Hi,
When I work with founders and CEOs on thought leadership — especially on LinkedIn — there’s always a moment when someone asks:
“So… how do we go viral?”
And sure, I can give you a list of tactics that will send one post into the stratosphere. But here’s the part most people don’t want to hear:
You don’t actually want to go viral.
Here’s why.
1. It’s only one post.
Yes, we can create a viral moment. But that moment is exactly that — a moment.
Maybe the post makes a great point. Maybe it even attracts your ICP. But even if it racks up hundreds of thousands of views, the vast majority of those people have never seen you before… and will never see you again.
If it still takes dozens of touchpoints to make a sale (and it does), then one viral post is just that: one.
2. It can backfire.
On LinkedIn, the most viral posts are controversial. But sometimes, being controversial isn’t brave, or thought-provoking, it’s just… wrong.
I see this all the time with clickbait hot takes. Someone tries to challenge a norm, but instead reveals how little they understand their own industry. The comments fill up with experts correcting them. And no one walks away thinking, “Wow, this person is someone I should trust.”
Virality buys attention. Not authority.
3. It doesn’t actually work the way you think it does.
Ask me how I know.
Since I started posting consistently in October, I’ve had several posts go viral. One is still ticking upward at 10,000+ views per day. And while that’s translated into profile views, a handful of followers, and a short-term engagement bump… it hasn’t translated into new clients or revenue.
Because again: for most of those people, that post was their first touchpoint with me. And a first touchpoint rarely closes business.
What actually moves the needle?
The person who’s been quietly following for months. The one reading the 10th thoughtful post you wrote — the one that maybe got two likes and no comments — and finally decides to reach out.
That’s who I write for. Not the 50,000 people who saw something once and kept scrolling.
In The Hook Lab, the LinkedIn Thought Leadership Mastermind group I’m creating next year, that’s who you’ll learn to write for too. I still have several spots left for the first group starting up in January, and I’d love to have you, or any other founders, CEOs, or leaders you think could benefit, involved. Hit reply, and I’ll send you the details.
Because when you build your thought leadership around that person — your real future customer — your business ends up far better off.
See you next week,
Megan