Want to know how to go viral on Twitter and get more engagement?
With 330 million monthly active users, Twitter is one of the top social media platforms. But with so many tweets sent each day, it can be hard to stand out.
In today’s digital age, going viral on social media platforms like Twitter can significantly boost your online presence and expand your reach. Whether you’re a business, influencer, or simply an individual looking to gain popularity, mastering the art of going viral on Twitter can be a game-changer.
Going viral on Twitter is an art that requires creativity, strategy, and a bit of luck. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to increase your chances of creating viral Twitter content.
Table of Contents
What Is A Viral Tweet?
Before we jump into the strategies, it’s essential to understand what constitutes a viral tweet on Twitter. A viral tweet is a post that spreads rapidly across the platform, gaining significant attention, retweets, and engagement. Viral tweets can reach a large audience, resulting in increased visibility, followers, and potential opportunities.
Viral tweets often resonate with people emotionally. They tap into trending topics, current events, or collective experiences. The most viral tweets make people laugh, think, empathize, or get inspired.
What Is Considered Viral on Twitter?
There’s no definitive benchmark for what constitutes a viral tweet. However, here are some general guidelines:
- 10,000+ retweets – A tweet that gets 10,000 retweets or more is on its way to going viral.
- 100,000+ retweets – Any tweet exceeding 100,000 retweets can safely be considered viral. The most viral tweets of all time have millions of retweets.
- Trending on Twitter – If your tweet trends on Twitter, that’s a sign it has gained significant momentum. Trending topics appear on Twitter’s sidebar based on a spike in mentions.
- Getting” ratioed” – When a tweet gets significantly more replies than likes or retweets, that’s called getting “ratioed.” It indicates high engagement, even if controversial.
- Boost in follower count – A viral tweet can attract lots of new followers. Gaining thousands of followers after a big tweet is a sign it resonated.
Things to Do Before Spreading Viral Content on Twitter
Before aiming for viral success on Twitter, it’s crucial to lay the groundwork. By implementing the following steps, you can establish a strong foundation that will support your efforts to go viral.
1. Build an Authentic Following
It’s harder for tweets to gain traction if they’re not being seen. Focus on building an engaged follower base before attempting to go viral. Produce quality content, engage with your followers, use relevant hashtags, and interact with influencers in your niche.
Aim for at least 1,000 real, active followers before trying to create viral content. The larger your audience, the greater your reach.
2. Tweet About Newsworthy Topics
One effective way to increase your chances of going viral is to tap into newsworthy topics. Keep an eye on current events, trends, and relevant news in your industry. By aligning your content with these topics, you’ll capture the attention of a larger audience.
Follow trending hashtags and news handles to stay on top of topics people are discussing. Then share your perspective or a related story that provides value.
3. Show Your Sense of Humor
Twitter is known for its wit and humor. Injecting humor into your tweets can make them more shareable and increase the likelihood of going viral. Be creative, witty, and don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through.
Humour is one of the best ways for tweets to gain traction. If you can make people laugh, chuckle, or crack a smile, they are more likely to retweet your post to share the humour. Funny tweets allow people to briefly escape and get entertainment value.
Use puns, memes, witty comebacks, irony, or absurdism to showcase your humorous side if you have one. Just avoid off-color or offensive humor that could backfire.
4. Be Different
Standing out from the crowd is essential to catch the attention of Twitter users. Create unique and original content that sets you apart. Whether it’s a fresh perspective, a different format, or a unique take on a trending topic, being different will make your tweets more memorable.
Show your distinct personality and quirks. Or try new, experimental formats like polls, brackets, threads, and multimedia tweets. Standing out from the crowd boosts your odds of going viral.
5. Always Strive to Add Value
Tweets that get popular provide some sort of value to readers – information, humor, inspiration, etc. Before tweeting, think about how your content enriches followers’ lives or makes their day better.
Share advice, tell stories, post original ideas, or anything else that gives the audience something meaningful. Valuable tweets that resonate are more likely to be retweeted.
What Are the Steps for Going Viral on Twitter?
Now that you’ve prepared the foundation, let’s explore the actionable steps you can take to increase your chances of going viral on Twitter.
