Back in the day, people would tack flyers to a tree to get the word out about their businesses. (Man, I miss those days.) While those days weren't too long ago in the grand of scheme of things, a lot has changed since then. Now, with one single tweet, we can get thousands, even millions, of eyes on the thing we're trying to promote.
Oftentimes, the tweets we intend to go viral don't, and the ones we don't intend to go viral do. Hey, that's just the game of it. Still, here are three ways to ensure your tweet gets more eyes on it:
- Use As Many Hashtags As You Can
Don't just use random hashtags, either: There's a method to all the madness. Do your research and find out which hashtags are trending, then measure their relevance to what you're tweeting. Or, work the other way around: Find out what's trending and angle your tweet according to the trends.
You don't necessarily have to change what it is you're tweeting; just angle it so that it aligns with what's already popular.For example, if you're tweeting about your bestie and it also just so happens to be International Women's Day, throw in how important it is to be talking about your bestie on #InternationalWomensDay.
2. Network, Network, Network
One of the easiest ways to increase your clout online is to increase your clout offline. Go out and attend networking events, meet new people and promote your Twitter account. When you meet people face-to-face, you can tell them to follow you and make sure they do so right in front of you. Put your Twitter handle on anything and everything: as a banner on your car, printed onto your pens and pencils and pins you can hand out to people.
But also make sure you're networking online. You do this by liking and retweeting other people's tweets. The more you engage with them, the more they'll engage with you; to go viral, you must recognize that social media is a two-way street.
3. Be Controversial OR Create Content That's Original As Possible
Look. As great as it is that we all can say whatever we want these days and actually be heard, the fact of the matter is that the market is oversaturated. In other words, there are so many people tweeting so many things that there's likely to be overlap in ideas and content.
That's why it's so important to make sure your content is as original as possible. While it helps to have a ton of followers to help make your tweet go viral, you don't necessarily need the clout to enter the viral zone. I have around 2,700 Twitter followers, and while my tweets usually get anywhere from 5-15 "likes," I once had one get almost 300 "likes" and 60 retweets. The reason for it? I said something super original that no one was really saying in that exact way.
Oh, and people always respond to controversial content, whether it's in a good way or a bad way. But hear me out: having haters usually means you made it. So stir up the controversy, my friends.