Going viral refers to a post, image, or video spreading to hundreds of thousands or millions of people in a short amount of time on a social media platform. The best thing about all of this attention? It's free!
Viral marketing can be a goldmine for companies that can pull it off. However, because it's a rare and unpredictable feat, it shouldn't be the only thing you strive for. This guide explains how to create a viral marketing campaign, including the strategies, tools, risks, examples, and mindset needed to succeed.
Ready to put these strategies to the test? Get started free with Later Social and give your next post the best shot at going viral.
Table of Contents
- What is viral marketing? (2025 Edition)
- Should going viral be your goal?
- 10 elements of viral-worthy content
- How to increase your chances of going viral in 2025
- When virality goes wrong (a.k.a. bad virality)
- What to do if your brand goes viral (the good kind)
- Viral marketing campaigns that worked (and why)
- How Later helps you create and ride viral moments
What is viral marketing? (2025 Edition)
Today, almost everyone using social media wants to go viral. It's possible on any platform, and it could happen with an image, statement, short clip, or even a long video.
Generally, the viral meaning in social media refers to a piece of content that strikes a chord with the public. Users and the algorithm share it with thousands or millions of others across the platform in a short period.
There is no universally agreed-upon viral marketing definition. Depending on the platform and your audience, it could range from 100,000 to millions of views in hours or days. The possibility of this sudden exposure for a business or brand has given rise to a new type of advertising: viral marketing.
Virality vs. traditional marketing
Viral marketing has evolved along with the internet. Before social media, memes and funny images would spread on websites. People would receive email chain letters instructing them to send it to 10 others or they would have bad luck for years. The convenience of communication on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok has only made it easier for shareable content to catch the eyes of more people.
Traditional marketing means carefully crafted campaigns with paid ads that appear as commercials or on websites. Brands spend thousands to get their message out to an often uninterested audience, hoping to convert some into buyers and enthusiasts.
Viral social media campaigns bring in large audiences in a flash, often at low or no cost. Organic virality is content that spreads due to audience interest without any paid promotion.
While it's cost-effective, brands have limited control over who sees and shares such content. Engineered virality is another way for brands to spread their message. This involves paying for reach and strategically using collaborations and placements to gain attention and maintain some control. Whether you're chasing organic or engineered virality, it's a high-risk, high-reward strategy that can pay off if you prepare for it.
Should going viral be your goal?
Viral content can turn a lot of heads your way, but it's not always the right content strategy. If you're launching a new product or want to drive massive awareness, virality is your friend. However, if your brand leans more on niche loyalty than mass appeal, or you don't have the support to handle a sudden spike in demand, it's not advantageous.
The advantages of going viral include:
Massive reach
Low costs
Brand exposure
Social proof
Community growth
Earned media
On the other hand, there are several disadvantages:
Unpredictability
Uncontrollable
Risk of backlash
Short-term engagement
Unrealistic expectations
Even if you decide the pros outweigh the cons, creating guaranteed viral social media content is difficult and unrealistic. The smarter goal is to consistently make shareable content.
Doing this requires understanding the sentiments of your target audience. Investing in reputation management software is one way to get a leg up on your competition and build lasting trust with your fanbase.
10 elements of viral-worthy content
Viral content often contains certain elements that make it more likely to spread.
1. Strong hook in the first 3 seconds
Viral videos grab your attention right away and keep you from swiping on to the next one. Picture a video that starts when someone opens a box and gasps, but you can't see inside.
2. Emotionally charged (funny, inspiring, shocking)
Content that evokes an emotional response is likely to spread quickly. A video where a person gifts money to someone in need can pull on the audience's heartstrings.
3. Easily shareable format (memes, short videos, text overlays)
Text overlays let the audience in on a key piece of information within seconds of seeing it. Imagine an Instagram Reel of someone about to start cooking with the text that says, "This 3-second hack changed my life!"
4. Relatable or trend-jacking
When people relate to your message, it can lead to viral moments. You might stop scrolling when you see someone ranting about the high cost of groceries when you were thinking the same thing when out shopping earlier that day.
5. High entertainment or informational value
Entertainment can take many forms, from daring stunts to life hack tutorials to funny skits. This content provides value through curiosity and fun, such as a TikTok where four teens perform choreographed dance moves.
6. Unexpected twist or surprise
People love to get shocked. Creating content that surprises people will set your work apart from the rest. Think of a prank video where the victim ends up playing a trick on the prankster.
7. Native to the platform
Content that a user designs specifically for a certain social media platform can help it succeed. For example, a video filmed vertically with quick cuts, text overlays, and a trending song tends to work well on TikTok.
8. Call to action (even subtle)
When done right, calls to action (CTAs) get people to, well, take action. A video might have a caption that reads, "Tag someone who needs to see this," which gets viewers more likely to share it.
9. Community-driven or user-generated
Certain types of content encourage participation, making the users more likely to create content. When a new Taylor Swift album drops, you'll see a lot of reactions across all social media platforms. Later's content creation tools are perfect for helping creators generate this kind of viral-friendly content.
10. Visually or tonally scroll-stopping
Something that stands out enough visually or audibly to make someone stop scrolling through their feed is stellar content. A drone shot of a beautiful waterfall in Indonesia that lowers to show a hidden cave behind it can cause many to pause on that scene.
