<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Viral-Content.jpg" alt="Viral Content" width="290" height="174" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-9260" />Do you struggle to get your content to go viral? It makes you jealous to see big name bloggers get so many “likes” on Facebook and shares on Pinterest while you have a modest-sized following. Bloggers, entrepreneurs, business owners and artists all crave for their content to go viral someday but it’s so rare to make it big online. 

It may look easy to go viral when you’ve seen videos of kids on YouTube get millions of views or debates over a color of a dress get talked about all over social media for an entire day. While these things may seem like they just happened without any effort, there is somewhat of a formula that needs to happen to have a shot at making something share-worthy. 

It’s not easy to do and it’s not easy to explain, but there are some characteristics that most viral videos have in common. Here is a look at the elements to include in your content to have a chance of going viral. 

<h2>It should make a statement</h2>

Most viral content makes a statement which causes people to either love it or hate it and want to tell others. With a content growing in popularity, it starts to take on a life of its own making people feel that they are in an exclusive group if they know about it while leaving those who haven’t yet out of the group. 

People love to feel part of a group and feel that they are part of something special. There is a sense of pride in sharing a statement piece because they are bringing others into the group. Creating viral content is about creating your “group” of exclusivity. What type of club do you want to create with this statement you are making? 

The success of what you post will depend on people’s interest in joining the club and sharing the club with others. If they don’t want to associate with the club of people that have seen it, you won’t attract much audience. Find a way to be attractive to an audience. 

<h2>It should have an emotional element</h2>

<a href="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Emotional-Element.png"><img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Emotional-Element-300x65.png" alt="Emotional Element" width="300" height="65" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-9259" /></a>Most viral posts are emotionally compelling in one way or another. People only share content they identify with, enjoy, or feel strongly about and that’s seen by the lack of “shares” on content like Facebook quizzes. In order for content to go viral, it must offer an emotional element that will strike a chord with an audience. It doesn’t even have to be a positive, happy and amusing piece; it can be something angry, outrageous, or scandalous. 

While positive pieces are more likely to pick up compared to negative ones, content with a statement and emotional element can go viral. Keep in mind what you’d enjoy sharing, like a funny video, compared to an honest infographic or some scary statistics. Being reliable, accurate, and putting an idea down that is hard to explain is a good recipe of going viral. People want to support a piece of content that captures their thoughts and helps them to be self-expressive. 

<h2>It has to have quality</h2>

You can’t just throw something out there that is positive and truthful and expect to go viral. Your content has to show quality and be well-executed. If not, you could have your content shared for the wrong reason.  In order to be considered a trustworthy source, you need to have a website with a modern design, regular content, and a quick site speed. 

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Content-Like-Water.png" alt="Content Like Water" width="259" height="194" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-9258" />When viewers can’t identify with the source of the content, it’s not likely to go viral. If you’re hoping to make a photo go viral, make sure it’s shot well while a video should be well casted, filmed and edited. A Tweet needs to be well said while an infographic should be well-designed. All of these elements matter for a piece to be shared. Always remember that an image is the most likely thing to be shared compared to content without it regardless of the social media platform you use. 
 
Lastly, keep in mind that it’s safe to step out of the box by being a little bolder, throwing away the rules, not being afraid to surprise, and being willing to be resilient. Make sure it’s easy to understand and share so that those that love your piece will be excited to share it with others. 

Follow this formula to create a killer blog and hope that one of these times it will be enough to go viral!



