Captain America Voice: "So, Your Post went Viral."
Now What?
Last Sunday I wrote this piece for my Sports Musings publication. It wasn’t anything profound or grandiose. I was simply talking about a pattern of what happens to football teams when they harass the college marching band I participated in. We are a large, nationally known ensemble, and we have a darn good football team too. The two work well together.
As is tradition for some of my articles, I decided to share this one on Facebook to a relevant group. I thought nothing of it, also shared it with a couple other adjacent groups and even a marching band Reddit community.
And then it happened.
When the post had almost 1,000 views in an hour I probably should have sensed something. But my other football articles for JMU have been quite popular. This was different though. The numbers kept climbing and climbing. By the time I went to bed (around 9 PM EST), the post had around 4.7k views.
I honestly don’t know what a lot of views on an article is for Substack, so I would have considered that viral.
Fast forward to today, and the post is up to almost 7,000 views, has been shared 90 times, and has garnered 10 subscribers. It was the top trending Substack sports article for 2 days and was still in the top 5 yesterday. Again, I don’t know what viral is for this site, and I am not sharing these stats to “humble brag”. I am just presenting them, and I am genuinely shocked. Given the number of subscribers and even followers I have on Substack compared to the reach of this article, it’s certainly viral for my little corner of the internet.
So, how did I do it?
Don’t worry. This isn’t going to be a “the secret to going viral” piece, but I do think the answer here is pretty simple, and it’s why I also split my publications.
I tapped into a niche. And not only did I tap into a niche, but I also tapped into a niche with a massive network, and one that some would say I am a borderline expert on. I have 10 plus seasons of marching band experience, I LOVE college football, and I know JMU incredibly well. JMU also has a massive band, and therefore a massive band alumni network. The fans of the school also love the band almost as much, if not just as much as the football team. I also posted the story in a timely fashion so that it was relevant.
It just all worked out.
The interactions on the piece have been great too. Though, most of those have been away from the Substack platform. As a result, those metrics aren’t as readily available. But seeing how popular the piece was on different platforms, it also did confirm that I made the right decision splitting my publications. I can cater to the sports niche while also having an outlet for some of my more eclectic pursuits (get it?).
So, your post went viral. Now what?
Honestly, nothing really has changed. It may be my most popular piece by far but I’m not sure it’s my favorite or one that speaks the most to me. I had a nice bump in followers but nothing insane. I think the most profound conclusion was that I know I can write for specific groups like this, and so long as you time things well, you can make your posts work. So, perhaps that’s something I work on moving forward.
In the end, the interactions and numbers going up have been a massive dopamine hit, one that has been sorely needed if you read my last health chronicles.
So, your post went viral. Now what?
I go back to writing and continue to smile while I do so.
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So interesting. Thank you for your honesty in reflection.