:
“There must be something I can do to completely milk out the virality of the post.”
Finally, I realized and learned what I should be doing and today, I want to prepare you with an action plan on what to do when your blog post goes VIRAL!
In the end, I’ll also share some tips with you on how to get a post to go viral in the first place.
There is no concrete recipe, but I can tell you how you can increase the chances of it happening.
Let’s get started:
A Quick Fix-Up (ASAP)
Once you notice that a certain post is going viral, go read the post again and see if you can fix anything in there.
Look out for:
- Broken links (huge)
- Bad grammar and spelling mistakes (guilty).
- Ways you can improve the content (always).
Recently my blog post about how to make money on Amazon was going viral on Pinterest.
After I re-read the piece, I soon realized that I’ve had some minor grammar mistakes and I’ve also decided to rewrite most of the article because I had some updated info to share.
I took the post from 910 words to over 2000 words, checked the grammar and also added some more links…
Speaking of which.:
Link To Other Articles On Your Site
Since your post is getting a lot of traffic, it would be wise to try to keep your readers on your site with more information.
Try to include some links inside the content but if you don’t see that nothing fits in, add a “Read Next” paragraph at the bottom and list some of your other “popular” posts.
Invest In Paid Ads A Week Later
If your post went viral, juice all the viral-ity out of it and when you see it is losing it’s buzz, invest $5/$10/$15 (or more) in Facebook ads.
Trust me; if you target the right people with it and maybe even people who have not seen it yet (yes you can do that in the FB Ads Manager), you’re looking at the possibility of it going viral one more time.
If it goes viral for the second time, then you’re looking at more visitors, more subscribers and hopefully more sales.
As I see it, spending a few more $$ to get another few 50+ subscribers a day is always worth it because I then have those readers on my list and I can reach out to them anytime I want.
Part of the beauty of email marketing.
Add Sign Up Forms
If you don’t have a signup form where you can collect email addresses, then you should get one asap.
But if you do have one already, add a special customized one under the content (before the comment section). You may also want to hop over to Canva and create a simple graphic contextual to the content and I can assure you; your sign-up ratio will increase.
It’s easy and quick to create a new sign up form for that specific piece of content, and I promise you the 10 min you spent creating this will bring in HUGE results.
Add Amazon / Adsense Banners
This may not always be ideal if you’re promoting a specific product in your post but if you want to make some quick $ from the virality of your post, consider adding some Amazon Affiliate links or Adsense banners in the post itself.
When you’re getting thousands of traffic a day, this will result in you making anywhere from $10 up to $100 or more in a day.
Just don’t over do it with the ad banners. 1 banner and a few affiliate links to Amazon will do just fine.
Redesign Graphics & Launch Again
I believe the reasons some of my posts go viral is that I take the time to create high-quality images to go with the content. In case you are wondering, I use Canva to create all my blog images and I highly recommend it.
With this in mind, what I suggest you do is to create a whole new set of blog graphics and then share the post again (with the new images) a few months down the line.
Try to wait at least one month before sharing it again. You don’t want to “spam” your followers with one piece of content only.
Let them “forget about it” and they will love it again the next time.
You’ll also be targeting all the new followers you will get in the coming months (people who haven’t seen your content before).
Try To Replicate What Works
When a post goes viral, it gives you an idea of what works on your blog.
If it’s a “Top 10 list”, a detailed “How To” guide or just your “Rant Post”, you can always get an idea of what is working and what is not.
Take a look at your Google Analytics account to get a clear idea of what is getting the most attention.
Once you find out what is working and what is getting the most readers, you can try and replicate the same “winning formula” and write another article.
A “part 2” of the original viral post is always a good idea too. You can then link up the 2 posts together and give your reader a whole lot of content in one sitting.
Contact Other Pages & Accounts
If your post is going viral, then something must be right with it.
A good idea on how you can maximize its virality is to contact other pages and accounts that are related to your topic and ask them to share your post.
Here is an example of what I would send:
Hi there. I see that both our pages share the same type of content with our followers.
I’ve recently shared this article from my own blog:
www.yousite.com/yourarticle
..and it went super viral.
If you’d like to share it with your own followers, I’m sure they’d love it too.
Many thanks in advance
(your name)
That’s all you have to do; if the page shares it, then you have a chance of it going viral for one more time. If not… well hey, no harm in trying.
Obviously, this little guide will be of no use to you unless you get a viral post so before I go, I’d like to explain to you how to maximise your chances of your post going viral in the first place.
This may not always work because as I said: there is no specific formula, but there is no harm in increasing your chances with these 3 tips:
01: Build Your Social Following
Your chances of a piece of content going viral dramatically increase if you focus on building your social media followings.
It gives you an avenue where you can share your content. The more followers you have; the more shares, retweets and re-pins you will get and the more people will see it.
While having huge amounts of followers may not guarantee your post goes viral, your chances are bigger than if you only have a handful of followers.
02: Connect With Other Bloggers And Influencers
It’s always nice to have another blogger or online influencer as a fan of yours.
They usually have a massive reach through their own social channels and if they decide to share your content, your post has a pretty solid chance of going viral.
Reach out to them, share their own content and just engage with them on Twitter on Facebook.
Obviously, don’t go for celebrities and other high profile characters because they are bombarded with these requests and you won’t get far.
It’s best to go to a small to medium sized influencers (such as myself) as your chances of cutting through are much higher.
03: Create Content That Is Fit For Going Viral
Unfortunately, not all content is fit to go viral.
Stuff like product reviews, sales pages and these “promotional” type of content rarely ever goes viral.
I’m telling you right now: don’t expect your product review to go viral.
Stuff like ‘How To” guides, Top 10 List posts and other content that provokes interest, controversy, historical facts and such have a much better chance of going viral for you.
In Closing
Having your post goes viral is a great thing. One blog post can make your whole site valuable and you’re suddenly “in business”.
One thing you’ve got to remember is that you never know which post will go viral.
Some of my posts that went viral I had shared more than once and the first few times I shared them, I got nothing.
It only takes one popular account to see it, like it, share it and then.. it just happens.
You never know when a post will go viral but hopefully, with the advice I’ve just shared with you today, you’ll have an action plan ready to go when it does happen.
I hope this article was informative and of value to you. If it was, feel free to share it and leave me a comment with your thoughts too.
Talk soon.
