Want to go viral on Twitter? Let's hope it's not for an embarrassing moment like it was for this guy:
But there's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best way to go viral on Twitter depends on the specific content you're sharing β so no you wonβt have to share an embarrassing story today.
That said, there are some general tips and variables you can optimize to increase your chances of going viral.
And that's what we're going to walk you through in this article so that you can steal our process to get tweets with 1000's likes:
How To Go Viral on Twitter: What Variables Are There?
When trying to go viral on Twitter, there are a few key variables you should focus on.
Going viral is doing well in all of these, and maybe having a little luck too.
So letβs take a look.
Timing
We've posted tweets at one point, and they've gotten 10 to 100 likes. Then they posted them at a different time, and they got thousands.
Why does timing matter so much?
The truth is that Twitter is a fast platform, and if your tweet doesn't pick up quickly, then it won't perform well.
Meaning: If you post your tweet when your followers are most active or just before, it increases your chances of going viral.
Topics & Niche
Another BIG factor in going viral is the topic. The larger the potential audience, the more viral your tweet can go.
A basic example of this is: If your tweet is about single dads into sky-diving, you're only talking to a tiny niche.
Meaning: when people share your content, it's less likely that their followers will engage with it.
And the way a tweet goes viral is by your follower's followers' engagement.
So if your goal is to go viral, you might want to stick to topics that most people are interested in, for example:
- Well-being
- Fitness
- Self-care
- Finances/Business
- Sports
- Popular TV shoes
All the topics named above could reach a large audience because there is so much interest in them.
You are ultimately increasing your chances of going viral.
Extra tip: Twitter has a feature called βtopicsβ which suggests content to users based on the topics they have previously engaged in. You can find the feature in your Twitter dashboard, and then include the EXACT name of a topic you find, to get it suggested to people interested in it.
Trending
When a topic is trending on Twitter, you have a lot higher chances of going viral if your tweet is about that topic.
For example, let's say:
- There is a new TV show everyone is watching
- The Superbowl is on
- There is an event everyone is talking about, like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.
A massive percentage of Twitter users will be browsing those words or topics, so if you tweet in it, you're likely to be seen by more people if the engagement picks up early... This brings us to our next point.
Engagement & Pace
A tweet lifetime is only for 24-36 hours IF it gets engagement. However, if there is no engagement, it dies after as little as 18 minutes.
And the way the pacing works is that if many people who have seen your tweet (i.e., impressions) engage with it, Twitter suggests it to more people.
However, if many impressions ignore it, the pace will slow down.
When you want to go viral, the pace of your engagement needs to be fast - so a lot of people seeing your tweet need to engage.
Relatability & Value
If your tweet is relatable or has value, people are more likely to engage with it.
For example, A relatable tweet could be a funny meme that resonates with many people.
Here are some real tweets of memes that blew up:
One of the reasons they blew up, *this much* is because these memes arenβt just relatable for a specific niche, but for everyone.
A value tweet could be a tip or personal story with a lesson that helps people increase their sales.
These tweets have a higher chance of going viral because people see them and are more likely to share your Tweets.
Personality
It's pretty standard that viral tweets are funny or a personal story/opinion. This is because people like people and are less likely to share content that looks bland.
Sometimes tweets that polarize in terms of opinions do well too. For example, Iβm sure there are many left-wing and right-wing tweets that went viral, but they wouldnβt actually agree with each other.
However, their respective audiences do, so a lot of people engaged with it, hence it went viral.
Formatting
Another crucial part of a tweet is the formatting.
If you want to go viral on Twitter, you should:
- Make sure your content is easy to read by including white spaces between your lines.
- Use shorter sentences so that you don't lose your readers
- If you are posting threads, use clear headings so that people can read your tweet easily
- When creating lists, make sure itβs easy to read by including dots or lines and consider putting the items in order.
Learn From The Big Accounts and Other Viral Tweets
Learning to write viral tweets takes time and practice.
You could read a whole book on Twitter formatting, and it would still take your time to get the hang of it.
The best way to learn is by looking at other people's tweets and seeing what works and what doesn't.
For example, you could look at:
- Your favorite account's most popular tweets
- Other accounts in your niche that have gone viral
Extra tip: Try to find accounts that don't have loads of followers but have gone viral. Why?
This will help you find tweets that are more likely to go viral because it's easier to go viral with a big account.
Meaning: The smaller accounts' tweet is a safer bet to get inspired by if you want to go viral.
Short Tweets tend to perform best.
If you're looking to go viral on Twitter, we recommend sticking to short tweets.
Images
Images can work quite well, especially when vibrant and easily catch attention.
Here are some tips for using images:
- Make sure your image or video is relevant to the tweet
- Include images that make people think while also catching the attention
- Avoid blurry images
Tweet Templates To Go Viral
Our tweets have gotten thousands of likes a couple of times, and we have a few tweet formats for you that we know can go viral.
Doing XYZ is self-care.
