How Small Businesses Can Go Viral Without a Social Media Team, Law By Mike Explains
Regardless of the industry, most companies understand that viral content provides a unique path to gaining new customers and making more money. The great secret, however, is figuring out how a business or solopreneur can create viral content — especially if they don’t have a dedicated social media team.
When I first set out to draw attention to my law firm, I had no expectation of going viral; I simply wanted to create fun and creative content that would also serve to market our services. We became a viral sensation because our supporters related to our genuine honest approach — and it all happened (without a robust social media team ) in a little over two months.
Of course, viral success is the culmination of creative thinking, striking when the iron is hot, and a lot of luck. But the more you hone your content creation skills, the more you’ll intuitively understand what people want to watch and share.Â
The Road To Viral SuccessÂ
While we did not intend to go viral with our short-form, law-related videos, I believe the secret sauce in our content was the real-world value we provide. Our videos are also highly entertaining, but also legitimately educational and we never created content specifically to sell ourselves or our services.
We provide our audience with important information or just make them laugh—if they enjoy our content, they’ll definitely seek us out if they need the services we provide, but trying to force that outcome would be a big mistake. The audience will recognize that you’re attempting to manipulate them with a crude sales pitch.
Our authenticity rang true from our first video, and that has contributed to our viral successes. While there are other lawyers on social media, we are consistently creating content that genuinely reflects our personalities and values. If you try to adopt a persona while chasing viral success it won’t ring true and, ultimately, the attempt will fail.
Working Without A TeamÂ
A social media team is a nice want, but not a need for viral success. The beauty of short-form content is that one person can film, edit, and produce that content entirely on their smartphone.Â
A critical element of social media content creation that people need to pay close attention to is scheduling. From scripting to filming to posting, we know where we should be in the production process. Once you develop a consistent scheduling system and can share content routinely, you can accomplish the bulk of content creation in a few hours a week.
If you’re wondering about the size of the team that earned us 10 million followers on social media—it’s two people: my cousin and me. Sometimes, we will enlist the help of an outside editor, but content creation in today’s social media climate is largely a one-to-two-person job.Â
The Benefit Of Viral ContentÂ
Going viral has helped our law firm tremendously. When I started, only a few lawyers considered TikTok a relevant platform. Most lawyers had never heard of TikTok or perceived it as an app for kids.
The majority of TikTok users — 29.5% — are between the ages of 20 and 29, and a hefty 37.4% are over the age of 30.Â
Wallaroo Media
As we discovered, we could reach our market on TikTok (as well as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook). People of all ages have contacted my firm for legal services, and many found us via our videos.
You ignore the power of social media marketing at your peril. It is absolutely the new form of marketing and yields far better returns than traditional advertising. Social media offers you the opportunity to engage with your audience and build community — something that cannot be achieved with TV or billboard advertising.
Don’t Get Caught Up In “Going Viral”
Ultimately, don’t assume that only organizations with a social media team can produce quality content—and definitely don’t adopt a go-viral or bust attitude. Most businesses and almost all solopreneurs should focus on building their presence in their industry and in the communities that are most likely to want their services. Accept that you can maximize your chance of going viral organically, but don’t let it become your only standard or success or reorient your business with the expectation of inevitable viral success.Â
Given the interest so many business owners have in viral marketing, we’ve created a dynamic, new course called Impact and Influence wherein we teach businesses how to utilize social media and create content that is more likely to hit viral status. A cornerstone of our philosophy, and something many aspiring content producers miss, is the premise that viewers are not the same as supporters.
Consider the powerful benefits that come along with 10,000 active, engaged supporters versus 1 million viewers who watch a piece of your content once (and who may even hit subscribe) but never engage again. If a business sets out to win supporters who enthusiastically interact with them — they are more likely to gain leverage out of a creative, viral piece of content. Our program is the most complete resource for a business owner to tap into this opportunity to grow their business with viral content.
As social media becomes the primary source of marketing for most businesses, a firm grasp of how to produce the most engaging content possible may prove crucial to its overall success. While it’s easy to imagine all your favorite content requiring a dedicated social media team, you’ll learn that authentic, self-aware creators can produce highly engaging content without one.Â
