No one knows how to go viral better than Adamm Miguest, internet celebrity and founder of Rapid Launch Media. This viral kingmaker, who sensed TikTok’s potential long before others, routinely launches songs for bands and musicians that go on to enjoy massive organic success.

As to just how much success could be considered “massive,” 15 of his songs have each received between 10 million and 1 billion streams individually. Miguest has also amassed more than a million followers of his own across social-media platforms.

Who better, then, to explain how to go viral? For Miguest, there are several key steps to master.

Step #1: Tell a story

“A lot of people think that videos need to be short to do well,” Miguest said, “but most of my content is pretty long. Most of my videos last a minute or longer. I’ve learned that you can get people to keep watching a video for as long as you’re telling a story, which means you can get people to watch for as long as you want.”

This is good news for content creators — the longer people watch a video and the more people rewatch it, the more the TikTok algorithm continues to boost it. 

As Miguest explains, the importance of narrative has implications for how videos should be structured. “To start off the video, get people invested in the characters and interested in the story,” he said. “Make the stories you tell as compelling as possible.”

Step #2: Invest in quality lighting

“People would be so surprised by the importance of lighting,” Miguest said with a laugh. “If you had two people with the same amount of followers, and one person has really good lighting while the other has inferior lighting, the former will probably perform five to 10 times better. It’s as simple as that. We live in a 4k Ultra HD world. People don’t want to see the dark, grainy videos.”

Miguest recommends filming in 4k on iPhone or investing in a current DSLR digital camera. “People who do this automatically get a boost in engagement,” he said.

Step #3: Do the same thing but add a twist

“People like to see the same thing over and over again, but with a small change at the end,” Miguest said. “That’s why ‘The Fast and the Furious’ has 10 different movies. It’s all the same thing at the core, but each one has a twist. ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’ was set in Tokyo and about drifting, for example. But at the end of the day, it was still about a group of friends that race cars.”

According to Miguest, strategic repetition can also generate success on social media. “The same thing applies on TikTok,” he said. As an example, he described a video in which he took a viral trend — the “Kiss or Slap” series on TikTok — and pushed the concept further to “Kiss or Tase.” By going more extreme, he was able to add shock value to his own video, which promptly went viral, becoming his most popular video with nearly 5 million views.

In other words, don’t underestimate a winning formula. “The formula works, but you have to make it a little bit different to keep the magic,” he explained.

Step #4: Add novelty and surprise

“People like to be shocked,” Miguest said, pointing to the success of Netflix’s hit show “Squid Game.”

“It’s the same thing on TikTok,” he said. “People want to be shocked. There are a lot of dark jokes and dark humor on TikTok. A lot of videos that go viral involve people filming something that was pretty crazy or kind of messed up. People like watching a video in which someone’s recording and something happens unexpectedly. The main thing is that people are surprised, and they’re like, ‘I want to see what happens next,’ or ‘I want to rewatch this 10 times because I can’t believe that just happened.’”

For this reason, he stressed the importance of posting original content. “People want to see something different,” he said. “That’s also why posts that reference new trends go well. Original dances and dance trends can blow up, for instance.”

Step #5: Release content jointly with others

“Collaborate when you can,” Miguest advised. “For instance, I’ve worked with Bella Thorne. We made videos together, and just her being in them made them go viral.”

Although Miguest has worked with big names like Thorne, he suggests this strategy remains within the reach of most content creators.

“Whether it’s a celebrity, a prominent figure in big tech, or even just someone cute who doesn’t have that many followers, working with other influencers adds an additional aspect,” he explained. “That new element can make the difference and help a post go viral.”

Step #6: Leverage your posts

Miguest encourages content creators to make the most of their hard work. 

“Everything — and I do mean everything — you make on TikTok, you should also be making on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts,” he said. “You can also go viral on those platforms.”

Since videos shot on TikTok get a watermark, he recommended filming everything outside of that platform and then uploading the final product to each of these sites.

Consistency breeds success

Mastering these steps will help you improve your social media presence and maximize your posts’ chances of gaining traction. In Miguest’s parting words of advice, he highlighted the importance of posting every day.

“Eventually, there’s going to be some net benefit that you notice if you make consistent content daily, whether it’s an increase in views or product sales,” he said. “Obviously, musicians want to focus on music, and a lot of times they don’t want to have to deal with social media. But if the biggest artists in the world are making TikToks, why do you — as an upcoming artist or even mid-level artist — think you’re too good for it? If you’re really invested in your career and want to have the highest chance of success, then you should be posting at least once a day.”

Thanks to the Viral Kingmaker, you too now possess the secrets of social media success.