What is Considered Viral on Instagram?

What is Considered Viral on Instagram? Going viral on Instagram is the dream for many content creators and businesses looking to grow their audience and engagement. But what does it really mean for content to “go viral” on Instagram? And what can you do to try and make your content viral?

What Does It Mean For Content to Go Viral on Instagram?

For content to be considered viral on Instagram typically means it has been widely and quickly shared across the platform, reaching a large audience in a short amount of time.

There isn’t an exact number of likes, comments or shares that definitively means something has gone viral. But content that generates engagement and views from both your existing audience and beyond in a spike of activity, rather than a slow build-up, is a sign it has struck a chord and spread in a viral way.

Some benchmarks that can indicate viral Instagram content include:

• Getting over 10k likes within a day
• Receiving a huge spike in engagement from your baseline numbers
• Gaining thousands of new followers in a short period
• Being widely shared by other accounts or reposted in Stories
• Appearing on the Explore page or as a suggested post to a wide range of users

The key is the momentum and rate at which the content spreads and picks up engagement, rather than just the total numbers. A post that gets 20k likes over 6 months may not have gone viral in the same way as a post that hits 20k likes in 24 hours.

How to Go Viral Overnight on Instagram?

Want to know How to go viral on Instagram? Going viral feels like winning the lottery for social media users, the result of luck and timing. But while you can never guarantee a viral hit, there are some strategies you can use to try and set your Instagram content up for success.

1. Leverage Trends and Pop Culture Moments

Latching onto trends and pop culture moments is a classic viral technique. Keep an eye out for what is currently blowing up in the news or popular culture and connect your content to it while it’s hot.

The latest meme format, a new celeb feud, a hit song – if you can quickly turn around creative content tied to the trend while it’s spiking in interest, you have a solid chance of being swept up in that viral wave.

2. Use Popular Songs and Audio

Music and audio can be huge virality drivers. Using the current top songs or popular soundbites as audio for your videos and Reels is a proven way to capture attention.

Look at which songs are topping the charts or blowing up on TikTok, and make creative videos incorporating the sounds that people are loving right now.

3. Optimize Your Hashtags

Hashtags play an important role in getting your content seen beyond just your current followers. Do keyword research to find which hashtags around your post topic are popular but not oversaturated.

Include a mix of more niche hashtags and a couple of top ones to try and score that lucky Explore page placement that can lead to a viral boost.

4. Post Consistently at Key Times

While going viral comes down to unpredictable factors, you can control when you post to put your content in front of the maximum number of people.

Posting consistently helps the algorithm pick up your content. Posting at peak times when usage is high – around lunchtime and during the early evening – can expose your posts to more eyeballs.

5. Collaborate with Influencers

Getting your content shared by an influencer with a big engaged audience gives you built-in viral potential.

Even micro-influencers with just 10k-100k engaged followers can give your content a boost. Reach out to influencers in your niche to collaborate on content that appeals to their audience.

6. Leverage Interactive Content

Posts that encourage comments, shares and engagement through polls, questions and challenges tend to spread further than static posts.

Spark conversation by asking followers questions or suggestions in your caption. Create polls or challenges that users can participate in easily to help fuel virality.

7. Promote Your Content

While you can’t force something to go viral, you can give your content extra visibility by promoting it yourself.

Share your content across your other social channels, pitch it to relevant online groups or websites, ask others to share if they like it, and run ads to boost the views or you can also purchase free Instagram views from Buyautolikes.io. More eyeballs can increase the chances of catching fire.

8. Free Instagram Followers: Real or Fake?

We all want to score thousands of free Instagram followers to boost our popularity. But is buying followers legit or safe for your account?

