HOW TO GO VIRAL

My Linkedin post was viewed over 1.8m times.

I gained 12K new followers in 24 hours.
Here's exactly how I did it.

My Linkedin post went viral.

It was seen 1.8m times, received over 9000 likes, and was reposted over
900 times.

I went from 15,000 followers to 27,000 in 24 hours.

This was my third viral post, though this one was on a completely different
level to the first two.

Today I’ll share what happened with my two “micro viral” posts, and the 8
reasons my Linkedin Secrets of the Algorithm post went “true viral”.
FULL DISCLOSURE

Prior to my viral post, I spent 11 months building my audience from zero to

15k followers.

I poured so much time, energy and love into crafting the best content I
could, and built my audience slowly and steadily.

And then from one single post, I went from 15k followers to 27k.

I’ve gone “micro viral” twice (150k+ views), and “true viral” (1m+ views)
just once.

I don’t have a magic formula for going viral, but I've done my best to break
down why these three posts have outperformed, and then dug deep into
why "Linkedin Secrets of the Algorithm" has had over 1.8m views.

The true formula for Linkedin success is this:

● Show up every day

● Write the best content you can
● Connect with other creators
● Build your personal brand for the long term

It’s going to take time, but it’s worth the effort.

Viral Post 1
"Hitler’s Social Agency Screws Up”

View the post: https://bit.ly/3hFXm43

The Idea:
I imagined the scene if Hitler’s social agency accidentally put a link in the
post and tanked his engagement. I honestly expected this one to make my
creator friends laugh, and not much else. It ended up being my first “micro
viral” post. This was also the first video I ever edited (on Linkedin or
anywhere else).

The Numbers:
389k impressions
2324 engagements
620 comments
152 reposts
Why This Post Went Viral:
This post is relatable humor. Creators all know the pain of tanking a good
post by accidentally putting a link in the post (and not in the comments).

What surprised me was just how widespread this relatable pain actually
was.

Hundreds of creators, agencies and marketing managers engaged,

commented and in many cases, tagged in their friends who were creators,
agencies and marketing managers, and so on.

That’s how a viral post becomes viral.

Viral Post 2
"The Simple Guide to Linkedin Carousels"

View the Post: https://bit.ly/3guM5CS

The Idea:
I would often see beautiful carousel posts from people like Chris Do, Dain
Walker and Richard Moore, and wanted to trial my own content with them.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a simple guide to doing so for non-designers.

I asked my girlfriend Jenny (who is a Canva queen) and she walked me
through how to do it.
The Numbers:
157k impressions
1558 engagements
319 comments
77 reposts

Why This Post Went Viral:

Once I had my own formula down, I created a simple guide.

As with Viral Post 1, the key is in my audience tagging in other creators and
friends who they think would appreciate knowing how to create carousels. These
people then tag more creators and friends, and away we go.

If you see a brightly coloured carousel filled with random animals and shit on
Linkedin, this is the post that started that whole thing.
Viral Post 3
"Linkedin Secrets of the Algorithm"

The Idea:
I read Richard Van Der Blom’s excellent Linkedin algorithm report, and
created a summary list that would apply specifically to content creators on
Linkedin.

I honestly thought this was a regular old post - maybe 20k views. I even left
in a typo on page 4, because whatever. But I was wrong. This one went
mental.
The Numbers:
1,800,000 impressions
9300 engagements
2000 comments
900 reposts

Why This Post Went Viral:

Let’s go through the 8 reasons why this one massively outperformed
anything else I’ve done to date:

1 - Linkedin Tip Posts Outperform

2 - Use Copywriting Power Words (Secrets)
3 - Highlight Keywords on Carousel Cover Page
4 - Post Consistently High Quality Content
5 - Respect the Algorithm
6 - Credit the Creator
7 - Simple Numbered List
8 - Highlights Reel
1 - LinkedIn Tips

I write about entrepreneurship, and how I’m building a $1m personal brand
on Linkedin.

My audience is founders, executives, entrepreneurs, freelancers and

creators. Every one of them wants to do better on Linkedin.

Writing a Linkedin post about how to succeed on Linkedin usually works

very well for me.

2 - Use Copywriting Power Words

People love secrets.

It’s a copywriting power word.

Here are some others I like:

Simple
Million
10k
100%
Surprising
Techniques
Hacks
3 - Carousel Cover Page

As always, I started with a carousel cover page dedicated to the main

keywords: Linkedin Secrets.

Just like the “hook” in text posts, the carousel front page deserves your
attention and effort.

Your cover page will make or break engagement on your carousel post.
Make it irresistible.

4 - Consistent Quality

I do my best to post quality content every time.

No social Saturdays (please god, no), no polls, no “controversial opinions”

that aren’t.

I create content that entertains, educates, inspires, or some combination of

the three.

With that in mind, my long-term followers checked in within the first hour,
hit like and left a comment.
5 - Respect The Algorithm

I optimized my post for success:

10am post time

3 hashtags
No post edits
No external link on the post
No external link in the comments in the first hour
Replied to every comment in the first hour

6 - Credit The Creator

I tagged Richard Van Der Blom, which meant his followers saw my post.

I don’t usually do this because it’s shitty to tag creators for clout, but in this
case it was appropriate to ensure Richard received the credit for months of
hard work.

I also shared the carousel with Richard privately before posting to check he
was comfortable with it, linked to his report in the comments, and clarified
to anyone praising me for “my” research that it was actually all Richard.

Resharing other people’s content and ideas is fine if you ensure the creator
is given their due respect.
7 - Simple Numbered List

People really love lists.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

8 - Highlight Reel

Richard’s report was 57 pages long.

I read it, took notes of things that would benefit creators, and basically
made a "highlight reel" of that information.

It outperformed Richard’s original post - the release of the much more

detailed report - by 300%.

Richard has since created a “highlights” reel carousel of the most

interesting parts of his report (and tagged me in the post - thanks a lot
Richard).

Keep this in mind when you have a lot of information to share. Just give
people the highlights.

SUMMARY

1 - Linkedin Tip Posts Outperform

2 - Use Copywriting Power Words (Secrets)
3 - Highlight Keywords on Carousel Cover Page
4 - Post Consistently High Quality Content
5 - Respect the Algorithm
6 - Credit the Creator
7 - Simple Numbered List
8 - Highlights Reel
___

© Sam Browne, 2022

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-browne