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Welcome to the socialized strategy. Happy Friday. It's May 31, 2024. And it's time to talk about the hot topic that we get asked so many times, and that is what time to post to go viral. So before I jump in, I wanna talk about our sponsor for this week, which is Plannable.
Helen:And they've sponsored us multiple times, and there's a reason for that. It is specifically for content creators. It's a great tool for content creators, especially if you're working with a team, if you have a small business and you have others working with you. It's really helpful to have a nice collaboration tool. So take a look at it even if it's just, you're shopping around and you wanna get to know which what the options are.
Helen:It's a nice one to know about. As always, if you just popped into this news into this podcast, we do have a newsletter that matches it. So feel free to get on our email list so that you get all the links that you need. Alright. Let's jump into the topic.
Helen:And it's it's such a tough one because it really is very dependent on how you feel and what kind of feedback you need instantaneously when it comes to what time to post. So the question is, what is the best time to post to go viral? And honestly, if we had a dollar for every time we were asked this question, I have to laugh because unlike people, do you understand that virality is so dependent on so many factors and it's also sometimes not dependent on anything? It's just sometimes random. So there's no guarantee of going viral.
Helen:I mean, there's just I wish there was because trust me, I would be viral every single time. And as soon as somebody shared what it was to make it happen, they would also be viral every single time. So let let's just start with the fact that there really is no magic time. But I wanna say at the same time, there might be a magic time for you, for your core, where you feel this is the good time to post. I know most of my followers are watching their phones at this point.
Helen:I whatever that is. So because of all the factors and how you feel about when you post and how quickly you wanna see feedback, I always say this. When I post a video, if it's let's say let's say I'm up very late one night and I post 1 at 2 in the morning, likely not a lot of people that are my followers, let's say, on the East Coast or even on the West Coast. Sometimes 2 in the morning is pretty late even for those people. I stay up very late.
Helen:But I'm not gonna get necessarily immediate views. However, the phones are sitting on people's nightstands, kitchen, chargers, whatever. And in the morning, when they wake up and they do their scroll, my video will probably be there waiting. If if it's gonna be in there for you page, if it's if the algorithm is sending it to them, it's gonna be there whenever they pick up their phone. So I don't always necessarily vie for immediate gratification and staring at it like a slot machine as if you're watching the numbers go up when you get views.
Helen:I just really put sometimes I just post and I'm like, alright. I'm done for a while. I put the phone down and I go away from it just because I'm tired of being on it. Or I'll post and I'll look for a little bit, answer the first few comments and then put my phone down. But if I needed immediate gratification, I might seek a time where more people are online so that it's more likely that it would be seen.
Helen:So that brings me to look at your analytics. And I am not the person that does look at my analytics. I I I it's I hate to admit it because you would think someone of my type of following or type of background, even just being in production would be more tuned into analytics. I really am more instinctual. And I post in a on a more instinctual cadence.
Helen:But so if you are interested in your analytics, take a look, see when your audience is most active throughout the day. It's helpful for you because then you'll get that immediate gratification of people seeing it right away, engaging with it, and therefore pushing it further and further and further. So it's helpful to see because you can look in your analytics at your audience and see when they the the little timeline thingy, whatever the graph, it goes up when they're online, and it goes down when they're not. So you can look at your analytics, and you can learn a lot from that. Okay.
Helen:The next thing is to understand your audience and when people scroll. So think about and we're also gonna go into, like, maybe the majority. We're presuming that some people wake up in the morning, the first thing they might do is scroll for a bit. Or laying in bed at night, they might scroll. There might be a natural cadence to someone's life.
Helen:But you know what? People live very different lives all around the world, so we don't know what time they're doing it, what time they're waking up. We also don't know if they're in a job where it's they're busy during the day and they can't scroll because some people work at night. And that's when you think, oh, most people are gonna scroll at night, but a handful of people are gonna be working in those hours. So it's really, really hard to know.
Helen:So timing your post to the naps natural cadence of how you think people are gonna interact with social media might maximize your chances for getting more views immediately. But I tend to think, and this is always my theory, that the videos that are gonna be fed to your audience in whatever order are gonna be fed to them anyway. And so whenever they pick up their phone, that's when they're gonna see the videos. So that's why sometimes, especially recently, I've noticed very delayed viewing. So I'll go to sleep at night and I have 500 views on a video.
Helen:And I put the phone down and I wake up and I think, oh, well, everybody was sleeping. I wake up and then suddenly I have a viral video in the morning. It's really weird. So there's no way to predict it. And I think the thing is getting out of your own head about it or deciding how you're going to move forward and accept it is more of an approach rather than trying to overanalyze and figure out how you're gonna go viral.
Helen:So think about it. What makes you feel good? When do you see in your own videos that you get more views when you first post? And does that make you feel good? Do you want that to happen?
Helen:Okay. Then consider that maybe your special time. If you like to look and watch your views, post earlier in the evening so you have time to watch and see how it progresses. If you're not really that interested, post later in the night, put the phone down, go to sleep, and wake up in the morning and see how it did. It's really about your own personal gratification and how quickly you want that type of feedback.
