3 Quick, Counterintuitive Strategies to Go Viral on Any Platform

Many writers use the wrong strategy when trying to go viral. A pattern I often see goes like this:

• A content creator makes a piece of content, like, say “How to Make Money Online.” Maybe it’s a Twitter thread, maybe it’s a YouTube video, maybe it’s an article. For the sake of this article, let’s say it’s a Twitter thread.

• The thread goes viral. Importantly, the original author has the context to make it good. They have made lots of money online, and they know replicable strategies to help others do the same.

• Other Twitter users see the thread and think, “Huh, obviously money-making is popular! I’ll do the same.”

• They write their own version of the Twitter thread, hoping it will perform just as well as the original.

• Their copy/creation flops. This is usually because, unlike OP, they don’t have the contetx/knowledge/life experience to make it a truly great thread, add anything to the conversation, or provide outstanding value to the reader.

• The copycat believe that going viral is purely based on luck or timing. And they just got unlucky!

This creates a vicious cycle with no winners because everyone is copying the same thing. And worst of all, readers feel like they’re getting spammed with duplicate content. They become frustrated, and they’re less likely to click on that genre of content in the future.

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Here’s a better alternative:

Look for controversy.

This is a little tricky, but it’s the foundation for most of my best-performing posts. And many viral articles I see by other writers also use this strategy.

For example, I recently discovered a featured article by Stephan Joppich titled “5 Sneaky Pitfalls of Minimalism I See No One Talking About.” This worked so well because it went against the grain. People love/hate to be proven wrong, so everything that challenges popular concepts has a good chance to attract a ton of traffic. 

Also, readers get bored by seeing the 1,000th post about the benefits of minimalism. People who love minimalism are eager to know what their enemy is saying. People who hate minimalism are eager to be validated. Everyone’s interested. It’s a win-win.

Another example: I saw so many (seriously, an unbelievable number) of “X Side Hustles to Make $100 Per Month”. I was so tired of these. I knew I couldn’t be the only one. So I hunted for an alternative strategy. My result? “5 Side Hustles That Will Never Make You Rich.”

So, how can YOU apply this to increase your chances of going viral? Here are three time-tested strategies:

1. Wade through comments. 

Scout out a viral blog post or YouTube video in your niche and check what the audience says. 

What are people angry about? What valid points do they add to the conversation? What’s the opposite of the joint opinion? (Whenever I use an idea from a comment, I credit the original source in the article.)

2. Browse content roundups. 

My favorite place for researching viral articles is Medium’s tag pages. Medium is a popular blogging platform that has a LOT of data about what’s interesting to readers right now. They aggregate this data by tag. The savvy researcher knows how to plumb that data for insights.

For example, if I want to write about freelancing, I’ll go to the page medium.com/tag/freelance. Then, I slice the data by “best” and “this month” to check if there’s an opinion I disagree with or if there’s an angle no one is talking about yet.

3. Become a “noticer.” 

One of the best daily habits you can pick up as a content creator is paying more attention to conversations and media outlets. 

What are controversial topics? Do you have a unique opinion on something? Do you fundamentally disagree with anything you read or watched recently? 

Just make sure you don’t write about something just because it’s controversial. Your opinion should be genuine, considerate, and backed up by expertise.

These strategies won’t guarantee you a viral hit. You still need to write great stuff and put in the reps. But the amazing thing is that going viral isn’t just about luck and timing! It can be a planned-out process of practice and effort. Use these strategies and see how far (read: viral) you can go.

Have you ever used this strategy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.