Getting your tweets to go viral on Twitter takes a combination of science and style.
Without the science of diffusion in action even the most stylistic tweet will go unnoticed.
Without some style, even a well-placed tweet will fall flat.
But when you combine the science of sharing tactfully written tweets, your tweets have an incredible chance of spreading like wildfire.
The following fifteen traits of viral tweets are a distillation of the most important elements for getting more retweets with an infusion of retweet science data.
The tactics in this article will explain how to go viral on Twitter so that the chances of your tweets going viral on Twitter will increase dramatically!
Viral tweets are shared by influencers
The more influential you are on Twitter, the more likely your tweets will go viral. Even if you’re just getting started on Twitter today, you can still get the power of influencer working for you by building a connection with a Twitter influencer.
As I explained in my last article about the golden rules of Twitter, reciprocity can be a powerful way to increase your influence on Twitter.
Here are some ways to get on an influencer’s radar to increase your chances of your tweets being shared by them:
- Retweet influencers often
- Comment on an influential blog
- Connect with them on Facebook
- Help them as much as possible before asking them to share something for you.
The idea is to help them so much that when you ask them for help, they feel compelled to return the favor when you ask them to share something about you.
If you can get even one influential Twitter user to retweet you, the chances of your tweet going viral increase significantly.
Even if you can’t get one of these users to retweet you, there are plenty of influencers on Twitter, and gaining an influencer’s favor is often as simple as buying a product they offer and engaging with them on Twitter and their blog. Do an influencer a favor first and then ask them to help you with a retweet, and they’ll be much more likely to help you.
Where can you find influencers? You can start with List of my Twitter influencers and for a list of the most followed people on Twitter by city, check out Twopcharts.
Viral tweets usually contain a link
Tweets containing a link are retweeted more often than those without. I suspect one reason for this is that many of the links that are posted on Twitter go directly to a page that contains a retweet button.
Many people are conditioned to click this button and retweet content when they see it, which is why I use the Digg Digg plugin on all my WordPress blogs so that the tweet button is constantly seen while readers of mi are checking my content.
You can also install tweet button manually on the page.
Include a Call to Action
In email marketing, one of the best subject lines to open an email is simply: check this out. I’ve found that this call to action works well for retargeting tweets as well. I often write tweets like this: “Look at this … whatever it is … out:”
A call to action can also be indirect. If you suggest content that contains a link in a way that sparks curiosity, people will be more likely to click.
Write an outstanding headline
Human head explodes on a barber chair. Attracted attention? This is what a great headline is all about.
Headlines are a lot like tweets. Both are short and sharp.
If you want to sharpen your headline and tweet writing skills, check out this post on how to write impressive headlines.
latest news
By breaking news, you can spread your tweet like crazy. @jkrums posted a photo of a plane that landed in Hudson Bay and it has since been viewed over 600,000 times! This has garnered him hundreds if not thousands of followers and the clout that comes with having a truly viral photo.
Photos retweet very well, so if you want to go viral on Twitter, a good place to start is to work on your photography skills and regularly post photos to TwitPic or other photo sharing tools on Twitter!
Tweet Content with Twitter sharing widgets
This is a simple but essential tip if you want your link to go viral. If you’re tweeting your own content, be sure to install one tweet button First!
Time your Tweets tactfully
Twitter has peak traffic times, depending on the day of the week and time of day. For your tweet to have the best chance of going viral, you need to position it so that it can ride these waves of Twitter traffic to viral success.
The busiest times on Twitter are Thursday and Friday afternoons. The exact best time really depends on the time zone of the people in your afternoon, but mid-afternoon is usually best, from 2-5pm.
By tracking the click-through rate of your tweets with a link shortener like bit.ly or Hootsuite and with some calculated testing you will be able to tell when is the best time for you.
Offer exceptional value
Value goes viral. The more valuable the content you’re providing, the more likely people will share and retweet it.
One way to provide immense value is by creating a high-quality product that you give away for free. This can be a .pdf, a video, Mp3 or any other valuable content you can imagine!
An e-course is one way I personally like to use to provide value to my network, and I’ve developed free e-courses on Twitter, Facebook and Fitness that have been retweeted many times.
Use retweetable words
After analyzing 10,000 retweets, Dan Zarella found the following words to be the most common:
| 1364 | you |
| 1138 | I tweet |
| 701 | please |
| 598 | retweet |
| 397 | post |
| 389 | blog |
| 352 | sOciaL |
| 306 | free |
| 304 | MEDIA |
| 269 | help |
| 262 | please retweet |
| 262 | big |
| 237 | social media |
| 229 | 10 |
| 222 | follow |
| 187 | how to |
| 165 | head |
| 164 | blog post |
| 128 | look |
| 118 | new blog post |
Think about how you can integrate these words into your tweets more often, and you’ll be amazed at the difference they can make!
Encourage retweets
By offering an incentive for people to retweet, you increase the likelihood that they will do so. One way to do this is by offering a free report, or some other free content, using the free service to pay with a tweet. Pay per tweet allows you to share free content after a tweet is posted.
The most successful viral campaign I’ve ever seen was when a company offered to donate a penny for every time the hashtag #beatcancer was tweeted. This hashtag was tweeted tens of thousands of times and became a trending topic and a viral hit!
Leave room for RT + @YourUsername
Some people (myself included) still usually retweet in the classic style, writing RT and then their Twitter username.
By leaving enough room for people to retweet in this style, you maximize the chance that as many people as possible can retweet you.
Social proof
The power of social proof is demonstrated by the fact that the more times a user sees a retweet, the more likely they are to retweet it too.
What this may indicate is that social proof (or more specifically imitation) plays a role in a user’s decision to ReTweet. The more users a Twitter sees ReTweet something, the more likely they are to reTweet it themselves.
Another factor in the decision to reTweet that this data point may highlight is that when the act of ReTweeting is brought to a user’s attention, they may be more likely to ReTweet.
| depth | Reproduction rate |
| 2 | 7.57% |
| 3 | 11.47% |
| 4 | 22.31% |
| 5 | 48.44% |
Feedback
Have any of your tweets gone viral on Twitter?
Tell us about your most viral tweet in the comments below!
