By Rebecca Minelga

Earlier this year, Wild Ink Publishing sponsored a Go Viral Challenge, a series of blog-post-like suggestions for increasing social media engagement over the course of two months. With twenty-five separate topics and tips, this was a great opportunity to reimagine what social media could look like when optimized both for audience and reach, and for me, it was the perfect chance to dive deeply into an arena that hasn’t historically been my favorite.

A few caveats before I share my experience: I intensely dislike social media and would easily quit all of it in a heartbeat, but I’m also aware it’s the primary driver for sales and marketing as an author, and being in business – any business – means sometimes we have to do things we don’t enjoy. Like taxes. I share this because my perspective isn’t going to be of someone who comes to this easily or naturally, or even with much of a joy for participating. I think a lot of people can probably relate to that feeling, though. I also focused my efforts almost exclusively on Instagram, so I can’t say whether any of the results I experienced could be exported to other platforms. One of the reasons I didn’t cross-post very much to X is for exactly this reason – many of the hooks and videos wouldn’t have done as well on a text-based platform.

Starting stats for me at the start (February) looked like an average of 7700 views per month and about 450 followers. I had been gaining in both categories, but very slowly, and many of my posts languished in the 100-250 views purgatory so many of us are familiar with. A two-month trial with guidance and support felt very do-able to me, a sustainable amount of time even if I devoted significantly more energy than usual into the process. The challenge took us through everything from finding our audience to optimizing keywords and using SEA strategies in our captions, to critiquing our profile and pinned posts, and each one included concrete suggestions and goals.

While the tips covered a huge variety of marketing strategies, there were a few that stood out to me. The first was the suggestion to find three to five other accounts with similar interests and actively engage with them over the next several days. Probably unsurprisingly, after a few days of leaving thoughtful comments, conversations began organically, mutual following occurred, and the habit of reaching out regularly became ingrained, turning an initial marketing push into genuine connection.

The second was the suggestion to use my face more. I am not a person who does much in terms of either hair or makeup, and most days I’m in leggings and a t-shirt – jeans and a hoodie if it’s cold – so this was a tough one for me. I also don’t have an office (I write wherever my kids’ activities take place), or even a pretty bookshelf (I’m an avid library user for space reasons), so it took a few tries to find a good spot to record at and also come up with enough ideas to batch record on a day I’d taken the time to do my hair and makeup. The funny thing about this one: once I started posting my face more (which did actually work), a few of the others in the challenge mentioned that seeing me gave them the confidence to step into that discomfort and try it, as well.

Finally, and maybe not directly from any suggestions, but definitely as a result of the challenge, I gave myself permission to throw spaghetti at the wall for two months and just see what stuck. I put together a Publishing 101 series. I took cute videos of my dogs. I documented training for a 5K. I sprinkled marketing for my republished debut in between, as well as teasers for upcoming projects. I let my kids get in on the fun and make suggestions, and even occasionally guest star in videos. Over the two months, I increased my content from about twenty-five posts a month to about seventy-five! Every post gave me data. People LOVED the dog videos, so I posted more of them. Sometimes something took off for no discernible reason, and trying to bottle the lightning landed in a flop. Several times, I threw out multiple versions of a very similar post to see which one resonated most with engagement. I didn’t always know why, but over time, I was able to intuit certain patterns that made my posts on the whole more engaging.

Now, several weeks post-challenge, I have scaled back a little (the pace was never going to be sustainable for me in the long term), but the engagement has stayed relatively high, and I have a better sense of what does well. My ending stats now look like 175,000 views per month and an additional 250 followers over the course of the challenge. At the height, I was drawing well over 300,000 views. My average engagement is also up with posts regularly exceeding 1000 views.

A few things I’m going to continue experimenting with going forward is paying more attention to the trending audio and suggestions in the insight tabs. I have a hunch the algorithm rewards both, but I’d like to test it out. I’m also trying to figure out how to convert the increased engagement into a deeper commitment (comments, not just likes, for example) and sales, or at least stronger word of mouth. Finally, I’d like to get a little clearer on the foundational pillars of my brand and stick with those.

For anyone thinking about doing something similar, I’d suggest a few tips to make the most of the experience:

Do it with a community. I loved doing it with my publishing family and with the support of my publisher, Wild Ink Publishing. If you can get a group together, definitely go for it, and if not, try to find something to scaffold your experience. There are plenty of thirty-day challenges available for free online.

Give yourself permission to be messy. You’re learning something new, and you won’t be perfect at it the first try. Stick with anything for at least six to ten posts before deciding it isn’t gaining traction. Sometimes things take a little while. Post the post-run, red-faced, motivational video and also the perfectly-made-up typing-at-your-desk-while-sipping-coffee video. See which one does better. Post three versions of the same thing. Duplicate everything and double post to both your page and to Trials, or just to Trials to attract new followers.

Go all-in. However long you decide to try it out, the algorithm rewards consistency. Pick a timeframe that feels do-able and then throw everything you have at it, even if it doesn’t all strictly fit your end-goal of who you want to be online. Remember, you’re discovering what resonates and exploring how what you produce engages with viewers. I was genuinely surprised at how often my dog videos did major numbers, and as someone who writes about therapy and service dogs, the affinity fits beautifully.

If there was a Social Media Marketing for People Who Hate Social Media class, I would definitely take it, but since there isn’t, this challenge stretched me to do things I hadn’t thought of, or wasn’t completely comfortable with, but ultimately led to a really great experience, including new friends, more followers, and a better sense of what the people who come to me are hoping to leave with. I’ll take these lessons forward as I continue crafting my brand and my books and, hopefully, I’ll continue finding my people in the process!

Rebecca Minelga is an author and speaker who uses the power of words to navigate the liminal spaces between who we are and who we are becoming. She raises Guide Dog Puppies and two sons – in that order – with her husband just north of Seattle. When not writing, she can be found working with her Therapy Dog, Santana, open water swimming in her local lake, or traveling the world on an adventure! Her debut novel, Third and Long, is available now wherever you get your books.

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