Three techniques viral social media accounts use to create content.
Creating content is well known as one of the greatest hurdles for social media success. For small businesses it can be much challenging to create content with small teams, time constraints, small budgets and more.
On one hand Instagram chief Adam Mosseri suggests, that posting two feed posts per week and two stories per day is enough to build a following on the platform; while on the other most businesses post once daily. With this pressure to make content how do you keep up?
As a social media expert much of what I do is research and analysis both quantitatively and qualitatively. The secrets to surviving in the social media space can be found easily when looking at techniques used by viral accounts. In fact these accounts have an ability to engage their audiences consistently and to receive more reach than business or brand accounts. Time spent studying viral accounts has a lot to teach about social media growth.
In 2021 three trends for content creation appeared to be the most prevalent across viral accounts. Three techniques that we will call the three rs.
The Three R’s
Reshare
Social media’s first call to action is to share and this has always been a key feature of every social media platform. Viral accounts grow reach and engagement by resharing content that their audience will love.
It has become not uncommon to see these accounts sharing content across platforms too, with a growing number of TikTok videos finding their way onto Instagram this year. Being present as a social media user can pay off here for smaller businesses allowing them to connect with customers or clients on a more personal level.
Following hashtags and accounts can help to discover quality content. Don’t forget it’s polite and can be a great networking tool to reach out to the content owner for permission to repost.
Recreate
Have you ever been on Instagram and had post déjà vu? The accounts we all know, and love often use the same content, more so if they engage in the same trends and topics. Finding ways to show information, remake a point, retell a joke, or tell the story in a way that fits your brand can increase post reach and attract new followers. Over one million Instagram posts each day mention the word “meme”, don’t ignore what is trending.
Recycle
Viral accounts use content from across their brands on social media. Most twitter users will know that most of the good content on other platforms starts its life on twitter but last year viral accounts dropped the pretence and simply used screenshots instead.
This year tweets and even direct messages have found their way onto the main feed and small businesses can do this too. Finding content from across the business that can be recycled into social media content. Creating infographics from old charts, using customer testimonials to make text-based images, or repurposing those videos from an old workshop. People remember visual information 65% longer than text, so be creative.