Is this our (viral) moment?

How to prepare to engage on viral moments

Taylor Swift’s engagement. Cracker Barrel’s logo redesign. The Summer I … TikTok trend.

Viral moments are happening all around us. 🌼✨ 🥹 And it’s beautiful!

Viral moments are a great source to jump into a conversation, tap into engagement, and ride the wave of a popular trend to help amplify your voice. BUT ONLY IF IT’S RIGHT FOR YOU.

Viral moments require speed and creativity to meet the moment. Remember Oreo’s Superbowl blackout response? They won the game that year.

Preparing for these moments means knowing what lanes you want to swim in. Here’s how you do that:

• Know what channels you want to be on: Twitter/X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram… you get the drill. Finding the right channel for you often means finding the right channel for your audience. Meet people where they are and build your following there.

• Find your segment within the channel: Explore the groups within your channel. Each corner of the internet (and social media) has it’s own niche following. Find the place or places, that are most relevant to your brand. Stay there. Follow there. Engage there.

• Narrow down the conversations: Once you know your channel and audience segment, you can start finding conversation themes that feel like a fit. This might mean topics where you are a subject matter expert, advocate, or are just tangentially related but have a fun spin. Monitor these conversations and look for opportunities to engage.

These three steps don’t create a comprehensive guide but give you some guardrails to help start you off. When a viral moment happens and you are ready to jump in, you’ll already have a feel for the Who, Where, and What feels right for you.