Helen:Another really, really helpful tip. And this is I will say it doesn't work a 100% of the time, but I've noticed on certain videos when I post and then I go live, I noticed the engagement tends to be quicker. And that's because it's a fact. I see when other people are live, I suddenly am scrolling. You'll see them on the for you page, especially on TikTok and they're live.
Helen:And then a few scrolls later, you see one of their videos pop up. So I'm sure it's the same thing on Instagram. When you're going on live on Instagram, I'm sure the platform is feeding out your videos to people. So that's a really good strategy if you have time to go live, if you like to go live. It's a really good way to engage with your audience anyway and get yourself back into their out the algorithm to their feed by being there.
Helen:And then they if they're on your live, the algorithm will then start feeding them your videos. It's a fact. It works. So try that. And then the other thing is to really experiment with your own content.
Helen:So I have one point I wanted to look back and see because I had a video go crazy viral, like 7,000,000 views. And I was like, when did I post that? So I tried to go back and remember, did I post it late that night? Was it earlier in the day? And just try and figure think about it in terms of, well, maybe if I post a video around that same time about that same type of topic, maybe I'd have a better shot at going bitter viral again.
Helen:Do I think that that would work? It's really no, so that I don't bother doing it. But if you have time and you wanna do it, go for it. Go back and see when was a really high performing video and what time of day was it posted? What day was it posted?
Helen:And see if you can learn from your own content. I tend to think always think, well, people are more likely to scroll during the weekend. They might have more time. Hey. Not everybody has the weekends off.
Helen:A lot of people work on the weekend depending on what kind type of industry you're in. If you're in a service industry, photographers, high end photographers, they work on the weekends. They're doing things with clients on the weekends. So there's really no way to know. And in our in in our experience, I'll notice that a video has been posted and reposted at at the same video.
Helen:Well, I'll post it. And then I'll say, you know what? I don't I wish I didn't post this now. I should've waited till the weekend. Very rarely do I do this, by the way.
Helen:But I know Julie does this more than me. She'll she'll private it and then try it again at another time. And that's I welcome you to experiment doing that. I probably should do more of that myself. As a matter of fact, I might just go back and see if any videos that I posted recently had low views.
Helen:And maybe I will just post them again over the weekend and see what happens. Because I sometimes I spend a lot of time teaching a lesson and I think it's gonna be really helpful to people. And then it gets, you know, a handful of views, maybe a couple of 100 views, couple even a couple of 1,000 is not a lot for an audience that I have. So I probably should repost those videos. Because then I'll have somebody coming up a couple a month later and saying, oh, could you teach how to link a video in your caption?
Helen:And I'm like, yes. I did post that already and it was very recent, but it didn't get pushed out, so nobody saw it. It was a good lesson. So it really is one of those things that if you feel comfortable reposting your videos and you don't mind having it seen again in your feed, post it again. Give it another shot.
Helen:I mean, I had a friend who posted a video something like 6 times. And on the 6th try, she went viral with it. I would never even have the the wherewithal to keep going with it. Keep posting the same thing over and over again, but it worked it worked for her. So something to think about.
Helen:And just understand that timing is not the only factor. So there's a lot of pressure about time in your own head, but sometimes the ingredients for a successful video are more important than what time you posted it. And it just might be the topic that hit or the way it resonated with a certain audience or something was so relatable and that something just takes off. It is mind boggling sometimes to think about the videos that take off and why. And there's no rhyme or reason to it.
Helen:We will make ourselves crazy trying to figure it out. So instead of spending so much time and energy making yourself crazy, just post another video. Just keep on moving, and one of them will hit. You just gotta have that feeling of, I'm just gonna keep doing this because I enjoy doing it. And then when and then that's when you're more likely to have something hit.
Helen:So those are the thoughts on timing, and I just think you really need to think about your own phone. Take it to yourself and say, okay. When do I scroll? When do I put my phone down? When I pick up my phone, isn't that same video there waiting for me from last time when I put my phone down?
Helen:Yes. So typical so probably the algorithm was gonna feed me whatever those videos were of the people that I follow. It's coming to me anyway no matter when they posted it. Do you even bother to notice when someone posts what time someone else posted a video? If you're quote, I know a lot of people are like early when they come into the comments and they get to a viral video on the early side.
Helen:But for the most part, I don't think we, as viewers, pay attention to how long a video has been sitting there when we watch it. I don't think we do. At least I don't, and I would love to know if you do. So hit me in the comments, either drop a comment in the YouTube link. If you're watching this on YouTube, respond to the newsletter if you want, whatever.
Helen:Just get back to me and let me know if you think that your videos, it matters with timing or what have you learned. I would love to hear what other people have learned. So that brings me to a couple of tips I'm gonna share at the end of this episode that were not in the newsletter. Sometimes I like to go on a roll and share things that go way beyond the newsletter because something I learned and I don't necessarily wanna post a video about it. And I'll tell you why on this first one.
Helen:So if you're listening to this podcast, bonus tip. I had the idea the other day that I happen to see some a video reply to a comment. And it had you know, when someone replies to a comment with a video. So you see a little comment bubble up at the top. You can reply to a comment on your own video, or you can reply to a comment on someone else's video.
