If you thought I would have the ultimate how-to guide on how to make a post go viral on social media, then you my friend, have been mislead.
Want to know why? Because there is no ‘how-to’ guide on how to go viral on social media.
Anyone that goes viral on social media normally doesn’t set out to. It’s pot luck; it’s fate.
Setting out to go viral defies the actual meaning of viral. Viral is a virus – it’s uncontrollable.
THE OCEAN SPRAY BUDGET
We’ve all heard about the Ocean Spray brand recently thanks to the viral video from Dogg Face below:
A soft drink that sits on the shelf in Tesco and has no real pull for me or the average Joe has been selling out all over the world.
Why?
Because the above video of Dogg Face went viral, showing him drinking the juice while skateboarding. Such a simple concept, yet why did it go viral? For that, we have no answer except: It just did.
10 million views and counting for Ocean Spray, along with a huge surge in sales. But how much did the brand spend on this advertising? $0.
Ocean Spray got lucky that Dogg Face (who now has 2m+ followers) used their drink in his video and not another drinks brand like Coca Cola or Pepsi.
And then add in the absolute legend that is Mick Fleetwood who joined TikTok and recreated the video below, again drinking Ocean Spray:
Dogg Face turned out to be the gift that kept on giving as people rushed to TikTok and Instagram to recreate the video, causing a spike in sales for the drinks brand.
For the full Dogg Face Ocean Spray timeline, read that here.
OCEAN SPRAY REACTOR CONTENT
Just off the top of my head, there are so many things that Ocean Spray could create based on this content by Dogg Face. They could sponsor new posts by the Instagram star, get him in to create content for the brand’s own social media accounts and work on a future partnership with him.
In a way, Dogg Face has made Ocean Spray the new ‘cool’ and ‘must-have’ drink. So the best thing to do would be to jump on this new-found brand fame and utilize it as best they can.
If any other celebs like Mick Fleetwood jump on the Dogg Face bandwagon, they could sponsor them too. Or perhaps create the #DoggFace challenge, inviting users of TikTok and Instagram to create their own version of the viral video, using Ocean Spray drinks.
We’ve already seen Shakira and famous Australian rugby players get in on the action with recreating the video, so who’s next? Kim K? Just imagine the impressions and reach Ocean Spray would receive for that and all for free!
SO HOW DO WE MAKE THINGS GO VIRAL?
If you take a look at Dogg Face’s Instagram, you’ll notice that his Ocean Spray video was not his first rodeo. You’ll notice that his account has 640 posts, a lot of them featuring himself.
The content creator has been posting for a long time, and all it took was one video to make him internet famous.
We can’t predict what will go viral and Dogg Face even said himself that he didn’t expect the video to cause so much hysteria and commotion.
The trick to going viral is to keep posting consistently. Keep posting, keep showing up and keep putting stuff out there. It’s the only way to be seen and to stay relevant in social media’s ever-changing algorithms.
A few weeks ago, many social media marketers were probably sent out to buy skateboards and all given the task to recreate their own Dogg Face video for their own client. However, repeating already-viral content just doesn’t have the same effect.
Get creative and bring something new to the table.
Related: Five Viral Social Media Campaigns
QUALITY CONTENT
Even though I say to post consistently, I don’t mean to post any old thing or just to post for the sake of posting.
Make sure what you are posting is adding value to your followers and audience. Be proud of what you post and post what you like.
I mean, I don’t think Dogg Face’s viral video really added value to his account or his followers but then again, you could look at this video and think how free he looks, like he has no worries whatsoever. Perhaps this is why people loved it?
Just post, post, post but also make sure it’s good quality when you do post.
EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR POSTS
If something doesn’t work, we fix it. Take a look at what you’re posting and analyze why it might not be performing as well as you expect.
If you’re posting pictures of food but it’s not really taking off, try experimenting with TikTok videos or Instagram Reels of you making the food, or your trip to a restaurant.
Experiment with stories, create different formats and templates on Canva and create polls to get your followers more engaged on what you are posting.
Ask your followers what they want to see from your account and posts and what they like about the content that you’re already posting.
I find that social media is all about experimentation. Trying new hashtags, new ways of engagement, new ways of posting and interacting with as many people as possible really helps.
Post consistently, change up the game and post great quality content and you can’t really go wrong. It’s all a waiting game and your viral moment will probably come when you least expect it.
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