How To Go Viral on Instagram: A Comprehensive Guide

Want to know how to go viral on social media platforms like Instagram? You’re not alone. Many influencers and brands gain fame through this and other social media platforms.

Statistics show that over 2 billion active users search for exciting and one-of-a-kind content every month. But let’s be real: going viral on Instagram overnight is no walk in the park. Why? Because Instagram’s algorithm is a guarded secret.

But there’s hope. By implementing proven best practices, you can increase your chances of going viral on IG. This article will walk you through effective tips on how to go viral on Instagram and more.

What Is Considered Going Viral on Instagram?

Many brands consider Instagram posts to be viral only when they reach a minimum of 100,000 likes. However, this number may seem unattainable because it’s a general rule that doesn’t account for niche-specific variations. 

Virality within your particular niche may differ significantly from what goes viral on Instagram in another.

For instance, you and your business competitors might typically receive 2,000 likes on each post. So, reaching 10,000 likes or more may be what is considered going viral on Instagram in your niche. 

While hitting 100,000 likes and views would be great, it’s important to understand that more likes bring additional benefits. Depending on your campaign strategy, some of those benefits include increased followers and higher click-through rates.

When your posts go viral on Instagram, they will have more:

• Likes compared to your other posts.
• Shares than your average posts.
• Views from specific users.
• Instagram activity than other posts. 

Once you receive viral traffic, it’s up to you to decide how to leverage it.

Why Do People Want To Know How To Go Viral on Instagram?

Users want to know how to go viral on Instagram because it drastically accelerates their social media success. When your posts go viral, it impacts your account’s reach. By consistently creating high-quality, engaging posts, you can establish your brand as an authority in your field.

That attracts more likes and followers, which helps you gain more leads and conversions as an influencer or business.

However, it’s important to note that relying solely on single viral posts may not help in the long run. Especially if you fail to publish posts that resonate with your target audience consistently.

Here are a few benefits businesses and individuals can enjoy when they go viral on Instagram:

• Increased Visibility: When your posts go viral, they attract attention and exposure. This increased visibility helps expand your reach and makes you known to a larger audience.
• Boosted credibility: If your viral posts resonate with people, they’ll establish you as a leading authority within your field, enhancing your credibility. Going viral can reinforce the trust and confidence others have in you.
• More engagement: Viral posts tend to generate a higher level of engagement, such as likes, shares, and comments. This increased engagement enables you to build a strong relationship with your target audience and gain a larger following.
• Sales Growth: Going viral on Instagram can boost your sales and revenue, particularly if posts are related to your products or services. The exposure and positive attention can create a surge in interest, leading to increased sales and business growth.

Now that you get the appeal of IG fame, let’s discuss how to go viral on Instagram. 

How Do You Go Viral on Instagram?

You can go viral on Instagram in these three ways:

• Increase Engagement: Engage your audience to foster interaction. Chat with your targeted audience and community. This will help encourage them to follow and like your content, improving account engagement. 
• Post Frequently: Believe it or not, posting consistently on Instagram during your audience’s active times boosts engagement and enhances growth.
• Create Entertaining, Relevant Posts: Quality posts that spark interest will gain greater traction.

Instagram serves people with entertaining, new, and relevant content. You can make your content go viral on Instagram by following these principles. 

7 Tips for Going Viral on IG

Creating viral content requires a unique and creative voice and building a habit of posting consistently. But besides that, how do you go viral on Instagram? Follow these seven proven tips and tricks to stay on top of trends and watch your metrics soar.  

