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 7,000,000 Reach in 1 Year Across 7 Different Social Media Platforms

ssslowdownnn8-11 minutes 31.12.2024
5 min
364

Here’s how I made professional content go viral.
In the past year, I created a lot of content, and almost every piece I planned went viral. Across different social media platforms, with varying algorithms, and on VERY different topics. These were never memes, jokes, or entertainment.

• 2,200,000 - LinkedIn
• 2,000,000 - Instagram
• 800,000 - TikTok
• 375,000 - Threads
• 1,000,000 - YouTube
• 200,000 - Twitter
• 600,000 - Habr

All of the above-mentioned platforms are banned or soon to be banned in Russia.

For simplicity, I’ll refer to them as social media, even though Habr, for example, doesn’t technically fit into this category.

Now, I will share:

• My methodology for creating viral posts
• A matrix I use to build posts
• An explanation of social media algorithms and what they are

Whether you need viral content or not is for you to decide. I sell to people, get invited to podcasts, meet new people, and sometimes even get wine offered to me because "That post you did on learning Golang was great."

I should also clarify: I’m not a marketer. I’ve been creating content for only two years. I haven’t studied promotion, marketing, or anything like that. I don’t have a background like Mr. Beast’s, “12 years on YouTube.”

Viral Content Methodology

I divide a post into three units:

1. Idea
2. Title
3. Engagement

For them to work, the following rules must be followed:

Idea: It has only one condition, but it has the biggest impact on virality. The idea must be broad—meaning, it should be interesting to a wide audience.

• "3 Tips to Improve Listening" is a narrow topic. Only those currently learning the language or struggling with listening will care. This will work only on Instagram and TikTok, and even then, it’s not guaranteed. (These platforms have slightly different algorithms, I’ll explain later.)
• "What’s the English Level of Ex-USSR Presidents?" is a great topic because it interests everyone: language learners, those who aren’t learning, beginners, and advanced speakers. It’s a super broad topic.

If you’re an expert in your niche, you’ll always come up with narrow topics. Experts think deeply about their area, which is what makes them experts. You need to train yourself to think broadly, like an average reader, if you want to create viral content.
This doesn’t mean narrow topics are useless. They’re perfect for Telegram channels, courses, email newsletters—not for large-scale social media.

Title:
There are two ways for a title to work:

• Option 1: A title that describes the post very accurately.
  Example: “I Solved 12 LeetCode Problems and Got an Offer from Google.”
• Option 2: Intrigue.
  Example: “Something Strange in Programming That Nobody Notices” or “I Removed a Line from My Resume and Got 30 Job Offers.”

Short titles aren’t crucial. I don’t believe in the myth that a super-short headline is key. Most of my titles are 2-3 sentences, and they work.

Engagement: This is the content of the post itself. While it has less impact on virality, it still matters. For instance, Habr has a feature where you can see how many users read your post until the first, second, or third block. This is basically the “retention scale” of YouTube.

The goal is to minimize the number of users who drop off. How do we do this?
By introducing “interest points”—changing the direction of thought to keep the audience’s attention.
For example, for a YouTube video titled, “The Story of a Classmate Who Got Hired at Apple,” I’ll create 3-4 subheadings:

• “Who He Is”
• “How He Got Hired”
• “How Much Money He Got”
• “What Challenges He Faced”

Each point refreshes the viewer’s interest and promises a new piece of information. Sometimes the content format itself creates interest points, like “5 Habits of CEOs”—each habit becomes an interest point.

Content Unit Matrix

Before creating any content, I carefully choose the primary social network for the post. Algorithms vary, so the outcome will be different depending on the platform.

1. Choose the social network
2. Select a broad idea
3. Create a title
4. Develop interest points
5. Write/Record
6. Publish

I’ve researched almost every component of social media. What interests people? Why do they follow one account but not another? What actions (like, share, etc.) matter in Threads? Over the past year, I’ve conducted about 30 viral content research studies.

What is a Social Media Algorithm?

The most overused topic in popularity and content discussions. I define algorithms as two main components:

1. Restrictions (both public and hidden)
2. Virality Principle

Restrictions: These are the things that can get your content removed, hidden, or deprioritized. These are often unspoken. For example, LinkedIn dislikes photos showing naked body parts—chests, legs, backs, etc. Even if it’s totally relevant, like a beach photo or a health app promotion, it doesn’t matter. A photo of a bare foot? Expect only 300 views.
Links are the most banned thing across all platforms. Almost everywhere, a link will ruin your post. Habr and YouTube may tolerate them, but most platforms won’t.

On Twitter, the algorithm literally marks any post with a link as spam. Only 1-2% of the time, if the content is brilliant, it might go viral. I’ve seen it happen 2-3 times, but 2,000 other times, it didn’t.

Virality Principle: This is how the platform determines if content is good. If you think likes are the main factor, that was true in 2015. Today, likes are almost meaningless.
On LinkedIn, comments matter more—1 comment is worth about 12 likes.
TikTok and Instagram prioritize saves and shares.
YouTube is the most advanced—it evaluates things like how many people scrolled through Shorts, the depth of views, and video length (e.g., watching 40 out of 59 seconds).

Myths About Viral Content

• "You have to post at the right time." This is a huge myth. I’ve posted articles on Sundays at 9 PM and Thursdays at 10 AM, and the difference is only 3-5%. If the content is good, it will go viral at any time.
• "You can just fake it with likes and shares." Not true. Social media algorithms know if a user came from a feed, recommendation, or external sources.
• "Memes and cringe are the only things that go viral." Memes and cringe are created to appear stronger than regular posts, but they’re not the only viral content.
• "Followers are the most important." This was true in 2015 (and still is on Twitter), but on most platforms, followers don’t matter as much.

The quality of the video’s image and sound? Not the most important thing either. In my studies, I’ve seen fantastic quality videos get only 500 views, while poor-quality ones taken on a phone get 600,000.

This post is about 20% of what I know about viral content. I have different types of titles—levels, thoughts, stories, guides—and I could write a book about it, not just a post.

#viralcontent #socialmedia #contentcreation #LinkedIn #Instagram #TikTok #YouTube #Habr #Threads #algorithms #marketing #contentstrategy