Going Viral is Dead
Going Viral is Dead
I fully recognize this post might hit a nerve with a few of you, but I wanted to bring one major thing to light which may be costing you your engagement and/or your creator success. And that one major thing I’m going to phrase as a question to ask yourself right here right now:
Are you still showing up online like it is 2021?
There was a moment in time when we all celebrated the glorious post-pandemic creator boom, when follow sprees were normal, every brand was throwing money at influencers, and if you learned the right Bieber dance you could land a sponsorship without ever saying a meaningful word.
It’s vital to recognize that playbook rewarded volume and speed. Think about it, rather than posting with intention, it was all about posting for instant recognition. And that all sprung from trending sounds and copy-paste content rather than a perspective that actually belonged to youuuu.
Fast forward four years, the online world does not exist the same way. I mean sure, you can keep yourself extremely busy filming and chasing the newest viral format, but if people do not actually know you, you will not be visible for long.
And what I always try to teach my clients is that short term visibility (“OMG Idalia my video went viral! I’m ready to charge $10k a post!) is not the same thing as long term authority (“OMG I’ve been doing this for 6 years, know my audience like the back of my hand, and they trust me Idalia. I’m ready to charge $10k a post!).
See the difference?
TikTok and IG might show your face to someone for a couple of seconds, but if you leave them with nothing that feels personal or distinct, you do not build memory. And the creator economy rewards memory more than it rewards motion.
After working with so many creators, I can confidently say that creators who “fail” are failing because of two silent traps that steal attention, momentum, and money. I see these traps ruin really talented creators week after week, and I refuse to let that happen to you too.
So I’m going to expose exactly what they are and also show you how I teach my clients how to escape them to grow faster than everyone else around them…
Content Trap 1: Chasing trends with no brand persona
The harsh truth is that many millennial creators were trained by those early days to be in reaction mode every time they open their camera.
Did you used to doom scroll and jump into trends hoping the algorithm will make that video go viral?
Did you also then wonder why your audience feels like strangers who never stick around, or comment, or click, or buy from you?
If your content strategy is basically “what is everyone else doing,” then you might be getting views, but you are not building a brand persona.
So before you create your next video, do yourself a quick and rewarding favor: write down one sentence that explains what you believe your audience needs to hear from you this week. And please don’t confuse this with what they are already hearing everywhere else (ahem, something NOT trending). Then let that sentence guide the story you tell and the intention behind it all. If you can start leading your content with conviction instead of reaction, you will finally give people something to remember you for.
Content Trap 2: Selling so often that nobody trusts you
The other trap is the constant selling. Every post has a LTK link, a discount code, a course, a program, a merch drop, or a thinly disguised attempt to convert. Hellooooooo, people feel that energy instantly… and it aint nice.
If every conversation with your audience asks them to spend money, they will eventually stop listening. How could they not? Audiences are craving creators who share a point of view that is grounded in personal experience and actual conviction. They wanna feel like their BFF is letting them in on the latest sale secret or makeup trick or new piece of real estate, etc etc. I want you think relationship! Not sales funnel.
Here’s the good news.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to shift out of 2021 mode. No no no. I want you to acknowledge that your perspective is worth being heard. You have to focus less on quantity (“OMG Idalia the only way I gain followers is if I post twice a day”) and more on clarity (“OMG Idalia, I stopped posting every day and my engagement has gone up and everytime I put a LTK post I sell 100 units! Now THIS is a business!”).
So next time you want to blame the good ol’ algorithm for not getting you the engagement you used to get “a couple of years ago”, it might be because you are still creating for a version of the internet that has already moved on.
The next era of the creator economy belongs to those who build connection, context, and credibility. And that starts with deciding that you are done pretending trends are a strategy.
If you’re done playing 2021 creator and ready to build a brand people remember, buy from, and brag about, then join me for a FREE live mentorship session next week.
I’ll walk you through the exact system I use with clients to turn attention into authority plusssss my friends at Chloe Digital will be there to help you map what winning in 2026 actually looks like.
This is the moment you’ll grow like the internet you’re actually living in.
Don't forget to subscribe to my FREE Substack for more in-depth strategy, free messaging (can't wait to connect with you), exclusive videos, online course discounts, andddddd live video sessions.
XX Idalia