It’s the 21st-century dream, watching your tweet, Tik-Tok, or other social media post-blow-up. However, turning that into money in your pocket is another challenge. A single amusing line or five-second video clip doesn’t necessarily mean you will earn an army of ardent followers that will return repeatedly (which advertisers want). Catching lightning in a bottle is a good start, but if you want to ‘make it rain’ for a long time, read on to learn some tips to maximize your returns for as long as possible.
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Manage Expectations
There will always be an element of luck in anyone’s success. No matter how much hard work you put in and how well you understand the product or service you are promoting, being in the right place at the right time will always come into play. This is true when creating content for the internet because the type that moves quickest and spreads the furthest is based on what’s happening right now.
Of course, just putting it out there at the right time doesn’t guarantee success. You might be staring at your tweet or video and wondering why it’s not taking off and the views or re-tweet numbers aren’t shooting through the roof. You might try to determine what you did wrong and what you could do differently. But the answer is that you might have played your hand as well as possible, and the internet viral winds weren’t in your favour.
Don’t expect to score a winner the first time you’re on the pitch, so don’t give up completely when success doesn’t happen on the first go around. Your timely Tik-Tok might not be worth much a day or two, so if you don’t continue to make more, then the chances that this single post will eventually become popular shrinks even more.
What Makes Content Go Viral?
- Emotional Appeal: Viral content often evokes strong emotions, whether laughter, surprise, awe, or even anger. It strikes a chord with viewers and compels them to share it with others.
- Uniqueness: In a sea of online content, viral posts stand out for their originality, creativity, or unexpected twist. They offer something fresh and exciting that captures people’s attention.
- Relevance: Viral content taps into current trends, popular culture, or shared experiences. It resonates with a wide audience by addressing relatable and timely topics.
- Sharability: Viral content is designed to be easily shared across various platforms, such as social media, messaging apps, and email. It encourages viewers to spread the word and engage with the content.
The Role of Social Media in Viral Content
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok have become powerful tools for content creators seeking viral success. These platforms provide a vast audience reach, enabling content to spread rapidly through shares, likes, and comments. Social media algorithms also play a significant role in promoting viral content by prioritizing posts that generate high levels of engagement.
Challenges of Creating Viral Content
- Unpredictability: There’s no guaranteed formula for viral success. Even well-crafted content can sometimes fail to gain traction, while seemingly random posts can unexpectedly take off.
- Oversaturation: With millions of content creators vying for attention, standing out online can be difficult. It takes creativity, timing, and a bit of luck to break through the noise.
- Short-lived Popularity: Viral fame is often fleeting. Once a piece of content goes viral, it may enjoy a surge of attention, but sustaining that momentum can be challenging as new trends and viral sensations quickly emerge.
Monetizing Viral Content
Advertising Revenue
Advertising revenue is one of the most common ways to make money from viral content. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok offer monetization programs that allow creators to earn a portion of the ad revenue generated from their videos. The more views and engagement a video receives, the higher the potential earnings. However, it’s important to note that ad revenue can vary greatly depending on factors such as ad placement, viewer demographics, and the creator’s niche.
Merchandise and Product Sales
Content creators can also monetize their popularity by selling merchandise or products related to their content. This can include t-shirts, hats, mugs, or other items featuring catchy slogans, memes, or branding associated with their viral posts. Creators can set up online stores or partner with print-on-demand services to handle production and shipping. Merchandise sales provide an additional revenue stream and help strengthen the creator’s brand identity.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves promoting other people’s products or services and earning a commission on each sale or lead generated through unique affiliate links. Viral content creators can integrate affiliate links into their posts, videos, or descriptions, encouraging their audience to purchase. Successful affiliates often choose products that align with their niche and resonate with their followers. Affiliate marketing can be a lucrative way to monetize viral content, especially if the creator has an engaged and trusting audience.
Crowdfunding and Donations
Some content creators opt for crowdfunding platforms like Patreon or accept donations from their fans to support their work. This model allows creators to receive recurring or one-time financial contributions from their audience in exchange for exclusive content, behind-the-scenes access, or special perks. Crowdfunding and donations can provide a more stable income stream than relying solely on ad revenue or brand deals.
Licensing and Syndication
Content that gains significant traction may attract interest from media outlets, websites, or television shows looking to feature or license the content. Creators can monetize their viral posts by granting usage rights or syndicating their content to these platforms for a fee. This can be a lucrative opportunity for creators who produce unique and valuable content that appeals to a broader audience.
Consider Sponsors
Selling out isn’t even considered ‘selling out’ anymore. Having a website design or energy drink company throw you some pounds so that you do a quick post saying how good they are might have been a conflict of interest a few years back, but now it’s a good business decision. Once you gather enough followers or members, it can be a good business decision for them as well, because a typical ‘deal’ involves offering discounts for the products. This might entail the first hundred or so people using a certain code on the website to purchase it for a lower price.
If you want to attract sponsors, consider the content you are making. If you want to get the attention of sports teams or products, lean your content towards that. The same goes for video games or make-up and hair products. This will also mean you should probably be positive about these items from the start. While you might want to be more honest about what you think when these fields do the right and wrong thing, constant criticism of them might scare potential sponsors away.
Play Your Strengths
It’s easy to think about, talk about, and make content about a topic or hobby you are naturally excited about. It might be the best place to start if you can’t wait to talk to anyone about footy. Even if it means having to do some work and research before turning on a camera and speaking into it – or making a post that’s 100% accurate – the fact that you are already interested means it won’t feel as much like work.
This is doubly true when you consider a good way to expand your social media presence is to engage with others who feel the same way. Getting into Twitter conversations with other fans or making videos back and forth as a sort of dialogue can help you create more content about something you are passionate about.
The wonderful thing about the very wide world of the internet is that no matter what your interest is, there will always be others who feel the same way. Now if your hobbies or turn-ons are niches, that might limit the size of the audience, but it might mean that they are doubly loyal. Regarding sponsorships, big numbers are good, but so are return rates. If you have a dedicated fan base of a few thousand, that might be enough to make some money because advertisers know the same people will always return when you post again.
Expanding Your Empire
Just as any sort of meme only takes a moment or two to absorb and discard (hopefully with a smile on the viewer’s face), the success that comes with it might last for the same amount of time. That’s why it’s important not only to spend all your income right quick but also to know that having the right sort of help can make a huge difference. If you truly have the chance to make enough money by making regular content, try to avoid burnout by hiring other freelance creators to help you develop ideas. While it seems strange early on that you should consider what might happen when you somehow become tired of talking or making videos about this or that, everyone could use a vacation from the job that puts a roof over their heads.