1. Host a Giveaway
Giveaways are a popular way to generate buzz and engagement on Twitter. Offer an attractive prize relevant to your audience and encourage retweets and follows as entry requirements. This strategy can help your tweet gain traction and reach a broader audience.
Promote the giveaway in your bio to maximize entries. Require users to tag friends for additional entries. The more buzz around the contest, the better chance it has to go viral.
2. Ask For Retweets
Don’t be shy about asking for retweets. Including a simple call-to-action in your tweet, such as “Retweet if you agree” or “Please retweet to spread the message,” can significantly increase the chances of your tweet being shared.
But don’t simply ask for retweets – make sure your tweet is compelling first. Try posing an interesting question or sharing an incredible fact that motivates people to retweet it.
3. Create Shareable Content
Certain types of tweets are naturally more shareable than others. Post content that taps into people’s desires to inform others, entertain them, make them look smart, save them money, etc.
Lists, threads, infographics, breaking news, and how-to advice make for highly shareable tweet formats. Test different content types to see what resonates most with your audience.
4. Schedule Tweets for Consistency
Posting at optimal times is key for virality. But it’s not realistic to manually tweet at the best times each day. That’s why scheduling tweets in advance is critical.
Use Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule tweets for when your audience is most active. Keep posting momentum going even when you’re not glued to your phone.
5. Perfectly Time Your Tweets
Timing is crucial on Twitter. Research the best times to tweet based on your target audience’s online habits. By posting when your followers are most active, you increase the chances of your tweet being seen, retweeted, and shared.
According to research, the best times to tweet are:
- Weekdays at 12 PM, 5 PM, and 6 PM
- Saturday at 12 PM
- Sunday at 1 PM and 3 PM
Track your own audience’s habits, though. People in different time zones or niches may be active at different times.
6. Use an AI Tweet Generator
Writing tons of tweets each day to go viral can be draining. Let artificial intelligence lend a hand with tweet generators like Hypefury, Tweethunter or Typefully
These tools use AI to generate an unlimited number of tweets with just a few clicks. You provide the keywords, and it handles composing fresh, relevant tweets for you automatically.
7. Reply Back to Comments
Engaging with your audience is vital to building relationships and encouraging further engagement. Respond to comments, retweets, and mentions promptly and authentically. By actively participating in conversations, you increase the chances of your tweet gaining traction and going viral.
Thank people for commenting, ask follow-ups, or provide additional value. Building these micro-conversations can help tweets gain critical mass.
8. Tag Brands and Other Users When Creating Tweets
By mentioning brands, influencers, or other users in your tweets, they get notified which prompts them to check it out. A retweet from an account with tons of followers can lead to a cascade of viral potential.
Make sure any tags are relevant and natural, not just gratuitous name-drops. Contact brands first if you’ll be mentioning them in a promotional context.
9. Add Humor to Your Content
As mentioned earlier, funny tweets tend to do well. But you don’t have to be a comedian to inject humor into your posts. Memes, reaction GIFs, puns, and pop culture references are easy ways to add entertainment value.
Follow humor accounts in your niche to get inspiration. Feel free to retweet or borrow memes as long as you credit the source. A dash of humor makes content more appealing.
10. Find Trending Topics to Write About
Stay on top of trending topics and hashtags on Twitter. When a topic aligns with your expertise or interests, craft a relevant tweet that adds value to the conversation. Using trending hashtags can increase the visibility of your tweets and make them more discoverable by a wider audience.
Twitter’s Trending sidebar shows the most popular hashtags and topics at any given time. Click through to understand why they’re trending, then create a related tweet or thread.
11. Write Engaging Headlines
Headlines are crucial for grabbing attention on Twitter. Craft headlines that are concise, attention-grabbing, and make people curious to click or engage with your tweet. A strong headline can significantly increase your chances of going viral.
Treat your tweets like mini blog posts. Write clear, succinct headlines that draw readers in and make them want to click. Think newspaper headline or Upworthy styles.
Use emotional words, specificity, curiosity gaps, numbers, or exaggeration to create compelling headlines. Test different formats to see which get the most clicks and retweets.
