For most businesses, chasing viral content is a bad trade. Going viral brings reach from people who aren’t your customers, from places you don’t serve, and who forget the post the next day. What sells is content that’s specific, consistent, and aimed at people who can actually buy. Going viral can happen as a result of good content, but it shouldn’t be the goal.
This is an opinion, and we stand by it because we see the effect every month. Businesses that chase viral content usually get one month of pretty numbers and a year of a confusing profile.
Why viral is misleading
Reach isn’t audience
A bakery video from Recife with two million views got watched by people all over the country, and the vast majority will never buy bread there. The number looks great in the report and never shows up in the register.
The algorithm learns the wrong audience
When a post strays from your topic and blows up, the platform starts showing your next posts to the same type of people who liked it, not to your customer.
Followers who don’t buy drag you down
A large, uninterested follower base lowers the share of people who engage with the rest of your content.
Trends get old within days
Trend-based content has a short shelf life. Content that answers a question keeps bringing people in for months.
When going viral actually helps
- When the topic is your product. A video that goes viral showing your service brings in curious people and customers too.
- For businesses that sell all over Brazil, like an online store with nationwide shipping.
- For a brand that needs to become known fast and has the structure to handle the demand.
In these cases, going viral is welcome. The problem isn’t going viral. It’s chasing viral at the expense of content that sells.
What to do instead
Specific content
Speak to people who can buy. “Three signs your AC needs cleaning” attracts fewer people than a meme, but it attracts the right ones.
Consistency
One helpful post a week for a year builds more than one viral post in a month. Check out how many times to post on Instagram.
Full funnel
Top of the funnel to get discovered, middle to convince, bottom to sell. We explain this in content funnel.
Real proof
Client case studies, reviews, before and after. It’s the least “viral” content and the one that converts the most.
The numbers that matter
Instead of views, track:
- Messages and quote requests.
- Saves and shares from people who are part of your audience.
- Reach in your area, for local businesses.
- Sales that originated from social media.
If a post gets few views but generates three quote requests, it did better than the post with a hundred thousand views and zero messages.
A quick test before you post
Ask yourself: “if only my ideal customers saw this post, would it help sell?” If the answer is no, it’s entertainment, and it can still have a place on your profile, but it shouldn’t make up most of your content.
A real-world example
A neighborhood hardware store posts a funny video that has nothing to do with construction and gets 300,000 views. The following week, its paint promotion posts reach only half their usual numbers. The same store then starts posting things like “how to calculate how much paint to buy for a bedroom”. These videos get fewer views, but they bring in quote requests through DMs every week. The second approach looks worse in the report and better on the books.
Frequently asked questions
So should I never use trends? Use them when they naturally fit your topic. Adapting a trending format to explain your service works well.
My competitor went viral. Should I copy that? First, check whether that viral post actually turned into customers for them. Often it doesn’t.
How long does it take for targeted content to pay off? Weeks for the first messages, months for it to become a steady channel. See content marketing.
Who plans the content for me? Ciclicko creates posts designed for buyers, not for the algorithm. See our content creation plans.