Are we getting sidetracked in this digital world of trend-chasing? How many times have you seen a viral video, enjoyed it, engaged with it and never thought about the creator ever again? 

Virality is exciting, but it’s for the most part short-lived, offering brands little more than a burst of engagement which dissipates as quickly as it occurs. 

Ultimately, going viral is only valuable if that attention goes somewhere. Don’t let the viral chase get in the way of what actually matters for you and your brand: building an engaged audience of the right people and consistently giving them a reason to pay attention. 

Reach vs Relevance

One of the biggest marketing mistakes brands can make is assuming that the post with the most views is automatically the most successful. 

Views, likes and follows are good, but what now? Reaching a larger audience can be valuable for boosting your brand awareness and getting your name out there but audiences aren’t valuable because they’re large, they’re valuable because they’re interested. 

It’s perhaps easiest to view the audience of a viral post as a diluted one. There will be customers in there somewhere, but building an engaged, loyal audience is more valuable and that’s why your marketing strategy can’t be built on trend-chasing. 

Why algorithms value consistency (and you should too) 

Social media platforms value consistency because it helps them to predict user retention, keep people active for longer and encourage habitual use. It is for this reason that they would rather users posted consistently than sporadically. 

When you post consistently about topics your audiences are interested in, the platform learns who to show your content to and your audience will steadily, but surely, grow. Your reach may be smaller, and slower, but you’ll be reaching potential customers. 

In fact, if your strategy is built around going viral, rather than cultivating a loyal message and audience, algorithms may be inadvertently damaging your core audience. This is because viral content brings in audiences interested in the trend, not in your business or sector. Once they’ve engaged, the algorithm will try to replicate that success by showing your next posts to similar audiences, who naturally aren’t interested. 

It’s not all bad

We’re not saying don’t try to go viral. If there is a trend that is relevant to your business and your customers, you should definitely give it a go. 

There are, of course, benefits to going viral too. There is a sudden increase in brand awareness, the opportunity to build new followers and in turn, social proof which can make your brand appear more established and credible to those who don’t know you. 

But one viral post isn’t going to build your brand by itself. When potential customers or even trend-chasers stumble across your social media profile or website, they should find consistent content that gives them ample reason to understand what you do, learn from you, trust you, remember you and eventually, buy. 

Rather than chasing spikes, offer consistent value and build trust to grow your audience and therefore opportunities. That’s when you’ll get what you actually want, conversions. 

Make sure your marketing gives you the best chance of converting

At Bamsey Digital, we don’t create social media strategies to become famous, we’re building brands that people connect with, remember, trust and buy from. Going viral can be a great thing, but it’s not the aim. The strongest social media strategies consistently put useful, relevant content in front of the people who matter most. And virality is a bonus by-product of doing the right thing.