Twitter is one of the top-tier social media platforms among Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. It allows 280 characters limit for tweets for free users. However, Twitter Blue users get their tweet characters limited to 4,000 per tweet.
Twitter has around 450 million monthly active users as of 2024. Therefore, some might think going viral on Twitter is a legit struggle. You can’t create crappy content and expect it to go viral on the Twitter platform.
The biggest secret to virality on Twitter is to develop unmatchable, trustworthy, compelling content that appeals to relevant audiences. It may not happen on a whim because great things always take time.
So hang in there and keep at it, and you’ll see the results slowly but surely. Before I discuss some essential tips on going viral on Twitter, let’s try to understand the basics of this topic.
Related: How does Twitter Algorithm Work in 2024?
What is Virality on Twitter?
Virality is a term widely used on social media for anything that instantly becomes popular on the internet, and the audience discusses it for quite some time.
Any tweet that gets spiked once you publish on Twitter might be the result of virality on Twitter. The same is the case with other social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
You must have heard that a tweet or an Instagram post went viral. It indicates that this piece of content instantly became a social media hit, meaning people talking about it, users sharing it across different social platforms, and it’s all over the internet.
Does anyone remember the famous 2014 Oscar selfie of Ellen DeGeneres with other celebs? It quickly went viral across all social media channels back then. The TV shows, newspapers, magazines, and showbiz web portals picked it up and discussed it afterward.
Whenever a video, picture, or article goes viral somehow, everything tries to jump on the bandwagon and cash in on that viral content to get popular or stay relevant. But there is nothing wrong with it as it’s a norm on social media.
People discuss politics, sports, social issues, catastrophes, events, and other happenings on social media including Twitter. The more a news or event gets discussed, the bigger it gets on social media.
Why Should You Focus on Virality?
Viral content, whether it’s a viral tweet or funny Instagram reels, always attracts the audience that scrolls through their social media feed several times a day.
Above all, most people tend to share good-quality, funny, and helpful content with friends and family. Therefore, whenever they stumble upon a viral piece of content, they share it with their loved ones – it’s like a reflex.
Anyway, here are five reasons why you should focus on content virality:
- Brings immediate attention
Indeed, viral social media content can quickly grab the attention of a large audience, leading to an influx of views, likes, shares, and comments. This can help increase brand exposure and generate buzz around a product or service.
However, keep in mind that it doesn’t happen on a whim – sometimes, it takes forever to come up with “viral content” that turns things around for you.
Related: How Brands Boost Twitter Engagement With Humor
- Works as a launchpad
While viral content brings eyeballs around your other content, it also acts as a launchpad for a new product or service, generating interest and awareness among potential customers.
It can help create a strong initial impression and drive traffic to a website or landing page. Moreover, a viral social media post often brings new social media followers.
- Boosts brand positioning
Brands positioning means how prospects and customers perceive and think about your brand. Any viral social media post can help improve brand positioning by creating a positive association with a brand among a wide audience.
No doubt that brand positioning can help establish a brand as a thought leader or industry expert, and can lead to increased credibility and authority over time.
Related: 10 Social Media Branding Tips for Brands in 2024
- Brands cash in on virality
Brands keep an eye out for viral phenomena. Have you ever noticed brands start collaborating with a fresh singer, dancer, or content creator that goes viral on social media? The reason is that brands want to cash in on the virality.
Plus, they have to spend a lot less on such a collaboration with a newbie as compared to traditional influencer marketing. So viral content can surely create opportunities for partnership and sponsorship deals.
- Seems shareable on social media
Who doesn’t share funny, entertaining, or helpful videos or posts with friends? We all share useful or funny content because we want loved ones to get benefit or have fun consuming that viral content.
Furthermore, such type of content often has characteristics that make it highly shareable, such as being humorous, informative, or emotionally resonant.
10+ Simple Ways to Go Viral on Twitter
Here are a bunch of ways to go viral on Twitter:
- Pick a specific niche
One of the fundamental mistakes starters make on social media is that they try to reach, engage, and convert everyone – it doesn’t work that way. Instead, pick a lane and stick with it.