12. Tweet More Links
According to research from Buffer, tweets with links receive 86% more retweets on average. Whenever possible, include a relevant link to drive traffic and clicks.
Links provide value to followers by allowing them to dive deeper into a topic. Choose trustworthy, legitimate sites to link to so users have a good experience.
13. Use Viral Twitter Hashtags to Go Viral on Twitter
Hashtags help tweets reach more users interested in that topic. Follow trending hashtags closely and use the most viral ones related to your niche.
Some consistently popular hashtags include:
- #FollowFriday – for recommending accounts to follow
- #ThrowbackThursday – for nostalgic posts
- #MotivationMonday – for inspirational quotes
14. Tell a Personal Story
Tweets that showcase vulnerability and humanity often resonate strongly with audiences. Share a story from your life experience, a mistake you made, or a funny anecdote.
Use conversational language, vivid details, humor, and emotion. Let your personality shine through. If it’s an entertaining or touching story, people will connect with and share it.
15. Leave Space for Replies
Tweets that provoke reactions and discussion are more engaging than standalone posts. After tweeting, ask an open-ended question or leave something unresolved.
This motivates people to reply with their thoughts, questions, and opinions. More replies signals to the algorithm that your tweet is engaging, earning you more reach.
Frequently Asked Questions About How To Go Viral On Twitter
Here are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions About How To Go Viral On Twitter:
How to Go Viral on Twitter?
The best ways to go viral on Twitter include piggybacking on trending topics, using humor, posting valuable and shareable content, running contests, interacting with followers, timing tweets strategically, and leveraging influencers and hashtags. Virality requires creativity, persistence, and understanding your audience.
How Do You Go Viral on Twitter with 0 Followers?
While having followers can increase your chances of going viral, it’s still possible to achieve virality even with a small or nonexistent following. By creating exceptional content, using relevant hashtags, and tapping into trending topics, your tweets can gain attention, be retweeted, and reach a broader audience.
With no followers, your one option is to hope an influencer with a large following retweets your content. Craft tweets on trending topics that provide value. Mention and politely reach out to influencers who may be interested in your tweet. Have patience, it can take time to build an audience.
What Is the Most Viral Tweet Ever?
The most viral tweet ever can change over time as new tweets gain popularity. As of September 2021, one notable viral tweet was by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who offered cash prizes to randomly selected people who retweeted his tweet. However, it’s essential to note that virality is subjective and can vary depending on factors such as audience, timing, and content.
Can Any Tweet Go Viral?
In theory, any tweet has the potential to go viral. However, it depends on various factors such as content quality, timing, relevance, and audience engagement. By following the strategies outlined in this article and experimenting with different approaches, you can increase your chances of creating a viral tweet.
Does Twitter Pay for Viral Tweets?
Twitter does not directly pay users for viral tweets. However, achieving virality on Twitter can open up opportunities for monetization, brand partnerships, sponsored content, or increased visibility for your products or services.
How Do I Boost My Twitter Algorithm?
To boost your Twitter algorithm, focus on creating engaging, valuable content that resonates with your audience. Use relevant hashtags, encourage retweets, and foster meaningful conversations. Additionally, consistency and timing play a role in increasing your visibility and engagement on the platform.
- Tweet consistently
- Use relevant hashtags and keywords
- Engage with your followers
- Post multimedia content like images and video
- Tweet at optimal times when your audience is active
- Participate in Twitter chats and trending topics
- Embed tweets to recirculate your content
- Leverage influencers in your niche to expand reach
Conclusion
Gaining virality takes effort, but the payoffs make it worthwhile. Viral tweets grow your audience, boost engagement, raise your profile, and allow you to connect with more people.
Apply the tips in this guide to start creating content optimized for sharing. Analyze what resonates with your followers. Keep iterating until you craft the perfect viral tweet.
Hone your viral tweeting skills over time. While viral success requires some luck, following these best practices will hugely increase your odds.
Before you know it, you’ll be watching those retweet numbers climb as one of your tweets takes off! What are you waiting for? Get out there and start tweeting your way to social media fame and don’t forget to drop a follow @FassihFayyaz.