You’ve got the ingredients—now bring them to life. Get started free with Later Social and create scroll-stopping content your audience can’t help but share.
How to increase your chances of going viral in 2025
If you want to make viral content, don't start from scratch. Use these tips to boost your chances of seeing your creations blow up:
Find a unique angle for a trend: Stay up to date on top-performing content and find your own original take on it.
Be consistent: Posting at the same time daily or weekly builds trust with your audience and tilts the algorithm in your favor. Using a content calendar can make this step easy.
Use the right hashtags: Finding relevant hashtags helps you get discovered by people interested in your topics.
Pick a fitting audio track: Certain platforms, like Instagram and TikTok, take advantage of catchy songs, so you should, too!
Collaborate: Joining with other creators can help you reach new users and expand your following.
Optimize timing: Posting at the right time can help your content take off from the get-go. Use
best time to post tools to improve your results.
Encourage engagement: Get your fans to participate with polls, stitches, duets, or comments. Track your progress with an engagement rate calculator.
When virality goes wrong (a.k.a. bad virality)
Virality isn't always a positive thing. Sometimes, even content with the best intentions can backfire spectacularly. An insensitive meme, a controversial take, or an irresponsible prank can damage a brand. When content picks up steam, brands often can't control the fallout, which can have dire consequences.
If your content goes viral and is misinterpreted, your brand voice can suffer, and it can be hard to shift the narrative back in your favor. Trolls can flood your comments faster than you can respond to or block them, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere for any brand enthusiasts.
Being prepared ahead of time can help. Come up with brand guidelines and social response protocols ahead of a campaign. Make sure everyone on your team knows exactly how to respond to bad press. Should this unfortunate day come, you'll be able to minimize the damage.
What to do if your brand goes viral (the good kind)
Your content can end up going viral on social media at even the most unexpected moments, so having a plan in place will allow you to capitalize on the sudden opportunity. At the first sign of going viral, immediately begin to monitor your performance and mentions to note the crowd sentiment. Take advantage of Later's social listening tool to quickly analyze the torrent of information coming in and give you ideas of how to respond.
Begin engaging with your audience in real-time. Replying to comments, reposts, and shares will prompt further action from fans. This creates a loop of engagement that will signal to the algorithm that your content is continually relevant. Later's social inbox can help you monitor and respond to comments and DMs as they come in.
Another way to get the most out of your viral moment is to repurpose the content while the momentum is hot. If you've got a viral YouTube video, cutting it up into clips and posting them on other platforms or as YouTube Shorts is a way to maximize your reach. Another way is to take images from short clips and turn them into memes. Use a social media management tool like Later's to keep your efforts coordinated.
A portion of the traffic to your viral content will end up checking out other posts and videos or head to your profile page. Being prepared and having a Later Link in Bio already there can help generate leads and conversions. Utilizing other Later features, such as our analytics tools, can help you track and analyze viral content to provide direction for future content and campaigns.
Viral marketing campaigns that worked (and why)
Learning from viral marketing examples can be an excellent way to prepare your own campaign.
f'real foods
f'real foods sells milkshakes, smoothies, and shakes. When it wanted to start a campaign to boost engagement and sales, it turned to Later for help.
With Later's strategic services, f'real ran a campaign that targeted Gen-Z through TikTok creators. The campaign resulted in a slew of fun TikToks, with three shorts in particular going viral and amassing over 1.5 million likes each. The success led to the f'real foods official TikTok account being verified and Business Insider covering the campaign.
Habit Burger & Grill
An American fast-casual restaurant with award-winning burgers, Habit Burger & Grill used Later Influence to find six TikTok and Instagram creators who collectively have a reach of almost 20 million. Two of the creators' content set fire to the internet, sparking discussions and leading to over 650,000 organic views.
How Later helps you create and ride viral moments
Later is a social media management platform for managers, brands, creators, and marketers alike. We offer proven strategies and state-of-the-art tools to help your content get the recognition it deserves:
Social media publishing: Schedule your content to come out at peak times and correspond with the hottest trends.
Content calendar: Keep your timelines in order with our virtual calendar.
Post optimization: Use our best time to post tool to sync with audiences across platforms.
Link in Bio: Funnel viral traffic to this link through CTAs and drive leads and conversions.
Analytics: Track successes and failures across platforms to improve future content.
Editing: Create and edit content quickly and efficiently with our creation tools.
Hashtags: Find the right hashtags to pull in interested users.
Captions: Let Later do the heavy lifting and come up with creative, engaging captions for your content.
Use Later to get viral-ready content
If everyone knew how to go viral on social media, they would do it. Even if you get lucky, you generally don't get to choose which post or video gets seen by millions. Therefore, the best thing to do is to routinely create excellent content that you would be happy to see on screens around the world. Even if your content doesn't all go viral, it can build your reputation with your core audience.
Planning a consistent and high-quality content strategy is easy when you use Later's social media management tools, such as our visual content calendar, hashtag suggestions, link in bio, and analytics tracker. At Later, we make it easy for you to get the support you need so your content is ready for its viral moment.
Start a trial today and see how Later can help you launch viral marketing campaigns.
