If a piece of content posted by a brand’s social media account is shared widely and receives an extraordinary number of likes and comments, the company’s social media management team needs to take immediate steps to make the most of this good fortune. A viral post can quickly boost a brand’s online presence, but figuring out how to amplify the positive attention can be a challenge for marketers.
When a branded post goes viral in a positive way, the communications team can help maximize the benefits in a variety of ways. Below, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council share the best next steps for comms teams to take if they hope to leverage a viral post’s level of online engagement to build more momentum and reach more of their company’s target audience.
1. Strike While The Attention Iron Is Hot
Be prepared to change out your next scheduled post for something with the potential to be equally engaging. Social teams can achieve this by analyzing which part of the original post people most connected with or commented on. – Rebecca Takada, Numentum
2. Define How Social Interactions Influence Buyers’ Decisions
Social media performance indicators are related to interactions—they are about what people do on the platform. To make the most of these positive reactions, it would be convenient to define what their influence is on the purchase decision-making process of customers. This way, through proper traceability and attribution, the social media management team could define the campaign’s actual return on investment. – Pablo Turletti, ROI Marketing Institute
3. Take A Step Back To Look At The Data
Amid the excitement over a viral post, social teams should take a step back to look at the data. Social metrics can help brands understand why their audience reacted so strongly and if there’s a broader trend to tap into. Social teams can then use these insights to not only inform their own strategies, but also share them with other teams, such as customer care, product or sales, for a wider impact. – Jamie Gilpin, Sprout Social, Inc.
4. Discover New Audience Segments; Create New Personas
A positive viral post can help you discover new audience segments or an innovative approach to telling the brand story—by using compelling visual content such as a meme, for example. Use data to validate your hypothesis and create new personas to personalize your engagement. – Anna Luo, Jivox
5. Engage With The Post’s Audience First
The team should first engage with the audience in the post, then take a step back to analyze the factors contributing to its virality and assess the authenticity of interactions to determine if they originate from the target audience or random users. This will ensure that the brand’s message is resonating with the intended audience and not just attracting superficial engagement. – Lauren Parr, RepuGen
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6. Use Viral Organic Content In Paid Social Campaigns
Consider using your best organic social media content in your paid social campaigns. Some of the biggest brands are already doing this—putting their ad dollars behind well-performing organic posts. If something does well without promotion behind it, imagine what it can do with a little extra juice. – Rekha Thomas, Seismic
7. Make Another One
It’s exciting to “go viral,” but the best content marketers value lasting impact over isolated success. In short, enjoy the win, but get back on the field. The best way to build on success is to repeat it. – Gary Brandon, Lewis Communications
8. Analyze Viral Factors To Inform And Improve Future Posts
After a branded social media account’s content goes viral positively, one critical next step for the social media team is to analyze the factors that contributed to it and use that knowledge to inform and improve future posts. This proactive approach ensures that the team captures the momentum generated by the viral content and maximizes the long-term benefits of this stroke of good fortune. – Anthony Kennedy, ION
9. Follow These Three Steps
First, record all metrics involved—both during the lead-up to the initial post and as the post goes viral—to isolate any repeatable key indicators and learning points. Second, repost and reference the content using similar targeting criteria to maximize the viral impact. Third, step up your social presence and monitoring as the video goes viral so that new consumers and prospects have a favorable first experience with your brand. – Chris Haller, RealCount
10. Ensure The Content Reaches Your Core Audience
Ask yourself if the engagement has reached your core audience. The answer is often “not exactly.” The best next step is to use some paid media to direct this great content to your audience so that they see it. Never assume that viral content translates into your core audience seeing the story until you can prove it. – Bob Pearson, The Bliss Group
11. Spread The Love (Quickly)
Include a link to the post and cite the viral response across your other channels—via email marketing, on your blog and in a press release. Let your audience know that their peers found the content valuable. A headline such as “Have you seen this viral post?” will grab attention. But you must act fast, while the post is still hot, for this strategy to be valuable. – Esther Bonardi, Yardi Systems
12. Consider Using The Content Internally As Well
Think about the lateral impact that a popular piece of content can have on internal morale and engagement, too. Internal comms and human resources teams are always looking for new ways to share engaging content with employees, so if you have created something that connects with your audience, then there’s a good chance that doing something similar might also work for employees. – Scott Hitchins, Interact Software
13. Get More Juice Out Of The Content
Post the viral content on your internal employee advocacy platform so that employees can amplify the post further through their own social handles. Make sure they have the right hashtags and tags. Reach out to or tag key influencers with a big reach to get more eyeballs on the content. Respond to comments to extend the dialogue on your social media account. – Monica Kumar, Hitachi Vantara
14. Follow It Up With Related Content In The Near Future
There are a few things a company can do when a branded post goes viral. The first is to engage with the people amplifying and resharing this content. In addition, the company can further amplify the content via other platforms or even by boosting the reach on the current platform via paid ads or other company-owned handles. Lastly, the company can build upon this concept by following it up with related content in the near future. – Tom Treanor, Snipp Interactive
15. Use The Content To Drive Traffic To Other Brand Assets
To effectively capitalize on viral content success, social media teams should maximize the impact and convert the increased attention into long-term brand growth and engagement. Using the viral content as an opportunity to drive traffic to other brand assets, such as websites or other social media accounts, by including calls to action within the content can direct the audience toward taking the desired actions. – Stephanie Lewis, Drop Hat Productions
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