The Duffy List: My Viral Secrets

There is - and isn't - a science to it.

There are countless things I’ve learned over the years, but one of the most valuable is how to go viral.

I was a “Most Shared” author and the internal trending topics “expert” (when those were a thing on Facebook) while working for Upworthy as a social media editor, creating my own system to predict the exact moment and way to jump in and ride that trend to viral numbers.

I’ve spent hours upon hours conducting manual reviews of new platform launches and tracking their engagement, regularly launched and managed campaigns that reach 10s of millions of unique users, build and launched performance marketing campaigns with budgets in excess of $200,000.

Collectively, I’ve reviewed billions of data points over my career.

Through all of that, I’ve figured out that there is - and isn’t - an exact science to setting your posts up for viral success.

Most importantly, there’s a level of unvarnished authenticity needed to create a sense of connection with viewers so strong that they can’t help but share.

That said, no amount of authenticity can break through the noise of the internet on its own. By taking the steps below, you can start to set your profiles up for a higher chance of achieving organic viral growth.

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5 Steps to Going Viral:

1. Get ready to post at least once a day

   1. Every time I’ve had a post go viral, it’s been after a solid 4 to 6 weeks of posting consistently to that platform.

   2. The minimum posting frequency to set yourself up for success depends on the platform where you’re trying to go viral. For TikTok, Twitter (now X), and Reddit, you’ll want to post at least 2-3 times/day. For Facebook and Instagram, 1/day (and in some cases, 1/every 2 days) will be more than enough. On Linkedin, you can go down to every other or every third day.
      

2. Start with a wide variety of topics, content types, and approaches

   1. Narrow in on the versions that drive higher engagement rates (not just volume) and start creating more content like it.

      

3. Don’t be afraid to have more duds than successes

   1. We did a lot - and I mean a lot — of testing at Upworthy before figuring out a formula that worked.

   2. Do a deep dive into some of the early learnings here, shared by our then Editor-at-Large Adam Mordecai — someone I learned a ton from and think of often and really need to say “hello” to soon. (Adam, if you’re reading this, let’s catch up?)
      

4. Make sure every post, even the “throwaways”, include a clear (but unobtrusive) call to action.

   1. The content that you want to go viral most likely won’t, and the thing you spent the least amount of time on will be the one that hits massive numbers.

   2. Make sure the people you reach with a throwaway post have a reason to keep exploring your feed and profiles.
      

5. Don’t be afraid to grease the wheels with a little paid promotion.

   1. I’m not talking about a huge amount of money — when a campaign and audience is built properly, even just $10 behind a post can help boost your entire profile’s chance of reaching new users.

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Want to Take Action?

If you want to go a bit deeper, I’m offering a 5-week course beginning in January of 2024 to go through what comes next.

Hope to see you for the first day of class.

Until next time, remember:

In the face of everything, grow.

~ Caitlin Duffy
Founder, Principal Consultant, Advocate of Forging Your Own Path

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