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Does going viral equal success? On this episode of the Branded Cowgirl Podcast, I dive into the world of going viral and what it really means. I’m sharing my own experience with going viral, why I don’t believe its all that it’s cracked up to be, and my best tips to help boost your videos in the algorithm and increase your chances of going viral. Join me and learn how to create quality content that will engage and resonate with your audience and understand who they are and what they want to see.

What Does Viral Mean?

If you want to get technical about it, then usually going viral means that a piece of content has been shared and seen by a large number of people, usually in a short period of time. It is often seen as the goal of content creators and marketers, as it can result in a lot of attention and recognition for the content creator or brand.

BUT honestly, I don’t like that definition for viral because most people think they need millions of views to have gone “viral”. Instead of that, I want you to start thinking of Viral as just having gotten significantly more views or engagement that you have on previous content.

Let’s say that whenever you post a REEL, you are getting around 300 views on that REEL on average. But then one day you post a REEL and it gets 2000 views.

That can be considered viral. By definition.

The Time I Got A Million Views

• yes I got more followers
• no I did not get more brand deals
• I got good and bad engagement / feedback
• my engagement was good for a little while when I rode the wave but eventually it dropped back off
• conclusion: it’s fun to have a video go viral but it’s not something that is going to drastically change your life. especially if it is one video. But what i do think it does is tells us what kind of content we should be making more of
• most people make the mistake of having a one hit wonder and never doing anything with it
• ride the wave and create a bunch of content after a video goes viral
• make more content on the same topic

Why Going Viral Isn’t Important

Going viral may seem like the holy grail of marketing and promotion, but it’s not always necessary for success.

I think 2 things can be true at once and my opinion has changed on this a lot but, I used to think that quality over quantity was more important. And I still think that this is a very good thing to consider but I also believe that quantity is a great way to grow. And that the more times you post, the more chances you have of going viral.

You need to figure out what seems to be working best for you and stick to it. But also be flexible and experiment. Sure, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it but that doesn’t mean you can’t try new things to grow in different ways.

Why Things Go Viral

There are many factors that can contribute to a piece of content going viral, such as the content itself, the timing, the platform, the audience, and more. The content itself is a major factor, as it needs to be something that resonates with viewers, something that is relatable, funny, or emotional. Timing is also crucial, as it needs to be something that is posted at a time when it will be seen by the most people. The platform it is posted on also plays a role, as some platforms are more likely to spread content quickly. And lastly, the audience is important, as they need to be able to relate to the content and share it with their friends and followers. All of these factors combined can lead to a piece of content going viral.

10 tips for making your videos reach more people

1. Add text to your videos
2. Make sure there is enough time to read the text but not too much time (3 seconds is a sweet spot)
3. Put the text in the center of the screen and make it easy to read
4. Use a visually pleasing clip in the beginning to hook your audience (also make sure to include a person or animal or some kind of subject)
5. No heavy filters!
6. Make original content!
7. Cut the fluff and get straight to the point
8. Use Call to Actions
9. Look for trending sounds but don’t over produce using them (sounds with less than 5k views are good!)
10. Use branding stereotypes to reach the right people!

Not sure what branding stereotypes are?? Make sure to tune into Episode 111 of the Branded Cowgirl podcast to learn all about them!

At the end of the day, going viral isn’t the only way to be successful. Focus on creating quality content that will engage and resonate with your audience. Understand who they are and what they want to see, and use that knowledge to grow your business or platform.

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