A breakdown of one of my viral threads

I jumped out of bed on a Saturday morning and knew I had to do what I postponed for too long:

Post a thread.

So, I quickly came up with an idea, drafted it, edited it, and published it — all within 5 hours (in the writer world, that is short!). Its results blasted my expectations.

380k+ views, 2.3k likes, 600+ retweets and just shy of 2000 bookmarks.

Today, I’m inviting you into my mental palace where I’ll walk you through my thought process behind what some would call “viral”.

I’ll break it down into 3 parts.

(1) Hook

(2) Meat

(3) Closure

(4) Instigate

Let’s dive in:

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Before we do, I’m sure you and I can that there’s a lot of noise online.

You’ve probably tried to build a presence on Twitter to:

• create an impact

• make new connections

• generate leads for your business

• and maybe just to say the words “Mama, I’m famous!”

But you don’t know how to even after reading so many “growth tips”.

That’s why I’m opening slots for clarity calls in a few weeks.

I wish I could share what I know today about growing on Twitter with my past self, but time machines are quite hard to find. So, let me help you instead. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

Let’s keep reading:

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1. Hook

The hook has one job: to grab attention.

From my experience, shorter hooks gain bigger tractions, which is why I settled on a short first line. But what I picked was the major factor behind the thread’s success.

Everyone has a problem. Each day, we are intentionally or subconsciously searching for solutions. While we are in need, there is nothing more annoying than being criticised for our flaws.

This explains why I lead by calling out a problem and simultaneously pointed a finger at a group, instead of a single person.

“You struggle with finding your niche” seems too direct and hostile. I go on social media to laugh, get validated, or learn something new. To get shouted at? No thanks. The mouth slaughter I received from my relatives is enough as is.

So, when my ideal reader saw this thread, they identified themself as one of the many creators who didn’t know what their niche was. And as a normal person, he wanted out of that category. He/She/It wants to be superior, and realised the best option was to take my pill.

Hence, 20.7k views on the first tweet under the hook—what salespeople would call a 5.3% rate (which I consider a W).

2. Meat

The meat is the solution.

It also influences the difference between quality and clickbait. The number of engagements you get on your thread is directly linked to how valuable this part is.

This thread got 600 retweets. I must have done something right, so let’s look into it:

(a) Format

When normal people open any written content, they start by skimming.

They scan from the top to the very bottom to gauge what they’re about to read. (Like you probably did before reading these lines.) If it looks poorly arranged and clunky, your reader is off to TikTok.

With that in mind, I used a simple format for my body tweets:

(i) Header — shows what each tweet addresses.

(ii) What — gives some context.

(iii) Why — shows the reader why it’s important to them

(iv) How — shows them a way to use what they read

(PS: Lots of spaces between sentences make the work look easier to read. Consider adding those in your own threads.)

(2) Retweetability

People retweet good shit or things they wish they said.

In keeping with that theme, I made each body tweet look independent because I wanted them to attract retweets.

Sometimes, people forget to share the hook but later retweets one or more of the body tweets. So, this is a win-win.

(3) Imagery

People can process 30,000 words per minute by looking at an image.

But I try not to abuse these and throw in too many stock photos. I only include one when I explain something, but with fewer words. They get good engagements too.

(Plus, images also make the reader want to read after they’ve skimmed your work.)

3. Closure

Ending the thread after the last point is weird.

It’s like going up to someone, chatting with them for a few minutes, and suddenly just walking away. No one does that IRL, so why online?

I went for a soft ending by summarizing everything I covered. This helps both parties. It helps the reader to digest everything they just read and helps me because it gets a lot of retweets.

Another way I do this is by giving the reader some words of encouragement.

4. Instigate

Most people reading that thread had never seen me before. To make sure I don’t lose them forever, I had to bring them into my world. In business, we call what I used a Call-To-Action.

This time, I invited them to follow me and subscribe to my email list. You could also ask them to follow you on another platform, download a freebie, or buy something.

The main idea is to keep the attention you worked so hard to get.

There you have it.

(1) Hook

(2) Meat

(3) Closure

(4) Instigate

I hope these ideas help you create something for many eyes to enjoy.

I’m rooting for you from my man cave.

See you next week.