After 7 Years Writing Online, This Is Exactly How Your Content Goes Insanely Viral

It's not obvious. When I read this quote it changed everything.

Viral content rarely has anything to with you or the size of your personal brand – it has to do with what you posted being true – Unknown

Content that goes viral is completely misunderstood.

Many people think it has to do with clickbait, or headlines, or images, or a brilliantly crafted message, or understanding social media platforms, or mastering algorithms.

It’s none of that.

The components of viral content aren’t obvious. I’ve seen men and women on LinkedIn go viral on their very first post. I’ve seen bloggers build big audiences in under a year.

After consuming so much viral content over the years and dissecting it, here’s what you need to know to level up your writing once and for all.

It’s definitely not about this stupid thing

Marketing gurus keep spraying the evil phrase personal brand. 

*Vomits up last night’s pasta*

A personal brand is bullshit.

If you're in love with yourself/brand on LinkedIn, you're wasting your life.

It sounds harsh but it's true. The personal branding shitstorm turns you into a billboard instead of a human.

A personal brand is about you. 

Successful content isn’t about you at all – rule one.

Viral Content That Becomes Endlessly Shareable Looks like This

#1 – Does your post describe a truth?

Daniel Abrahams on LinkedIn stumbled across the same bizarre phenomenon I did. His LinkedIn profile has this title that gives it all away:

If it goes viral, it's not because of me. It's because it's true.

Daniel regularly has posts that go viral on LinkedIn. People keep asking him for his secret formula. He doesn’t have one. He looks for things we experience in our careers, that we can all relate to, that feel true.

For example, “Leaders solve problems for which there are no answers on google.”

Here’s the crazy thing:

Most of the content Daniel publishes isn’t his. He’s learned the powerful art of curating narratives that describe the truth.

When people see a post that is true, their natural reaction is to like and share it so more people can experience what they felt.

We secretly desire “I felt like that too” moments on social media. Create them.

#2 – There better be enormous emotion

Viral content makes you feel something.

Ads are low-quality content that make you feel nothing. Unfortunately, most people on social media accidentally post the equivalent of an ad.

Emotion moves people to action. In the case of viral content, emotion moves people to take action and share your content, like it, leave a comment, or forward your content to their mailing list.

Dead content is emotionless. It makes you want to keep scrolling.

Posts about a business, for example, feel dead. 

Revenue-generating entities are lifeless.

The way to create content full of one or more emotions is to write stuff you truly care about. Write about things that make you feel emotion. Or better yet ….

Make yourself emotional while creating content. 

I often consume content on Youtube that makes me feel all sorts of emotions. Then I write with that emotion that has taken over my body. Today I consumed this video on Youtube.

It was supposed to be a video featuring a magic trick. Instead, I got to see what it’s like to give your baby away to a complete stranger and be okay with it. At the end I had to wipe my eyes from all the tears.

The tears were completely unexpected. That’s what viral content does to you.

#3 – A different kind of authenticity

Influencers throw the phrase authenticity around like a used condom. It kills me. Most of them have no idea what authenticity is. They use authenticity because it sells their bicycle shorts with a discount code.

Authenticity is being real.

That means you speak your truth. You say what’s on your mind. You don’t give a flying fuck what anybody is thinking about your thoughts or whether they like you.

Authenticity is talking as though you’re speaking to your best friend at a cafe. When you learn to talk to your audience like a friend it becomes intimate. Intimacy is beautiful. You can add natural authenticity to your content like this:

• Write like you talk

• Add quotes from real conversations you’ve had

• Break all the grammar and spelling rules

• Purposely add imperfection. (A practical example is photography. When I have a few photos taken of me, I often use the one my fiancé says looks the worst. Where my face looks odd or the camera caught my ugly side. Ugly is normal.)

#4 – Use stories, yes. But not like you think.

Storytelling is key in viral content. You already knew that though.

What is missed is that the story has to be good. The story has to get to the point. The rate of revelation – how fast the story goes from start to finish – needs to be fast-paced. Getting to the point is what an audience wants above everything. Why?

We have limited time. We want the takeaway or the feeling you can offer as quickly as possible.

So give it to us ….. pllllllleeeeeeeaaaassssseeee.

#5 – The purposely left out superpower

This is the final key to insane viral content: vulnerability.

Vulnerability equals saying something that makes you look weak.
Vulnerability equals publishing a piece of content that makes you uncomfortable.
Vulnerability equals sharing a loss, failure or low point you haven’t shared before.

If I publish a piece of content I’m tempted to edit it, then I know it’s vulnerable and I dare myself to *not* mess with it.

Vulnerability isn’t failure porn.

Some content creators take the idea of vulnerability and completely mess it up.

They start talking about every tiny failure they’ve ever had and sound like a discombobulated clown. They go overboard. All of their content is failure. You need a mix though. Of course, share the low points, but don’t forget to share what went right.

Remember this

Content goes viral when it reminds people of the truth.

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