1. Know Your Target Audience

Knowing your Instagram audience allows you to craft relatable content with a higher chance of going viral. Here are a few ways to determine your targeted Instagram audience:

• Study Buyer Personas: Leverage your company’s current data on buyer personas and “ideal customer profiles (ICPs).” Use this valuable information to identify your target audiences that show similar characteristics to your brand’s customer base
• Look at Instagram Analytics: If you’re using Instagram for your business, check your analytics to view audience demographics. They will show what type of people follow you and engage actively with your content. Additionally, you can use various reporting tools and software to explore your target Instagram audience.
• Find Competitor’s Audience: To identify your target audience, check out your competitors’ Instagram accounts and analyze their followers. These individuals likely align with your audience, too.
• Employ Social Media Listening Tools: Use social media listening tools to monitor online conversations about your niche and brand. This will help you determine your target reach and uncover potential influencers for content collaboration.

To effectively target your Instagram audiences, analyze their goals, interests, and habits. Examine the posts they engage with and the account types they follow. 

This comprehensive understanding will help you create engaging content guaranteed to resonate with them.

2. Stay on Top of Instagram Trends

Social media trends constantly change, and this popular platform is no exception. Users have to stay on top of trends and create content that has the potential to go viral. 

This can mean sharing more videos, exploring new formats, or incorporating popular music into your Reels. It’s crucial to join the bandwagon of viral trends. 

Instagram Reels are trending with a variety of content types, including dance challenges, quick recipes, and DIY tutorials. Other popular reels feature travel highlights, fitness routines, and comedic skits, all designed to capture viewers’ attention and encourage engagement.

Reels generate higher engagement than regular videos, making them ideal for achieving virality. Other popular trends include using links in your Instagram story and cross-promoting Twitter posts. Influencers can maximize their impact and reach on Instagram by staying updated on these trends.

3. Build Your Brand Voice

Want to know one of the easiest tricks to get your viral post? Create your brand voice.

To do well on Instagram, you need to embrace creativity and authenticity. This especially applies to businesses, as they must discover the distinctive voice that sets them apart from other brands. 

This unique voice should connect with your intended audiences and captivate them with engaging content.

BBC Earth’s Instagram account serves as a prime example of establishing an original and imaginative brand voice on Instagram. 

They routinely share breathtaking visuals and informative, relatable, and humorous captions. Their educational, high-quality content is anything but dull.

4. Audit Your Posts 

Performing Instagram audits is crucial to ensure your upcoming viral strategies align with your current branding and posts. 

This evaluation will also reveal areas for improvement before sharing new content. Some examples include refining captions or synchronizing your profile photo and bio for a genuine, professional appearance. 

Fixing any aesthetic, content-related, or brand voice issues will significantly increase your likelihood of success.

5. Study Competitors

Need ideas for your potential viral content? Check out what your competitors are doing—it’s one of the best tricks for gaining viral status.

Analyze their content and posts to see what works for them by:

• Identifying your competitor’s top and worst-performing posts.
• Understanding their voice.
• Noticing the formats they use.
• Observing how they connect with their audience.
• Taking note of their frequent posting days and times.

You can also use Instagram competitor’s analysis tools to collect, visualize, and examine this valuable data from one dashboard. Use these insights to boost your creativity. 

Remember: Do not copy your competitors. Think of it as a starting point. Feel free to borrow ideas, but add your unique voice to it. Be cautious of copyright issues and remain loyal to your brand’s voice.

6. Engage With Other Instagram Accounts

Boost your Instagram presence through active engagement with your target reach. Increased visibility in notifications and feeds often increases your exposure.  

Moreover, customers appreciate brands that make an extra effort to personalize their interactions. Remember, the Instagram algorithm focuses on highly engaged posts and often displays them on the Explore page.

To achieve this, include questions, calls to action, and interactive prompts in your captions and posts. Additionally, respond to user comments, whether positive or negative.

7. Recreate Viral Posts and Viral Content

This is one of the easiest ways to achieve viral status. However, it is important to proceed with caution.

Instead of simply copying and pasting viral content, put your unique spin on it. Look at popular posts in your niche and follow trending hashtags to discover content you can recreate.

You can find viral content on platforms like TikTok, which can inspire your Instagram Reels.

How To Go Viral on Instagram Reel 

Is there any other way to create viral content? Read on to understand how to go viral on Instagram reels.

