How Long Does It Take to Go Viral? One LinkedIn Post: 147,834 Impressions
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Hello Internet chum,
It happened. A post of mine went viral:
147,834 impressions. 1,140 likes. 229 comments. 45 shares. Crikey!
Below, I'll share my thoughts on why I think this blew up compared with typical posts that get around 20 or 30 likes and 1,000 impressions. We'll also go through:
✅ x1 book to understand marketing psychology
✅ x2 recent LinkedIn highlights
✅ x3 content nuggets that got my attention
Let's dive in.
x1 Book to Understand Marketing Psychology
I've returned to this book in recent weeks. It's the best I've ever read on marketing:
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Written in the early 1990s, it captures the fundamentals of marketing psychology in nugget-sized chapters. There are also plenty of real-life examples.
I lost track of the number of "a-ha" moments I had reading this book...
Not ashamed to say my copy is messy with margin notes and underlined sentences everywhere! My favorite chapters:
Chapter 2: The law of the category
Chapter 4: The law of perception
Chapter 7: The law of the ladder
Chapter 10: The law of division
Chapter 13: The law of sacrifice
Chapter 15: The law of candor
Chapter 22: The law of resources
x2 Highlights - The Viral Post and How to Avoid Nasty Tax Surprises
HIGHLIGHT #1
First up, let's talk about the viral post with over 147,000 impressions:
My girlfriend will hate me for making this public. But the truth is, we're running out of time. Here's the situation.
In hindsight, these are the reasons why I think it went viral:
Slow travel while working remotely is a dream that many of us share.
I'm honest about the issues we've faced in our relationship to date. It's not all been sunshine and rainbows, so there's an extra layer of meaning attached to the goal.
The first 3 lines build an instant sense of drama and curiosity - we start in the middle of the action.
Instead of teaching and educating, I'm asking for help. This is a "power shift" but people seem to resonate with the vulnerability.
Perhaps most importantly, the theme aligns with the core purpose of LinkedIn: to help people network and find jobs. This matches with what many people are on LinkedIn to do and what LinkedIn algorithms will want to promote.
Did I think the post had a chance of encouraging a couple of people to contact Kat? Yes.
Did I think things would explode as they have? Heck no! The truth is, nobody really knows how long it takes to go viral.
That's the beauty of writing on LinkedIn though (or other platforms like Twitter). Any one of your posts could have its "five minutes of fame."
Of course, the next posts will settle back to more regular figures. I'm not deluded.
But it only takes one post like this to suddenly:
Bring an influx of rewarding connections - I've had a number of lovely conversations via DM since Thursday. Hoping to continue these new relationships.
Gig offers for freelance writing work.
Interviews for Kat - the main motive for me sharing this post in the first place.
HIGHLIGHT #2
I just paid over $20,000 in taxes. I'll admit I was unprepared for the hit. Here are 4 reasons why it happened and how to avoid the same mistake.
Helpful if you want to learn about:
handling taxes as a freelancer, organization, finance
x3 Content Nuggets That Got My Attention
We've all got to sell sometimes. Wendy does a great job of it in this post, talking about passive income in a more tangible way. The call-to-action doesn't feel jarring as it connects with the content. Feel free to use this as inspiration for your next sales post!
2) Want to be a great marketer? Focus more on being a historian than a futurist.
I've never heard anyone take this perspective before. While most people get in a frenzy discussing future predictions, Philip argues that knowing how to analyze and take lessons from the past is actually a more valuable skill.
3) Did you post something that deserves more engagement? Let's fix that.
At its heart, this is a simple post to encourage people to engage and support one another. But I like how Augusto pulls it off with personality. He refers to the relatable shared "enemy" and motivates people with "Let's beat the algorithm together!"
Thank you for stopping by.
Now, it's time for a cup of Rooibos tea ☕️ with milk (am I weird for liking this combination?)
Declan Davey
P.S. Here are a few options you may be interested in...
1. Get my LinkedIn growth course.
2. Grab my free copywriting course.
3. See new content on LinkedIn by tapping the notification bell on my profile. I post at 12.20 pm UK time, Monday to Thursday.