Psychology says, XYZ
Normalize XYZ
Of course, you might be in a different niche, but if that's the case, then just use the Twitter search bar to search up some viral tweets in your niche.
For example, let's say your niche is fitness.
You can search for calories, weight loss, or fat loss, and you'll find tweets:
Now make your own, but of course, say something else. Use similar formatting as they did because it's proven to work.
Go Viral With a Thread
Another tip is that we have threads.
Threads enable you to offer more value to your followers, which is one of the reasons they are shared more.
You can also make a thread relatable by making it about a book. Or, as people in political niches often do, you can create a line on a trending topic.
We have a complete guide on writing Twitter threads here, which will walk you through formatting, headlines and images for viral threads.
How To Go Viral on Twitter Without Followers
Going viral without followers on Twitter is much harder because getting the initial traction you need for your tweet to get suggested in the algorithm is tough.
While it's still possible, it's a LOT harder.
We recommend that you build up a following because this increases your chances tremendously.
There is no harm in trying to go viral before because you can always re-use your evergreen content later on.
On the other hand, the trending topics, you can't. However, if you don't use those tweets when something is trending, their chances of going viral are lower anyway.
Writing about trending topics is probably the best approach if you want to go viral with no Twitter followers.
How to get followers on Twitter
Here are some tips to increase your followers on Twitter:
- Post interesting, original content
- Be active and engage with other users
- Follow people in your niche
- Participate in Twitter Spaces
- Tweet often
- Use hashtags
- Include a call-to-action in your tweets
- Comment on big accounts as soon as they tweet
You can also run Twitter ads if you have the budget, which will be faster but more expensive.
How To Go Viral on Twitter: Giveaways
One thing that can work well is doing giveaways and asking for retweets. The benefit of this is that you are giving an incentive for people to retweet, and then they're more likely to do it.
For your tweet to do well, you'll need to be giving away something that people want.
Here are some ideas:
- Your course/product
- A voucher
- A membership for (something your followers want)
- A physical product
To increase the reach of your giveaway, you can also collaborate with other accounts in your niche that have a similar audience to you.
This will help you get in front of their followers, and they'll be more likely to see your tweet and retweet it.
You could either retweet each other's giveaways or even host one together.
How To Go Viral on Twitter: Networking
One of the best ways to get the initial engagement is through networking. For example, if you have more friends on Twitter, more people are likely to retweet you.
That makes it easier to get the initial boost you need.
A few tips for networking on Twitter:
- - Find friends in your niche
- - Follow people who interest you
- - Retweet other people's tweets
- - Engage with others by liking, commenting, and sharing their tweets
- -DM People offer value, such as giving them compliments or tips that help them
When you engage with others, they are more likely to engage with you.
And when you offer value, people are more likely to want to follow you and see what else you have to say.
What Time Is Best To Go Viral?
This depends on the niche, timezone, and your followers.
But if you're in the B2B space, then the best times to tweet are 9 AM, 11 AM, and in the evening, around 7-8.
If you're in the B2C space, the best time is between 1 and 5 pm.
How To Capitalize on a Viral Tweet
One of the things many people don't discuss is how to capitalize on a viral tweet. Of course, getting all those likes is cool, but the goal is to bring a percentage of those people to your business/platform.
The first opportunity you have is in reply to the tweet. If your tweet gets 500,000 people seeing it, roughly 10% of that will probably know the reply to the tweet.
It means it's an excellent opportunity to promote something.
Now, what should you promote?
After one viral tweet, you usually haven't built enough trust to sell something, so we recommend going for a soft conversion such as:
- Email opt-in
- Link to a group
- Asking for a follow
- Link to another tweet
You may also like: How To Go Viral on TikTok
How To Go Viral On Twitter: Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about going viral on Twitter:
How many likes for a viral tweet?
There isn't a definition of what a viral tweet is. However, a tweet with 1000-2000 likes will get 100-500k impressions, which could be considered viral.
However, it depends on the niche because a tweet that is considered viral in a niche that isn't very popular might not be in another.
Is it easy to go viral on Twitter?
Yes and no. It's easier than many other platforms because of how popular the "Retweet" button is.
Everyone uses it more than the "share" button on other platforms. Plus, content is also suggested based on topics and whether your friends have engaged with a post.
What is the best niche to go viral?
Here are some great niches that go viral often:
- Psychology
- Self-care
- sports
- Celebrities
- Politics
- Fitness
What should I do if my niche isn't popular on Twitter?
If your niche isn't popular on Twitter, you could branch out since Twitter is "top of the funnel" traffic.
Or, you could also tweet anyway because your niche doesn't necessarily have to be popular for you to get valuable followers.
How To Go Viral on Twitter: Final Thoughts
Going viral on Twitter is possible, and it's not as hard as you might think.
Of course, the more followers you have, the easier it is. But even without followers, it's still possible to get a lot of engagement and go viral.
The most important thing is to create engaging, relatable, or valuable content with personality.
If you're looking to hire a Twitter expert, check out this article where we walk you through the best Twitter experts on Legiit.