How to Go Viral on Social Media! (Tip: Maybe Don't)

Let’s say you’re a coach or consultant trying to level up your social media game. You’ve been steadily posting content a few times a week … like you’re apparently supposed to. And today, your Facebook post got over 500 likes, 26 people shared it, and there are already 48 comments. 

Crushing it! Cue the dopamine!

But despite your sudden social media stardom, not a single person clicked through to your website, let alone subscribed to your newsletter or booked a consultation.

What gives? Isn’t social media fame supposed to translate into rockstar levels of financial success for your business? All those YouTube gurus telling you how to create viral content to build a huge following must be using that huge audience to build their business, right?

The “Viral” Lie that Crushes Solopreneurs

You’ve been lied to about social media. 

OK, maybe not lied to, but misled. 

Yes, it can absolutely look like those people with hundreds of thousands of followers are setting the world on fire. Their posts get hundreds of comments, and it can seem like everyone’s sharing them. 

But what those big name social influencers aren’t telling you is that for them, social media is the business. Online fame is the business. And it’s not exactly a lucrative one for most of them. (More on that in a sec.)

Your business is helping people, or delighting them with your creations, not getting them to click "like."

The Reality Check: What Viral Actually Means for You

Here's the thing about those influencers with massive followings: their business model is fundamentally different from yours. They make money from sponsorships, brand deals, affiliate links, and selling courses about how to become an influencer. Their 500,000 followers are the product they're selling.

You? You're trying to sell your actual expertise—coaching, consulting, design work, whatever it is. You need people who are ready to hire you, not just double-tap a post and scroll on.

A viral post for an influencer is a win. A viral post for you is... honestly, often just noise. Let’s look back at those 500 likes and 48 comments. Most of those people will never think about you again. 

“An influencer’s following is the product they’re selling. But you’re selling your expertise.”

They got a dopamine hit, you got a dopamine hit, and then everyone moved on.

But here's what really stings: you spent energy creating that post. You felt that rush of validation. And then you watched your website traffic stay exactly where it was. No one signed up for your newsletter. Your consultation booking page is still as lonely as it ever was. (Believe me, I get it. If this were easy, everyone would be doing it, amIright?)

So why does the internet keep pushing you toward "going viral"? Because virality is visible. It's easy to sell. It feels like a real, measurable goal. "Go viral" is way sexier than "build a list of 200 people who actually want what you're offering."

But for you, building a list of 200 people who actually want what you’re offering is the goal. And while it may not necessarily be easier than endlessly chasing that viral moment, it’s a whole lot more satisfying — both for your ego and your bank account — when the bookings start rolling in.

The influencer lifestyle looks amazing, but does it actually translate to income?

What Actually Moves Your Business: The Unsexy Truth

The best way to understand why “engaged” owns “viral” is to think of it in terms of your personal social media accounts. 

Let’s say you’ve been on Facebook forever. You’ve probably collected a number of friends and followers over time. They’re made up of close friends and family, yes, but also people you knew in high school, colleagues from that job you had 15 years ago, friends of friends, distant relatives. I’ve even accepted friend requests from people who share my Nordic last name. 

But I don’t know 90% of those people very well at all. Only a handful of “regulars” like my posts and even fewer comment. Sometimes, a post will strike a chord and earn shares and follows, which is fun, but the buzz doesn’t last for long.

“Viral doesn’t scale your business. Relevance does. ”

Now, let’s say I need those followers of mine to take an action. Last year, as humbling as this is, I had to ask for financial help after I was laid off and discovered the job market for white collar knowledge workers like me had tanked. (Which is why I founded Chanterelle — to quit the corporate grind and help real people like you.)

Who do you think I counted on to show me some support? 

It wasn’t the 90% of followers who were relative strangers, I can tell you that.

Here's the math that the YouTube “go viral” gurus don't talk about: 

If you have 100 engaged followers and even 10% of them become clients, that's 10 clients. If you sell packages of 6 sessions at $150 per session, that's $900 per package. Ten clients means $9,000 in revenue. 

Meanwhile, consider an influencer with 100,000 followers she earned through a bunch of different tactics designed to appease the almighty algorithms. 

Those people may think she's cool, but overall only a small percentage of them will take her up on her offer. If she's lucky, she'll earn 10 clients — a whopping 0.01%. The other 99,990 followers are just taking up online real estate. 

Relevance comes from showing up consistently for the people who actually care about what you're doing. According to a leading influencer marketing firm, NeoReach, only 13 percent of influencers earn six figures annually. But a whopping 48 percent make less than $15,000. 

So you have to ask yourself: Is online fame really worth chasing? And more importantly: Is online fame the right goal for your business?

Almost certainly not. Build connections, not a follower count. 

Real connection drives business, not fleeting social media clout.

The Metric That Actually Matters: Click-Through Rate

Here's what you should actually be tracking: click-through rate (CTR).

Your 500-like Facebook post? Useless if zero people clicked through to your website. Your 48-comment post? Doesn't matter if none of them booked a call. CTR is the only number that tells you whether your content is actually working for your business.

For solopreneurs with modest followings, a solid CTR looks like 5-8% on your best posts. 

That means if you have 1,000 followers and post something that resonates, you might get 50-80 people actually clicking through. 

Of those people, maybe 10-15% will take the next step—subscribe, book a call, buy something. That's real momentum. That's a business.

Compare that to a "viral" post that got 500 likes and zero clicks. Which one actually moved your needle?

Start paying attention to what posts actually drive people to take action. What topics make people click? What calls-to-action work? What time of day gets your engaged audience actually paying attention? That's the data that matters. That's what you optimize for.

Spoiler alert: it's almost never the post that got the most likes.