Also Read – How to get 1000 followers on Instagram – Unpaid, Paid and Combined Growth Strategy

Examples of Viral Instagram Content

To get an idea of the type of content that commonly goes viral on Instagram, here are some real examples and why they took off:

• TikTok comedian Remi Bader’s candid beach photos and videos showing realistic bikini body representations struck a chord, getting over 2 million likes.
• A post from Kylie Jenner revealing she changed her young son’s name went hugely viral with over 7 million likes, sparking debate.
• Choreography videos or dance challenges, like the ‘Renegade challenge’, often spread quickly as users recreate and share the dances.
• Comedian Benito Skinner achieved viral fame from his short parody videos skewering pop culture and celebs like Kim Kardashian.
• Product reveal videos from brands like Dyson showing unique innovations and features in an engaging visual format can gain widespread attention.
• UGC content like customer unboxing or review videos can take off, with the original raw quality adding appeal.
• Informative and helpful explainers and visual guides around topics like makeup, cooking and fashion are highly shareable.
• Eye-catching food photos and recipes that look irresistible and decadent tend to attract huge engagement.
• Relatable parenting stories and mommy blogger content strike a chord with that community when genuinely funny or touching.
• Animal photos and cute pet videos have universal, viral appeal, especially for babies and rescue animals.

The common thread is content that taps into emotions, sparks conversation, delivers entertainment value or provides useful information in an engaging format.

Tips for Going Viral on Instagram Overnight

Going viral overnight represents the ultimate Instagram success. But is it really possible to go from 10 likes to 10k+ overnight?

While you can never guarantee your content blows up that quickly, these tips can help give you the best shot:

• Post at peak times – Get content in front of people right before common browsing times, like their commute home from work or before bed.
• Use attention-grabbing visuals – Bright colours, striking imagery, clever graphics and high-quality video increase the chances of catching eyes as they scroll.
• Connect to breaking news or events – If a big news story breaks, react quickly with your take while it’s hot to ride the wave of interest.
• Encourage shares – Asking people to tag friends to share the post with the chance of a reward or giveaway incentive can help ignite rapid sharing.
• Optimize clickable caption elements – Include strategic questions, calls to action and hashtags to drive engagement and shares.
• Pay to boost key posts – Put some money behind high-potential posts to push them into more feeds and jumpstart momentum.
• Work with influencers – Coordinate a takeover or collaborate with influencers at the peak of their popularity for built-in amplification.

While overnight Instagram explosions are rare, these tactics can help set you up for the possibility of lightning striking. Consistently creating great content that resonates and encourages engagement is key.

Conclusion

Going viral on Instagram and gaining free likes overnight may seem like unattainable dreams for most social media users. However, with strategic planning and persistence, that coveted blue checkmark and millions of likes could be within your reach.

By constantly analyzing trending topics and hashtags, posting visually striking content at optimal times, collaborating with relevant influencers, and most importantly, building authentic engagement with any audience you can gain organically, the foundations for Instagram fame are there.

FAQ’s About Viral Content on Instagram

Here are some common questions about creating viral Instagram content:

1. How many likes are considered viral on Instagram?

There isn’t a definitive threshold, but content that gets upwards of 10K likes within 24 hours is generally considered to have gone viral, especially if engagement greatly outpaces normal levels. The speed of likes gained matters as much as the total number.

2. What time should you post for viral Instagram content?

The best times to post for optimal visibility are around 11 am-1 pm and 5 pm-6 pm in your local timezone when Instagram usage peaks over lunchtime and after work hours. This exposes your content to more people to potentially trigger viral interest.

3. What are the most viral types of Instagram content?

Trending meme formats, funny videos, relationship/parenting stories, life hacks and creative how-tos, celebrity news, striking graphics, and interactive polls/challenges tend to be among the top viral content on Instagram.

4. How do Instagram influencers go viral?

Influencers go viral by latching onto new trends at the right moment, optimizing clickbait appeal in captions, collaborating with other influencers, responding rapidly to pop culture news, and incorporating viral audio and hashtags. Genuinely entertaining or insightful content also breaks out.

5. What are the best hashtags to go viral on Instagram?

Top hashtags for going viral include #fyp #viral #explore #explorepage #blowup #follow #instafamous #featureme #share #comment #likesforlikes. Include a mix of popular general hashtags and specific niche hashtags relevant to your content