Story of the Week
The Viral Trap
Last month, I watched a creator friend celebrate hitting 10 million views on a single video. Comments were pouring in, shares were through the roof, and his follower count was skyrocketing.
But when I checked in with him a few weeks later, he was frustrated and confused.
"Pat, I can't figure it out," he said. "I got all these new followers, but my engagement is down. My sales haven't increased. If anything, my business feels more scattered than ever."
This is what I call the Viral Trap — when massive reach actually hurts your business instead of helping it.
Here's the problem: Not all attention is good attention. And not all viral content serves your long-term goals.
The Two Types of Viral Content
After analyzing thousands of viral posts across different platforms, I've identified two distinct categories:
Type 1: Random Viral Content – This is content that goes viral for reasons completely unrelated to your expertise, brand, or business goals. Examples are dancing videos from business coaches, random life hacks from fitness trainers, or trending audio clips that have nothing to do with your niche.
Type 2: Strategic Viral Content – This is content that goes viral while staying perfectly aligned with your brand, expertise, and business objectives. It attracts the right audience and moves them closer to becoming customers or clients.
The difference between these two types can make or break your business.
Why Random Viral Content Hurts Your Business
When you go viral for the wrong reasons, several damaging things happen:
1. Audience Dilution: You attract followers who have zero interest in what you actually offer. Your engagement rates plummet because most of your audience isn't your target market.
2. Algorithm Confusion: Social media algorithms learn from your viral content and start showing your future posts to similar audiences — who aren't interested in your real content.
3. Brand Confusion: Your existing audience becomes confused about what you stand for. Are you a business expert or a dancing entertainer?
4. Conversion Disaster: Your sales and conversion rates drop because your audience is no longer aligned with your offerings.
The Strategic Approach to Viral Content
Instead of chasing random viral moments, focus on creating content that could go viral while still serving your business goals:
1. Stay in Your Lane: Create content that showcases your expertise, even when jumping on trends. If you're a marketing expert, put a marketing spin on trending topics.
2. Attract Your Ideal Audience: Ask yourself, "If this goes viral, will it attract people who could become customers?" If not, reconsider posting it.
3. Include Strategic Calls-to-Action: When content starts gaining traction, be ready with clear next steps that move viewers toward your business goals.
4. Build on Viral Moments: When something performs well, create follow-up content that deepens the relationship with your new audience members.
The Better Question to Ask
Instead of asking, "How can I make this go viral?" ask, "How can I create valuable content that my ideal audience would want to share?"
This shift in thinking changes everything. You stop chasing empty metrics and start building a community of engaged followers who actually care about what you offer.
Quality Over Quantity: The Long Game
Here's what I've learned from my own content journey: One piece of strategic viral content is worth more than ten random viral hits.
When my Pokémon content goes viral, it attracts collectors, parents, and fans — exactly the audience I want to serve in that space. When my business content resonates widely, it brings in entrepreneurs and creators who might join our community or courses.
The views matter less than who's viewing.
Remember, going viral isn't the goal — building a sustainable, profitable business is. Sometimes that means saying no to easy views in favor of meaningful connections.
You’ve got this.
