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How To Go Viral On Social Media
In the world of social media, it feels like everyone is chasing their next viral video, but going viral on social media is much easier said than done. Unless you’re one of the lucky ones who have a video go viral overnight, chances are good you’re going to have to put some work into your socials before your first big viral moment.
But how do you define going viral? And in a world where algorithms are still (mostly) a mystery to us all is there a cheat sheet to going viral on socials?
This is our complete guide to going viral on social media, from what it means to be viral all the way to some tips and tricks that can help increase your chances of that elusive viral video.
What Does It Mean To Go Viral?
Going viral in 2025 is a completely different ball game to what it was even just a few years ago and defining virality in 2025 is incredibly different. Whilst virality in the early 2010s could be a video garnering millions of views seemingly overnight, going viral in the modern day can mean a lot of different things.
You could have a video that has a seemingly ‘low’ number of views but has great engagement, and that could still constitute a viral video. It’s also important to remember that viral videos don’t always happen immediately. The algorithm works in mysterious ways, and sometimes you can have a video sitting on your page for weeks or even months before it reaches that coveted viral status.
So, How Do You Go Viral On Social Media?
While there isn’t a secret sauce for going viral on social media, there are some tips and tricks you should be keeping in mind for the best results. These are some of the most important factors that can take your video viral:
The Hook
A TikTok for Business report recently found that over 63% of videos on the platform with the highest click-through-rate hook their audience within the first 3 seconds of their video. This means that if you don’t have a great hook, you’re going to have viewers bouncing from your video fairly quickly. The hook is arguably the most important part of your video. This is how you capture attention and entice viewers to stay and watch for the complete duration.
A great hook isn’t just important on TikTok though. The nature of social media is that users move fast so ensuring you’re capturing attention as quickly as possible is how you’re going to keep your audience, boost your visibility and increase your chances of going viral.
Have A Purpose
When it comes to creating content you need to make sure that you have a purpose to what you’re creating. You really need to think to yourself: “Why would someone watch this video?”. Whilst of course it’s your social media, you can’t just post only content that interests you. If you want to go viral, you need to know your target audience and tailor your content to things that they want to see.
Whether you’re posting content for education, entertainment or somewhere in between, you need to make sure that it’s something your audience wants to see so that you can boost your engagement, your visibility and build your community.
Find Your Niche
Social media can sometimes feel like you’re throwing ideas against a wall to see what sticks, and it can be hard to know what kind of content is going to work and what isn’t.
For that very reason, it’s recommended when you’re starting your social media to find your specific niche. Whether that’s storytelling, beauty content, BookTok content, fitness guidance or anything in between. Finding where you fit in the social media zeitgeist is going to make it a lot easier to go viral (and stay more consistently viral) than if you were posting videos without any real rhyme or reason.
Build Your Community
Having a community is going to be the difference between you having consistent engagement or not. When you create content that your audience wants to see, they will keep coming back to your page to view whatever it is that you’re posting. This is critical when it comes to building a community of loyal followers rather than chasing that one viral video.
Having a community behind you is beneficial in the long run (as nice as it would be to shoot to stardom from one viral video) as it leads to much stronger relationships and improved engagement for your brand long-term.
Stay Consistent
No one knows exactly how the social media algorithms work, or why they push what they do, so one of the most important things you can do is stay consistent with your posting.
Being consistent with your posting, and keeping your videos up on your page even if they’re seemingly doing ‘badly’ is the real key to success. By keeping your content on your page, even if it’s not performing as you hoped, you give it the opportunity to keep growing over time. Obviously, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, and if your entire strategy isn’t garnering results at all, it might be time to reassess what you’re posting.
Remember, It’s Not An Exact Science
When it comes to going viral on social media, it really isn’t an exact science. It’s important not to get discouraged if your content isn’t performing as well as you’ve hoped.
When you build a community, post regularly and ensure you’re creating content your audience wants to see, you’re already well on your way to success.
Whether you’re just beginning your social media journey or you’ve been in the game for a while and you’re looking for some additional guidance, partnering with a social media agency could be just what you need to take your strategy to the next level.