Viral = pointless?

The chase for going viral is a funny one.

You’re totally reliant on the platform and its algorithm. You could post the same piece of content on different days on different platforms. One day it would go viral on LinkedIn. But on Twitter it wouldn’t.

You’re tied to the gods. Luck. Fate.

Because you could write the best piece of content that anyone will ever read but if one person with 100,000 followers happens to see it and engage, that is the one thing that will make a difference.

If they don’t, it’s the same as any other crappy piece of content you’ve written.

I know I know, I write content that gets a lot of attention fairly often and done a lot of work to build a big audience to get that potential viral hit every now and then.

But I don’t go after it every post.

Just once a week where I’ll write a piece of content I think “maybe this gets a lot of attention broadly”.

Otherwise I stick to what I know my readers want - digital copywriting insights.

You can still go viral by being super niche.

If you think a viral post is something like 15,000 likes, there’s easily more than 15,000 people in the world who are interested in my niche topic.

Is it worth it though?

Is it worth writing a piece of content fully with the intention or goal of “I want this to go viral” and to chase that over and over and over again?

I don’t think it is.

For any regular business owner - freelancer, solopreneur, agency owner - you just want 10 or so, well paying clients and to be able to build a nice pipeline of future clients.

And so the need for you to stand out to that niche pool of dream clients you can serve well, at a good price, is vital.

That can be done with simple text posts that get any level of engagement.

The key is grabbing the right attention and building trust in you as a provider.

Matt Barker @mattbarkercopy 6 hook styles to grab anyone's attention: 1. Show 'How I' 2. Teach 'How to' 3. Start telling a story 4. State a big achievement 5. Make a bold statement 6. Give an eye-catching statistic What's missing? 10:3 AM • Jan 13, 2024 2 Retweets 50 Likes Read 17 replies

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People love and hate writing hooks.

They obsess over them because they’re an incredibly important line of text within your content. The most important.

It can be the difference between 100 likes and 10 likes.

But more importantly it can be the difference between getting the attention of your dream client or not.

If you don’t use your hook to drive the right attention, you’re basically just making noise.

Because if you don’t attract the right attention, the wrong people will be landing on your profile or your landing page or your blog that you’re directing them to.

And that means they won’t be interested in what you’re offering/sharing.

Wasted attention.

Start driving the right attention by:

• Calling out the specific role of your dream client (CEO/VP of Sales etc)
• Stating a specific problem or desire of your dream client
• Resonating with an emotion your dream client feels too

Drive the right attention your way, not more attention.

Matt Barker @mattbarkercopy Unpopular opinion: going viral is completely pointless. Most of your problems can be solved with one simple text post that attracts the right person. 10:3 AM • Jan 14, 2024 4 Retweets 41 Likes Read 14 replies

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We all want more, more, more.

Everything in today’s society is geared towards getting more, earning more, having more.

More dates, more revenue, more leads, more everything.

But we spend weeks, months, years chasing more. We spend so much time chasing a figure or a milestone “number” that would give us a feeling of importance.

The problem is it’s often wasted.

When in reality, all you need to do is find the right person (aka dream client) for you and put those signals into the world with your content.

100,000 random views will never ever ever match 1 of the RIGHT view.

Because that 1 right view could be enough to sign a client.

But 100,000 random views could still not be enough.

Because volume doesn’t matter.

Targeting does.

Matt Barker @mattbarkercopy People buy from people they trust. That's why it's important to: - Tell your story - Show your face - Be a visible human The internet is a very untrustworthy place. Prove why you're trustworthy. 2:1 PM • Jan 12, 2024 4 Retweets 40 Likes Read 17 replies

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The internet is a very untrustworthy place.

There’s a lot of talk about ‘faceless YouTube channels’ lately.

And evergreen content machines that don’t actually require any human or face to be the…face of it.

While the systems nerd inside of me loves the idea of building a 365 content calendar that spits out brilliant evergreen content on autopilot with no pictures, stories or human touch, it does leave me feeling a bit…soulless.

I think about all the people I’ve bought from online. The people I’ve worked with. And the people that have bought from me and worked with me.

And the common theme is that “they just liked me as a person” or I “liked their vibe”.

The trust you need to build online now is wild, because there are more and more bandits out there every day trying to make a quick buck.

To me that says we must be:

• More visible
• More transparent
• More real

A big goal for me in 2024 is to write more stories, create a bit more video content and help more people with workshops and group training at lower price points.

The romance of interacting with humans is making a huge comeback.

Probably because of AI and all it’s robot minions.

So, is going viral pointless?

To me, it's just not the most effective or efficient way to write content.

I'd rather spend a few hours doing my research and finding triggers for my hooks that attract the right people.

Then feel confident that a higher percentage of those people become customers or clients. Or whoever I attract are the people that will get the most value out of the blog I direct them to or the offer I suggest they try.

You could spend years creating content that goes viral every single day and make far far FAR less money than the person who focused on attracting a smaller, nicher crowd.

All with less pieces of content and less writing, too.

This, is why mastering digital copywriting is CRUCIAL.

Cheers,

Matt

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Tweet of the Week

Matt Barker @mattbarkercopy I never cold email or cold DM or pitch for anything. I write content and I ask if they wanna work with me. The secret is copywriting. But you won't be good overnight. Write online every day. Analyse and improve. The result: never worry where the next client comes from. 10:2 PM • Jan 15, 2024 1 Retweets 21 Likes Read 7 replies

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I post 3-4 times every day on Twitter, click here to follow me​

P.S. sometimes you just need to go to Ikea, buy a lamp shade and put it on your head and pretend everything's normal in the world.

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