How She Grew 100K+ in ONE DAY!

GUEST-STARRING KAREN CHENG

Instagram is all about adapting and growing alongside the app and there is no one who has done it better than Karen.

In this episode, Karen from KarenxCheng, relays how her 10 years of video creation experience has helped her to go viral in a record amount of time.

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Karen’s first viral video was actually an accident. After 3 years of working on the Excel team at Microsoft, Karen decided she wanted to submit her termination in a unique way. She created a song and she ultimately decided to post on YouTube and sent her team a link as her resignation email. From there, the video blew up and kept resurfacing on different media outlets. The end result? Karen caught the viral video bug and she knew she wanted to keep creating from there.

Since then, Karen has quite literally blown up on Instagram as she has unlocked the method to increase her reach with engaging Reels content. She has even gone so far as to amass 100K+ followers in a singular day. In this podcast episode, I wanted to pick Karen’s brain on what she thought the key components were to produce a viral Reel.

1. Make sure your videos are relatable to the general public.

Believe it or not, Karen prefers to upload everyday iPhone quality video to play to the relatability factor. This implies that although her videos are high-quality in entertainment, they are rather low-budget to produce. This strategy appeals to the masses because viewers interpret the video as something they, too, can produce from the comfort of their own home. It is refreshing to know that viral Reels do not necessarily mean a full production crew and the latest tech to be significant. 

2. Ensure the first few seconds are engaging.

To beat the algorithm, the secret to engaging Reels is to capture the viewer’s attention within the first few seconds or there is a high risk that they will swipe right past your video. Karen likes to ensure all her Reels start out with either eye-catching content or curiosity-provoking content to grab the viewer’s attention from the inception of the video all the way to the end.

3. Invoke certain emotions amongst your viewers.

Through trial-and-error, Karen found that if you can invoke specific emotions amongst your viewers, your engagement will increase by tenfold. One of the emotions that does wonders in reeling in users is humor so you can always try to insert a catchy punchline or a funny clip. The other Karen addressed, which is our personal favorite in the Reels Rocket Ship program, is the ‘WOW’ factor by creating an almost emotional arch that you can take the viewer through in a matter of a few seconds.

4. Find the fun in video creation.

When Karen made the switch from producing content for brands to producing content for herself as an influencer, the thing that stood out the most was her chance to have creative freedom to make her own vision come alive. Being an influencer has its struggles, both mentally and emotionally, so it is important to connect with the roots of why you even started in the first place - to be creative and to have fun while doing so. This mindset alone will give you the stamina to keep pushing until you finally receive the results in growth that you were hoping for.

5. Be authentic.

Chances are the content you produce that appeals to the masses, might not not appeal to other creatives or tastemakers within the industry. Karen learned this lesson as she realized maybe some of the higher-quality, more produced content would not go viral with her current following, but she still pushes through and posts it simply because she is proud of what she has created. Be as true to yourself and your stylistic voice as much as possible because this will create authenticity and could grow your account in a different way. There are many other ways to measure your success than just the vanity metrics. 

6. Nail down the trifecta of success.

Some of the most successful creators on this platform have a combination of what I like to call the ultimate trifecta of social media success - A background on marketing and psychology, engaging, creative content, as well as a positive personality. Each person can lean more heavily towards another but having two or all three of these qualities will garner even more engagement. 

Among the above takeaways on reaching virality success on Instagram, Karen and I also delve into the struggles of social media and how to balance work with your personal life. Through the years of being in this industry, she learned that you need to conquer and divide on what gives you energy and what drains your energy. Karen chooses to focus on her love of creation and content to thrive and provide longevity in her career as an online influencer.

Within two years, Karen grew to 1 million followers (and gained 100K+ in one day) thanks to her engaging Reels content and we are so grateful she sat down with us today to do a deep dive into what exactly it takes to produce viral content. 

FIND KAREN’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS HERE

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | KARENX.COM

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE

and coming along on this journey with me.

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