What a 173 Million-View Reel Taught Me About Going Viral

Since around 2019, when TikTok became hugely popular, I've heard marketers say the same thing every year: "Social media has changed!"

The truth is, social media hasn't changed that much.

It still favors people who entertain or give value to their audience, and it pushes down accounts that only try to sell.

But as a musician, you do need to sell. And by "sell" I mean turning your content into something you can measure, like streams, merch sales or tickets.

That's why being an entertainer isn't enough on its own. You might get the views, but you won't see the sales. And if you only post sales content, the algorithm won't show it to anyone.

So the key, as always, is balance. You make entertaining content and use it cleverly to sell.

I wanted to show you a Reel from a musician who (I thought) nailed this, with 173 million views on one single Reel. But during my research, I found something I didn't expect at all.

The Reel

It had everything a video needs to go viral: a great visual hook, a high-quality recording, creativity and excellent execution.

Her song played in the background the whole time, clearly meant to keep people watching until the end and make them curious about the music.

But it didn't go as planned. When I looked it up, the Reel had 173 million views, the song had only 9,230 streams, and the band had just 654 monthly listeners.

That means roughly 1 out of every 264,526 people who watched the Reel became a listener.

So what went wrong? Here are my three theories.

Theory 1: the timing

The song came out on July 26, and the Reel wasn't posted until September 12.

Algorithmic playlists play a huge role in how a song does, both short and long term, and the first month after release matters most. By the time the Reel went viral, it may have been too late to trigger those playlists.

The fix: put your best marketing into the weeks right after the song comes out. Not before, and definitely not months later.

If you want a simple list of what to do before and after release day, my free Release Checklist walks you through it.

Theory 2: the call to action was unclear

The Reel said "link in bio". But when you clicked the link, the song wasn't even there.

The fix: link to a playlist with all your songs instead of one single.

That way people can hear your new song and your older music in one place. I explain how to set this up in how to get one listener to stream your whole catalog.

Theory 3: the song wasn't strong enough for that audience

It's possible the song didn't connect with the people watching, so they didn't bother going to Spotify. The Reel was also very short, which left little time to connect with the music.

The fix: when a video format works, repeat it with more songs.

The video clearly worked. So instead of relying on one song, they could have made similar videos for several songs. Not every song becomes a hit, no matter how good the marketing is.

Going viral is a stepping stone

People talk about going viral like it's the magic key to overnight success. The truth is a lot more complicated.

Growth gets built brick by brick, with a long-term strategy that combines different things. A viral video, a hit song, a label deal or your first gig is an incredible achievement, and it's still only a stepping stone. To grow, you need to make the most of those moments.

And sometimes things don't work out, and it's hard to say exactly why. That's why you keep experimenting and promoting your music in different ways until something clicks.

When it does, the results can be spectacular.