Helen:So let's think about this. There's a video that's viral, then somebody comments on it. Then you might say, oh my gosh. I have an answer to this comment. I'm gonna make a video.
Helen:So it's someone else's viral video. You're replying to the comment. I would be curious to know if that boosts your opportunity for engagement for virality, potentially, because you're hopping on the tail of someone else's viral video. And then you're creating content that's going to now be in their comment section. Picture it.
Helen:So this is kind of genius. I don't know where this came from. But boing, it came into my head. And I'm like, I gotta try it myself. So comment on a viral video, you have an idea, you're gonna make a video.
Helen:So you hit reply with video to the comment on that person's video. And then when people are scrolling that viral video and you know when you see a few comments have videos in it, a lot of times you presume that the creator did a video reply to some of the comments. And one of the video replies might be your comment, your video. So you could potentially get the eyes of a viral video onto your content. I don't know.
Helen:I think I'm on to something with this one. And I would love for a bold person who has an idea. It has to be a good video reply, so don't just throw something random up. But if you see a comment on a viral video and you have an idea, make a video and see if your video gets more views because you're in that viral video comment section. Eureka.
Helen:I might have to do it myself. I'm gonna think about that. I'm gonna be scrolling the comments on viral videos now and seeing if anything in the comments warrant my expertise, and I'm gonna give it a shot. So let me know if you're going to do that too. Here's something else I noticed this week.
Helen:And this is like now just a fun sharing section of my of my life, because of my social media life at the moment. But I have noticed for some reason, that I have very young kids watching my lessons. I could almost cry talking about it. When I say 7 year olds, 5 year olds, 6 that age, there are 100 of videos that I found by accident where it says k. Here's what the comment.
Helen:My my notification says, so and so used a sound inspired by your video. That's what the notification says, I believe. I could probably read it and find 1, but it says something like that. I'll scroll while I'm talking. But that's that's the kind of thing it says.
Helen:And then when I click on the video, it's a small child. I was really determined to find one right now. Sorry. You're gonna have to bear with me. Let me see if I saved 1.
Helen:Did I save 1? Hoo Come on. Let's go. Posts. Okay.
Helen:Here's a little here's the one with a little boy. Okay. So for example, the disappearing trend. 5 year olds doing the trend from my lesson because they're using the sound from my video, which means that they watched my video to get to do their lesson. And I say to you, like, you think that you're impacting a certain I think my mostly older people are listening, watching my content because I teach in a slower pace that they can learn.
Helen:Guess what? I have little kids watching my videos, learning how to do TikTok. They're little kids, and they're doing the disappearing trend. 1 of them did the jumping trend where she was jumping. And you could hear my voice teaching the lesson, and she was recording her thing using the sound.
Helen:Instead of using the sound from the trend, she used the sound from my tutorial. Oh my god. I could cry talking about it. It is heartwarming because there's hundreds of little kids around the world in different countries. I don't know.
Helen:This one almost look like some of them I think look like, Indonesia or the Philippines or something like that. And there's these kids, and you can hear my voice saying, first, you pick this and then you pick that. It's literally my tutorial audio. And the per and the child is doing the the the trend. Okay.
Helen:Helen's not well. I was, like, emotional because I realized that I'm having an impact on people that I don't even know what's happening. And it's such a good feeling. And that's why I think social media is so important because we are I would never have been able to reach these children to teach them how to do video content, and they have learned from my videos. Come on.
Helen:If that's not heartwarming, I don't know what else I can I can do for you? I do have workshops that we did recently with expert creators, and I'm definitely excited to announce, I don't have a date yet, but she has agreed to do it, is the woman my conquering, Tammy Nelson, who makes these rings, which are fidget spinner rings. They spin and they these things these parts come off so you can click them and it's like little fidget rings. And she is has blown up on TikTok. She's been selling rings like crazy.
Helen:She's been helping people around the world. She's the most kind soul, and she managed to figure out how to start a business and be successful on social media while working full time. She's amazing. So come and listen to that workshop as soon as I announce the date. She has agreed to come on for a live workshop, which will then become a podcast.
Helen:And with that, I leave you. So have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy. I hope the weather cooperates. I think it's gonna be hot.
Helen:I have another wedding to attend this weekend for my son's friend, so I'll be dancing again, yet again. I like to spend my weekends dancing. Thank you for spending your Friday with me, and thank you for listening to my ramble. And let me know if you're going to try to reply to a comment on a viral video. I'm not gonna make a TikTok about it because I don't want too many people to do it.
Helen:I wanna do an experiment with a handful. So you are my handful. You listeners are my handful. If you happen to land here just via a podcast form, don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter. Hellosocialize.com is where you'll find all the goodies, the lessons, the tutorials, the classes, the workshops.
Helen:You can find a link to this podcast. You can find content tools. I just recorded a video about my microphones. So my content tools are all there. And, you're welcome to all of it.
Helen:All of it. Have a great have a great weekend. We'll see you next week. Bye. Don't forget to leave a review.
Helen:I'm always supposed to say that and I always forget. Leave a review because it helps the podcast get seen by more people. Okay. Thank you.