Make Waves! How to be Polarizing and Go Viral.
Creating Polarizing and Viral Content
Being controversial and making waves isn’t a bad thing – as long as you stay professional. Repeat after me: don’t be a dick. Being bland is boring. No one wants a feed filled with agreeable content that doesn’t spur conversation, debates, or teachable moments. Presenting lessons or conflict within the realm of your business creates engagement. Your authenticity is key! If you cuss in real life, make it a part of your brand strategy. You won’t be able to please everyone, but why would you want to?! Having an opinion is good and sharing it will attract the right people and repel the bad ones you don’t want following you anyway. In with the good followers, out with the bad.
As long as you’re not a dick.
Be Polarizing
Sharing your opinions seems like a simple thing to do, but the fact of the matter is not everyone is going to agree with you. And that’s exactly why polarizing content can build your followers and your business.
1. Find what you are passionate about and use your platform to promote it! It could be as big as Black Lives Matter or as small as cleaning up your local pond, but if you’re into it, share it! Opinions are good and you’ve got a platform ready to share yours.
2. Find something in your industry that is mainstream but you may not totally agree with. For example, in wedding photography, First Looks are the almost standard practice these days. Maybe you prefer the more traditional way of the groom first seeing the bride walking down the aisle. Tell people that!
3. Don’t fear the backlash. Backlash creates controversy which creates conversation which creates engagement which creates traffic. Backlash can be good! You just need to handle it well and don’t take it personally if someone doesn’t agree with your views.
4. Be YOU. Unapologetically you. Do you know the best way to stand out in the crowd? By being yourself. I know, it sounds crazy, but no one else is like you. No one else can BE you. It can be scary to put yourself so completely out there, but it gets easier! You’ll find support in your followers and the people that believe and agree with what you’re presenting.
Go Viral
I’m not talking about going VIRAL, viral but exploding within your own audience and target market. We can’t all be Charlie Bit My Finger (but what a classic that is). It’s not about being huge everywhere, it’s about making a splash within your desired demographic.
1. Play on emotions. FOMO is real and we’ve all gotten it and if you say you haven’t you’re lying. Use it to your advantage! You can also to share a “secret”, reveal something about yourself, be vulnerable, and be real.
2. Be relevant. Timeliness creates more traffic – try to be the first in your area to post something new. Sticking to your niche and the ideal client will create the followers you want, instead of trying to focus on being viral in the big picture.
3. Make your post easy to share. Posting in stories is fine, but it’s hard for someone to share it unless they are tagged in it. You can’t exactly tag every follower in stories, so be sure to post in your feed, too! Make it on-brand for yourself, but also tailor it to THEIR brand to make them more likely and willing to share it. An easy way to do this is to create several options for the same post. Change a background, switch out the image, give them a choice in what they share. Things like quick tips or quotes that speak to your audience are always highly shared posts.
4. See what’s missing in your space and fill the gap. As an example, a few weeks ago I was interested in supporting black-owned businesses and restaurants in my area. When I realized no one had gathered this info, I took the time to research, made a list, and posted it. It ended up becoming a viral post because other people were seeking out this same information!
5. Quality posts go viral. Blurred images, boring content, and short captions won’t get you far. Using polarizing content, clear images, long captions, and vertical shots with faces will get you more notice. Take your time to create these posts – slapping things together just to put up content will detract from your true goal.
Look, if there’s anything to learn for this, it’s to just be yourself. It can be scary to put yourself out there so completely, but that’s kind of the point. As humans, we recognize and appreciate those who show their flaws and their vulnerability. We are drawn to personal stories and opinions that give us the chance to look inside ourselves or recognize us inside of others.
So be unapologetically you – everyone else is taken.
And also, don’t be a dick.