You must focus on a specific niche and try to cater to a particular audience’s needs and interests. This could help you build dedicated social media followers and you would be able to create content that resonates with them.
It’s easier to go viral within a niche community because the audience is more likely to share and engage with your content.
Example: Dr. Marie Haynes
She has clearly stated that she is interested in AI, ChatGPT, and Google Bard. The audience can get a pretty good idea about what she has been tweeting or is going to tweet about in the future.
- Optimize your profile
Twitter profile optimization is an underrated growth hack. However, if you follow social media influencers on Twitter, you would notice that they keep their profile pics, covers, and bios up-to-date. Influencers know that their Twitter profile is their first impression, so it’s essential to make it count.
Make sure your profile picture, header image, and bio are clear and concise. Your bio should include relevant keywords and convey who you are and what you do. Some social media experts add hashtags to their Twitter bio to make their profile pop in the Twitter search.
Example: Shlomo Freund
Shlomo has a quite simple yet optimized Twitter profile. He has used a decent display picture, a profile cover with a message, and a clear Twitter bio. Plus, he also has an external link mentioned on the profile.
- Share results and findings
A part of the reason why influencers and social media gurus get attention on social media is that they keep on doing experiments and sharing the results with the audience.
People love to learn new things and gain insights into different areas. By sharing their results and findings, experts are providing value to their followers, establishing themselves as experts, and increasing their credibility.
Example: Cristina
Cristina is a niche website builder and blogger. She is among the niche site builders who often share results and findings through tweets. She knows that screenshots + success stories are a great way to attract new followers.
- Make helpful Twitter threads
One of the easiest ways to make your tweets go viral is by posting Twitter threads. Create a powerful, compelling message to deliver and use the Twitter thread feature as a pedestal to spread across the Twitter community and beyond.
Twitter threads allow you to provide more in-depth information on a particular topic. A well-structured thread can keep your followers engaged, encourage them to share your content, and increase your reach.
If you have not been using Twitter threads, you’re missing out on a lot of engagement opportunities on Twitter.
Example: Phillip Rivers
Phillip Rivers is a marketing expert, and he knows how to use Twitter threads. No wonder has been using this tactic for a while.
- Insert images or videos
You may have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, images and videos make a huge difference on social media. When you upload unique, native images and videos on Twitter, you can make your tweets more visually appealing and engaging. They can also help you convey complex ideas or emotions more effectively.
Example: Danny Postma
Danny is a startup founder. I was amazed to see his tweet – so were others. Not only did he use the power of the image to make his tweet go viral, but also marketed his AI-based SAAS tool quite perfectly.
- Provide free access to resources
Offering free resources such as eBooks, templates, or guides can help you build your email list and establish yourself as an authority in your niche. You can try this Twitter growth hack to make your tweets go viral.
Digital marketers and affiliate bloggers have been building lead magnets for the very reason, and they have been pretty successful with building email lists or generating leads by providing free access to resources.
Example: Zoish
Zoish is a Notion expert. She offers a free resource that has 200 AI startup ideas for budding entrepreneurs and startup founders.
- Use call-to-actions
One of the easy wins, when you want your tweets to go viral, is asking people to take a certain action at the end. Use a short, precise call-to-action to help guide people on what exactly you want from them.
A clear, concise call-to-action can encourage your followers to engage with your content, such as retweeting, clicking on a link, or sharing their thoughts. Make sure your call-to-action is clear and straightforward.
Example: Alek Asaduryan
Alek is a blogger and SEO expert. He knows how to use call-to-actions on Twitter. Check out the screenshot mentioned above to learn the craft of making your tweets go viral.
- Share quotes once in a while
Quotes are inspirational, motivating, and fun to read, write, and share. When it comes to producing shareable, viral tweets on Twitter, motivational quotes could come in handy.
Sharing quotes can be an excellent way to inspire or motivate your followers. Make sure your quotes are relevant to your niche and provide value to your audience.
Example: Brian Tracey
Brian Tracey is a public speaker, published author, and self-help expert. He understands the power of sharing quotes to attract an audience on social media.
