Content virality is a key metric for content marketers who want to increase their reach, engagement, and conversions. But how do you measure how viral your content is, and what factors influence its potential to spread? In this article, you'll learn about some of the most effective ways to measure content virality, and how to use them to improve your content strategy.
Content virality is the degree to which your content is shared, liked, commented on, or viewed by your audience and beyond. It indicates how much your content resonates with your target market, and how well it attracts new visitors and leads. Content virality is not a fixed number, but a relative measure that depends on your goals, industry, and audience size.
To measure content virality: - Track engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments). - Monitor reach and impressions. - Observe the frequency of social sharing. - Analyze referral traffic to your site. - Evaluate conversion rates linked to the content. - Conduct sentiment analysis of audience reactions. - Note the speed at which content spreads online.
Content virality is important as it can help you boost your brand awareness and reputation, increase organic traffic and SEO ranking, generate more leads and conversions, reduce marketing costs and increase ROI, and create a loyal and engaged community around your content. These are all key benefits that can be achieved through content virality.
Measuring content virality isn't as simple as following a single formula, but there are common indicators you can use to gauge success. Social media metrics, such as shares, likes, comments, reactions, mentions, and clicks, can be tracked with tools like BuzzSumo or SocialBlade. Website metrics, including views, visitors, bounce rate, time on page, and referrals can be tracked with Google Analytics or SimilarWeb. Engagement metrics, such as downloads, subscriptions, sign-ups, purchases or other actions taken by your audience can be measured with HubSpot or Mailchimp to calculate conversion rate and customer lifetime value.
Quick tips to increase the chances of your content going viral: ? Quality is Key: Create high-quality, valuable content. ? Know Your Audience: Tailor content to your audience's preferences. ? Visual Appeal: Use eye-catching visuals and videos. ? Follow Trends: Stay current and incorporate relevant trends. ? Catchy Headlines: Create compelling, intriguing headlines. ? Social Media Presence: Share content across platforms and engage with your audience. ? Encourage Sharing: Include calls-to-action for viewers to share. ? Optimal Timing: Post when your audience is most active. ? Influencer Collaboration: Partner with influencers for broader reach. ? Mobile Optimization: Ensure content is mobile-friendly.
It’s best when a time duration is kept while conducting a virality check. For instance, do a virality check within 48 hours of the content being posted / content starting to gain sudden traction and pick up momentum. And make sure to measure virality across platforms and do not restrict to one platform alone. Once you have sufficient data, analyse which platform had maximum contribution for your content to go viral.
In order to create viral content, it’s not enough to simply measure its virality; you need to use the insights you gain to improve your content strategy. To do that, you should start by understanding your audience's needs, preferences, pain points, and emotions. Write catchy headlines that capture their attention and curiosity, and use keywords that match their search intent and queries. Visuals such as images, videos, infographics, or GIFs can make your content more appealing and shareable. Additionally, incorporating social proof such as testimonials, reviews, ratings, or case studies can help build trust and credibility. Finally, adding a call to action encourages your audience to take action after consuming your content.
It greatly depends on the platform we post and how the algorithms work. Some types of content can get promoted, while others can have limited reach. Knowing this will help improve virality. Anyway, you can’t predict for sure which post will go viral. I’ve seen cases when one social media share boosted the website traffic. My perspective is to create content for that potential consumer who may find the content helpful, interesting, or funny.
Measuring content virality is not without its challenges, such as data overload from the vast number of metrics and tools available, attribution when tracing the origin and impact of your content, and the difficulty of distinguishing quality from quantity. It can be tempting to focus on the number of shares, views, or clicks that your content gets, but that doesn't necessarily reflect its quality, relevance, or effectiveness. You need to consider the quality of the traffic, leads, and conversions that your content generates and how they align with your goals and KPIs.
As a content creator, do not focus on content virality, it's a short-term vision. Yes, if you post a piece of content and it goes viral, you get added attention and additional followers. However these additional followers might not be permanent and may have supported only this piece of content. You want to build a community, not just get a one-off like on your content. This is why I don't support the mindset of prioritising virality in content creation.