How to go viral on Social Media

In today’s social media landscape, going viral can be a challenging venture. Growing your platform often comes as a result of understanding algorithms, human behaviour and creative communication with your audience.Whether you’re an artist, creator, brand or entrepreneur, developing an understanding of how to engineer viral content can dramatically amplify your reach and give your grow your business on valuable ways.

These are some of the key components to help you go viral of social media and some practical tips to help your content stand out in an often over saturated market.

What does it mean to go viral?

At its core, virality refers to content spreading rapidly across digital platforms—shared, re-posted and talked about by large audience of viewers over a short period of time. Although this doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality or value of a piece of content, it is often a result of aspects that capture people’s attention, connect with people’s emotions and compel audiences to engage.

While it’s not the only important factor in creating skilled art or content, going viral can help increase brand visibility, grow an audience and create new opportunities to develop your craft, especially if you are looking to pursue a creative avenue as a career path, 
Social media can often be looked at as a modern portfolio and the more eyes you can get on your work, the more opportunity for potential clients and business.

Viral success can be measured in a variety of different ways. Metrics commonly include likes, share and reposts, as well as increase in follower count. Although in 2025, high quality engagement is often reflected by the quality of interactions with a post. Meaningful comments and a dialogue between creator and audience will often result in higher levels of engagement, and a broader reach throughout the lifespan of a post.

Crafting viral content

In order to pinpoint what will make a piece of content go viral, it is important to understand the key fundamentals of storytelling and the way that audiences engage with art and stories across all mediums. While Social media is a relatively new phenomenon, mankind’s ability to create stories that resonate with people’s emotions and engage attention has been around for thousands of years and our habits have remained relatively similar in regards to the way we are entertained.

A few key techniques to introduce your story and help audiences to understand what it’s about.

Identify Popular Content Formats

Viral moments often hinge on choosing the right format. Short form videos, relatable skits, carousel posts and interactive formats that are saveable and create share-ability consistently perform well across platforms. It is important to identify what resonates with your niche. Whether it’s tutorials, behind the scenes vlogs, product demos, comedic skits or cinematic videos, having a strong format and sticking to it can dramatically increase your chances of capturing attention.

Utilising Storytelling Techniques

Storytelling humanises your content and creates an emotional connection. Whether you’re sharing a customer journey or showcasing the evolution of your brand and sharing your purpose, stories can transform ordinary posts into memorable experiences. Using narrative arcs, relatable language and compelling visuals all help to bring the message of your content to life.

Choosing the right Social Media Platforms

Not all platforms serve the same purpose. For example, Instagram excels with a higher level of visual storytelling. It encourages a more curated approach to what you are putting out there and people resonate with a higher skill in how you’re creating. Tiktok thrives on a more personal level of sharing, people tend to engage with a less curated style of storytelling that feels more like an insight into someone’s life. Understanding where your audience spends their time helps you to direct your energy more efficiently and understand where a certain style of content will perform.

Optimising Posting Times and Frequency

More often than not, the time of day that you post can impact it’s performance a lot more than you think. Each platform has higher level engagement windows that are dictated by location and audience behaviours. Researching your analytics and knowing when your audience is most active will definitely help your content get the initial boost it needs to start performing across the platform. Posting regularly usually results in the algorithm favouring your content, but also gives you a more authentic understanding of audience habits.
That being said, frequency should always be sustainable and quality should never be sacrificed over quantity.

Engaging with your audience efficiently

Social media is a social platform, meaning there should always be conversation and dialogue between you and our audience. The people your following don’t want to be sold to, they want to be engaged with and feel like they are sharing the experience with real people. Replying to comments and messages, sharing audience reactions and initiating conversations with your community humanises your brand and gives people a more personal connection with what you’re posting. People will feel a lot more inclined to engage with your content if they feel like they are a part of your community base.

Keeping up with Social Media trends

Trends are a key part of the social media landscape, and understanding what sort of content is going viral and how different trends are evolving, can help you maintain relevancy and an ever shifting environment. While participating in social trends doesn’t necessarily have to be the answer, keeping an eye on trending audios and music, being aware of viral captions and aligning with relevant topics and interests can sometimes elevate your content into a growing space and improve discoverability. Brands and pages that adapt and create quickly can appear relevant and find more viral success.

Building a loyal online community

Sustaining growth goes beyond the odd viral video, it comes from cultivating a loyal online community that understands your story and supports your growth. Creating a welcoming space where people feel like they have access to your journey and perhaps have a say in the kind of content you’re creating, creates a more authentic dialogue and people will be encouraged to engage more regularly with what you’re posting. Popular tolls include Q&As and exclusive community groups often foster deeper relationships with your community.

Creating a consistent message

Consistency appeals to peoples desire for familiarity and builds trust. Maintaining a consistent tone, visual style and message across platforms strengthens your identity. Your audience knows what to expect from you — whether it’s educational, entertaining or inspirational—they’re more likely to return if they recognise your content.

At the same time, audiences evolve and you should too. Introducing new ideas and series of content, experimenting with formats and collaborating with other creators that teach you new skills, helps to keep your feed fresh. Leveraging new features on platforms is often rewarded with higher performance through the algorithm and continuous creativity ensures that your content remains relevant and exciting, which will help to maintain viral performance in your videos.

Mastering vitality involves balancing short-term wins with long-term strategy. By crafting compelling content, choosing the right platforms, engaging with trends and nurturing a loyal community or supportive followers, you can not only create viral moments, but sustain meaningful growth and develop a richer engagement across your platforms and remains relevant as social media grows and shifts. In a digital world where attention is fleeting, the pages that thrive are those that remain adaptable and authentic, while also being consistently creative.

Cam Stables

Cam Stables is a New Zealand–born commercial photographer, filmmaker, and content creator who specialises in high-quality tourism and lifestyle imagery. He creates compelling, social-focused travel content for destinations and brands worldwide, blending his passion for adventure and the outdoors with a distinct, story-driven visual style.

Known for thriving in fast-paced environments, Cam excels at producing impactful visuals that resonate. His work has taken him across the globe, and he continues to pursue new opportunities to craft evocative imagery that inspires connection, curiosity, and discovery.