- Use fewer, relevant hashtags
Adding a bunch of irrelevant hashtags is a rookie mistake regardless of the social media platform. The same rule applies to Twitter. Using too many hashtags can make your tweets look spammy and decrease engagement.
It’s essential to use relevant hashtags that are related to your content and appeal to your audience. Keep it simple, precise, and effective.
Example: Kelli Smithgall
Check out the tweet from Kelli Smithgall. She knows how to put hashtags on Twitter. Going overboard with hashtags is a no-go.
- Schedule your tweets in advance
One of the ways to grow on Twitter or make your content go viral is to post tweets consistently. You may be able to tweet a few times a week, but it won’t help if you’re in a competitive niche.
Therefore, you must use a social media scheduling tool to do bulk scheduling for the rest of the week. As a result, you won’t have to show up every day on Twitter just to publish tweets. The social media scheduler would do it for you.
Example: ContentStudio
Try ContentStudio – it’s an all-in-one social media management tool that lets users compose, schedule posts, and analyze social media content across different social media channels.
Start your 14-day free trial with no credit card required for signing up.
Related: 30 Twitter Tools to Boost Your Marketing Efforts
- Upload a funny picture/meme
Experiment with sharing a funny picture you captured or a meme you made for fun. Sometimes, it’s the humor or fun that brings a lot of eyeballs around or suddenly boosts the attention on your Twitter profile. Don’t underestimate the power of humor.
Example: Marco Denic
Marco shared one of the funniest pictures I have ever seen on Twitter. So many of us can relate to this hilarious meme.
5 Examples of Viral Tweets to Inspire You
The below-mentioned tweets may not have millions of views or thousands of retweets, but they popped up for a reason. Let’s take a look at five examples of viral tweets to take some inspiration.
- Alex Hormozi
The message in his tweet was truly an eye-opener for entrepreneurs and startup founders. No wonder Alex’s tweet has gotten over 85k views
- Aditya Bansal
Aditya quickly explained how to crush it on Twitter. Such useful and educational tweets usually get a ton of attention. His tweet has gotten 29k views so far.
- Jason
Jason is a blogger and niche website builder. He tweeted about his keywords strategy using Google autocomplete and his tweet took the community by storm. It got over 12k views.
- Michael Girdley
Michael’s tweet was about the importance of Twitter and he explained why he spends time on Twitter. The tweet got over 85k views, which is pretty good.
- Sharyph
Sharyph shared the 6 best AI tools that could save a ton of time for marketers and creators. All of the AI tools he mentioned seemed interesting. His tweet got over 52k views.
Let’s Conclude
Most entrepreneurs and influencers want to build an audience on Twitter even though other social media platforms have emerged on the scene. We have seen the likes of TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
Twitter is still one of the top-tier social media platforms. So I’m not surprised if you want to go viral on Twitter. However, I made sure that I share things that are working these days.
To summarize the whole piece, I’d say: going viral on Twitter requires a combination of strategies, including creating engaging content, timing your posts, scheduling tweets, keeping an eye on Twitter trends, engaging with your followers, collaborating with influencers, and being consistent.
By implementing these strategies, you could increase your visibility and reach on Twitter, which could lead to going viral at some point.
FAQs
How do I make my Tweet go viral?
Figure out what your audience wants and try to come up with the answers and solutions they’re looking for and then see the results. Most people who fail at making their tweets go viral are the ones that don’t try to understand their audience.
How many tweets do you need to go viral?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It may take a few thousand posts for you to find your first viral tweet or it may take a few tweets to make your Twitter account pop on the scene. It boils down to figuring out your strengths, attracting the relevant audience, and solving their problems.
What is the best way to have a tweet go viral?
The quickest and easiest way to make your tweets go viral is to find the pain point of your prospective audience and try to remedy that pain through your helpful content. Your tweets would surely go viral at some point when you’d hit the bullseye.
Hassaan Khan
Hassaan Khan is a freelance writer for SAAS companies, e-commerce stores, and niche websites. He has contributed to SEMrush, ThriveGlobal, BloggingCage, AllBloggingTips, and several other publications. He builds niche websites, publishes e-books, and helps website investors with his done-for-you niche site-building service.
