“Just make us go viral.” What we’ve learned to say instead.
There’s a moment that comes up surprisingly often during client onboarding at Buzzwork.
We’ll be 20 minutes into a conversation and someone will say:
“Honestly, we just want to go viral.”
We get it. Who doesn’t?
But these days, our next question is usually:
“What do you want to happen after you go viral?”
That’s where things get interesting.
Because the answer is rarely actually “more views.”
A local business might want more people walking through the door.
A design firm might want enquiries from the right kind of clients.
A performing artist might want bookings.
A B2B business might want conversations with potential customers.
Those are very different goals.
And somewhere along the way, “viral” became shorthand for “we want social media to work really well for our business.”
But viral is an outcome. It isn't a strategy.
As an agency, we can control a lot:
We can build a content strategy.
We can make the content stronger.
We can sharpen the brand’s communication.
We can create content around topics people already care about.
We can make sure the profile is ready when people discover it.
What we can't control is whether an algorithm decides to put a post in front of 10,000 people or 1 million.
So we’re always a little cautious when someone promises guaranteed virality.
There’s another thing we think gets overlooked:
What happens when the attention actually arrives?
A viral post can send thousands of people to a profile.
But if they can't understand what the business does within a few seconds, most of that attention disappears.
If there's no clear next step, it disappears.
If the people seeing the post were never potential customers, it doesn't necessarily help the business either.
That’s why we think reach and relevance need to be looked at separately.
300,000 views sounds great.
But 3,000 people who actually fit your target audience can be far more valuable.
For a local business, those 3,000 people might actually live nearby.
For a design firm, they might be potential clients.
For a B2B company, they might be the exact people involved in a buying decision.
So when a client tells us:
“Just make us go viral.”
Our answer is usually something along the lines of:
“We can’t promise viral. But we can make the content worth sharing, make sure your brand is ready for the attention, and define what success actually looks like for your business.”
Maybe that's enquiries.
Maybe bookings.
Maybe footfall.
Maybe qualified leads.
Maybe simply building recognition with the right audience.
Because the goal shouldn't be to win the algorithm.
It should be to make the attention useful.
For the founders and marketers here: what does a genuinely successful month on social media look like for your business?
And for other agencies/social media managers: how do you handle the “make us go viral” conversation?