Offer: 2 weeks instead of 1 free with Semrush

Does virality feel like a phenomenon reserved for Gen Z TikTok’rs? 

It isn’t. “Boring” brands can go off, too. 

Whichever type you fall into, know this: social media is a behavioral lab, and you’re the mouse. Except in this game, some mice can also become the scientists. 

Apply some method to the madness and break free from your condition of mousedom in today’s issue.

What was MySpace originally created for, before it became a social network?

• Online dating

• Interior design inspo

• Music promotion

• File-sharing

Scroll to the bottom to find out!

The bandwagon will carry you to glory or leave you behind

A viral social post can be a business’ turning point.

For years, social media managers have cringed at the instruction: make us go viral.

But there is a method to engineer virality.

And here’s the coolest part: most big companies can’t compete with your startup energy.

Social listening keeps you ready

You don’t have to be chronically online, but you should be a citizen of the internet. Participate in your digital communities consistently.

Why?

1. Because other internet citizens sense an imposter right away. Don’t force your brand where it doesn’t fit. You know whether or not you belong in that conversation, right?

2. Because it’s how you spot trends or ideas to jump on. 

Someone big spoke about a topic you’re an expert in? Something big happened in your industry? Global events have something to do with you and your services? 

→ Leverage tech to stay informed and monitor the right terms, and the right people/brands. Tools like Semrush Brand Monitoring or Sprout Social do a great job. 

Hot tip: When you set up alerts, make sure it’s something that you’ll see immediately. If you don’t watch your email, set up a Zapier workflow to send you a Slack message.

Expert mode: keep an ear on the ground AND an eye on the horizon

Trends are unpredictable, but there are some you can plan for.

For instance, cybersecurity company Guardz jumped into #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth on X with bite-sized thought leadership. Their following grew 25%, and traffic to their website grew 10%.

Things happening in the world show up on social media. There’s a record heat wave the same week a celeb drops a documentary on climate change? Be ready.

There it is! A trend! Now what?

You listened. You got the alert. You recognized a trend before it got big, and it’s a natural fit for your brand.

Don’t wait.

Moving fast to post something on-trend might mean:

• It’s not as polished as the rest of your content

• It’s not fully on brand

• You might make a mistake and have to fix it later

These are good things.

Acting fast forces you to be more authentic. And authenticity is the key to building trust on social media.

But how does any of this make you money?

Reach and follower numbers are good, but are you just patting yourself on the back for GoINg vIRaL, or are you actually building a business strategy here?

DivvyHQ embraced meme marketing and jumped on pop culture trends to build membership in a LinkedIn group. Demo requests came in 15% more often from those group members.

Know how you’re going to connect with people who find you through trending content. That could be retargeted ads, continuing social media engagement, or getting them into the top of your sales funnel with free value. 

Successfully surfing a trend without following through is like going on a great first date, then never calling again. 

Plan next steps before you get started. You’ve got a finite amount of time to move those relationships forwards.

Advertisement

71%.

The percentage of marketers who report short-form video has the highest ROI (Hubspot).

Short-form, lo-fi video consistently outperforms polished content. Authenticity wins again.

According to research by Neil Patel, short form videos:

• Get 34% more likes

• Get 18% more comments

Why short n’ scrappy wins 

1. It’s one of the most consumed content formats

2. It looks like native content. Ads that work best are ads that don’t feel like ads. Even better: don’t actually sell anything (let your profile do that for you).

Hot tip: Recycle! Chop long-form videos (like webinars) into short form or even ads.

Social media is a behavioral lab

But there’s good news: 

You’re not just the rat. You’re also the scientist.

Mindf*ck blew the whistle when Cambridge Analytica mined data to manipulate voters during Trump’s 2016 election and Brexit. 

Creepy? 

Yes. But also instructive.

Everything on social media — scrolls, pauses, rewatches, likes — gets turned into behavioral telemetry.

The end goal is not to understand behavior. It’s to shape it.

It’s one of the reasons your Instagram feed seems to be able to read your thoughts. It’s not showing you what you want — it’s teaching you what to want.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s science.

🧠 B.J. Fogg’s Behavior Model says behavior happens when motivation, ability, and a prompt converge. That’s why scrolling is so sticky — it’s easy (high ability), you’re often bored (some motivation), and every post is a prompt.

🧠 Predictive processing theory says your brain constantly predicts what will be rewarding — and updates those predictions based on experience. So when you enjoy a piece of content, your brain learns: this kind of thing = good. Next time, it seeks out more like it.

And social platforms? They are very, very good at creating those conditions.

Want to use this?

1. Create an identity they wish was theirs and connect it to your brand, products, or services.  

e.g. “the right kind of leader”, “the discerning customer”, “the true adventurer”

2. Identify which feelings they long for and position your offering as a means to achieve them.

e.g. “that sunday-picnic-in-the-sun feeling”

3. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Keep a consistent message built around points 1 & 2 and win them over. 

🧠 People don’t always know what they want, or that they want anything at all. But they recognize that must-have feeling when something fires their brains’ reward circuits.

Be intentional.

Written by Amy Hawthorne and edited by Catherine Solbrig.