Instagram Reels are short videos with a maximum length of 15-30 seconds. By using engaging and original content in Reels, you can quickly grow your account. 

Instagram updated its algorithm to give Reels’ users more visibility, making it worth a try. We’ve rounded up five useful tips to help you create videos that have the potential to go viral. 

Let’s find out how to create viral Instagram content with a reel:

1. Focus On Specific Topics or Niches

To reach a vast audience with reels, you must post about a specific niche or theme regularly.  

Instagram’s algorithm utilizes machine learning (ML) to display your content to audiences already engaged with the topics you focus on.

So, choose a particular niche or theme and stick to it.

2. Include Attention-Grabbing Hooks

To reach new followers with your Reels, create compelling content with a personal touch. Tap into your audience preferences and use trending sounds. Visually stunning content made with your own spin will get your followers interested. Don’t forget to use your unique brand voice to create those compelling captions, too.

Be original and unique to stand out. Remember, captivating the audience’s attention in the first few seconds is crucial, so make those seconds truly stand out.

3. Make the Perfect Instagram Reel Size

Use the right Instagram reel size! You should always aim for 1080px x 1920px and a 9:16 aspect ratio. 

This optimizes the viewing experience on mobile devices and utilizes the entire screen. Also, limit it to 60 seconds, with a maximum caption length of 2,200 characters. Social media algorithms look for these successful elements, and you’ll have better luck landing on Instagram’s Explore page.

4. Use Hashtags to Go Viral On Instagram

Using relevant hashtags is essential as they help the algorithm recognize your video content and display it to interested users. 

Choose your hashtags to go viral on Instagram carefully. Popular ones may have more competition and may not be the most effective choice. Nevertheless, use hashtags to increase your reel or post reach.  

If you have trouble coming up with hashtag ideas, try a hashtag generator. Get fresh ideas for your branded hashtags and any other relevant hashtags to your niche.

5. Publish Reels at Peak Times

Posting times are crucial when sharing content. Not every day or hour is equally favorable. 

Learn when your Instagram followers are most active and accessible. Identify the optimal times and days that draw the highest viewership to reach a broader audience, and plan your posts accordingly. 

This can significantly boost your engagement rate and connect you with your audience. Remember, the right timing will maximize the impact of your posts.

How Many Views to Go Viral On Instagram?

Now that you know all the tricks, you’re probably curious how many views it takes to go viral on Instagram.

When a video goes viral, it can significantly boost your marketing efforts and greatly increase your chances of success. It also helps expand your target reach as a content creator and attracts new viewers to your content channels.

But what exactly qualifies as “viral”?

Typically, a post with 100,000+ views or likes and 1,000+ comments is considered viral. However, viral is subjective and can vary depending on the brand.

Many business owners and marketers define a video as viral if it reaches at least 5M views within one week. 

For instance, you can upload a new post on a Thursday. If it accumulates 6M views by the following Wednesday, it’s safe to say that the video has gone viral.

A post can be considered viral if it exceeds 10,000 views or likes, especially for smaller brands targeting a niche audience.

We recommend checking your Instagram analytics and competitor’s data to set benchmarks for what qualifies as viral in your specific context. 

As you grow, aim for higher engagement rates that are realistic and attainable for your brand.

Mastering How To Go Viral On IG

Understanding your target Instagram users and competitors is the first step to gaining notice on the app. It allows you to determine the best content to post for maximum impact. 

Craft top-notch posts that align with current trends and leverage appropriate hashtags. Make the most of Instagram’s features, including creating Reels with popular sounds. 

Lastly, maintain a consistent posting schedule and actively engage with your audience to boost your odds of going viral. 

If you want to scale your Instagram presence and go viral, choose Path Social. They provide customized strategies and tools to help you unleash the true power of your Instagram account and become viral. 

Grow your following and experience unprecedented growth with Path Social’s professional guidance. Now that you know how to go viral on Instagram – let Path Social help you. Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today!