The Guide to Going Viral: The Art and Science of Succeeding on Social Media

I am an active long form YouTuber and ordered this book the end of February. At first I couldn't get through it. The first few chapters are very dry and abstract. I kept falling asleep while I was trying to read it. They include so many abstract new words I'd never heard of and had zero context of understanding. We traveled in June and I brought the book along to read on the plane. During that trip the book got me hooked. It gets better and more applicable after the first few chapters. Stick with it! Next I purchased the book as an audiobook and began listening to it as well as reading it. I highlighted throughout the whole book (excluding the boring first few chapters). I read and listened to it numerous times, took notes, etc. Then I began to implement. I am very much a scripter and read from a teleprompter for my videos so now that I had a checklist I was able to bring all of the guidance from the book into my videos. I also looked at all the videos that are shared and linked with the book. This is where I noted an important dichotomy. The author of this book and quality of his videos and staff are worlds apart. The author has unprofessional hair and a teenager who identifies as the COO (or something ridiculously similar). I couldn't believe this was the author of the book. I seriously wondered if it was ghost written. I do not see how a person with such an unprofessional appearance could have written this book. The book itself is excellent, the resources are mostly excellent. If you're intent on making viral content it will get the job done. You have to read it, study it, take notes, practically meditate on it. I would never in a million years pay for coaching from this author's company. It's an outstanding book and an unprofessionally presented author. My YouTube channel is on real estate. This is not an inherently entertaining topic. I've attached images of what happened to my channel once I began implementing what I read in the book. I'm making 2k a month on YouTube ads alone now and that doesn't include the 3+ leads I get every single day on viewers wanting to buy a house. I would highly recommend to the author that he improve his image and presentation. If you're going to make a scholarly book seriously, dress the part. The book though? Outstanding. Worth every penny. I will easily make 100k+ from reading this book and implementing it on my YouTube channel. I hope this review was helpful!

Excellent and well written. Solid advice

For all content creators, both novice and experienced, if your goal is to go viral, or improve your following and virality on social media, then this is a MUST READ guide for you. I would almost go as far as saying that this book should be required reading for all content creators across all social media platforms. Expert social media strategist Brendan Kane; who has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies and celebrities including Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Charles Barkley; packs his many years of research and expertise on virality into this guide. The information and insight Kane shares in this book is invaluable beyond description. Rather than thinking virality is a mere "stroke of luck," let Brendan Kane be your guide in helping you improve your traction and influence on social media.

I mean it’s like 7$, so that’s why I am giving it a 4. I am factoring in price value here, as well. I would give it maybe 3.5 in terms of written material. It feels a lot like a blog post and it sort of is. I have read Hook Point and One Million Followers, both of which I bought sort of impulsively. I think compared to the other two books, if I were to compare, “One Million Followers” would be overall his best book, “The Guide to Going Viral” his second, and “Hook Point” a very distant third. The benefits of this book are largely that he does offer a somewhat more systematic approach to analysis of videos, in that he suggests taking notes and analyzing content systematically in spreadsheets. He lays out a basic framework for said system and tells you what to take note of and the likes. That’s actually a very good idea and I have implemented this with my own modifications since reading it. That was my main takeaway from the book. I have not seen massive results in my viewership improvement, but it gave me a very useful framework to work with in terms of analyzing content. For that I am grateful and would recommend it. Effective content creation is a skill, no doubt, and analyzing it is important. Otherwise, I didn’t particularly care for the book, if I’m being honest. It’s not like what he said is “wrong”, it’s just, I didn’t find it overall a stimulating read. It feels a bit repetitive at times, too. If you’ve read his other stuff, you’ll know his books advertise for his own business. And honestly, that’s fine by me. I respect the guy’s effort and he does provide value beyond the fact that he low key slides in a recommendation for people to check out to his business. Overall, I would say if you have a free few hours, this book won’t hurt. For the price, it’s not at all a waste of money or even time, provided you’re a reasonably quick reader. I would add the following in relation to this book: if you’re seeking to improve your know-how of content creation, I think it’s best to use this book in conjunction with other books and material. He makes a number of suggestions, such as noticing colors in popular videos or tone, and more or less trying to find common denominators between things. In this manner, maybe read a few books about color psychology, gestalt principles, or the effects of specific words in storytelling and media, and use what you learn there to integrate and improve on his advice. Same for voice pitch, for example. Go read about how voice effects narrative and audio psychology. He isn’t giving you an in-depth overview of how what he speaks of really works. But, again, he does offer a very useful framework and if you possess some requisite knowledge of what to look out for, his suggestions are useful. Overall, I’d probably recommend it if asked about the book specifically, but I wouldn’t at all put it in an essential reads list.

This book has motivaded me to take control of what I have always desired in social media. It's one of those thoughts you have always wanted to take action but never knew how to start doing it. Thanks so much Brendan Kane for making myself aware of the language on this platforms !!!

I don’t really read much anymore But this💯👌🏽

This book is a must read for any and every content creator. It is well researched, and successfully gives actionable advice. No, there is no hack, or cheat to getting popular on social media. But there is a proven, hard earned path that will get you there. And it is all laid out in this book.

“Brendan Kane's 'The Guide to Going Viral' - (5 stars!!!) offers a strategic blueprint for navigating the digital landscape with precision and impact. Kane expertly outlines actionable steps to harness the power of social media, making complex algorithms accessible and understandable for any aspiring influencer or marketer. His insights on crafting compelling content and leveraging platforms effectively are invaluable for anyone looking to elevate their online presence. A must-read for those seeking to understand the art and science behind viral success." Highly recommend if you want to scale fast.

Anyone who is a serious creator needs to get this book. Can't believe he's sharing this for free.

O livro traz uma abordagem sistemática meticulosa para detectar, categorizar e replicar vídeos virais. Não só isso, mas além de educar seu método científico, Brendan compartilha os insights coletados em seus anos de experiência para nutrir nosso senso analítico e entender com perfeição o que, na maior parte dos casos, faz um vídeo se tornar viral Livro super bem escrito e denso em informações valiosas. Dito isso, um conselho para quem se aventurar neste conteúdo: No fim de tudo, você tem que subir seus vídeos no ar. Não deixe essa obsessão por pesquisas te consumir a ponto de você se tornar um obeso mental que não bota em prática o que aprende. No fim, o que te dará frutos é a prática. O estudo é apenas o meio para te tornar mais acurado.

Overall a great book hilighting that luck is a very tiny factor in marketing and the message should be engineered to succeed. It provides a framework to succeed. However if I had a criticism is that all their marketing messages say they will share some of the Viral Formats of which they have more than 300. They dont do this at all and you have to buy a program of $10500 USD one off or $18,000 USD to get 6-10 viral formats given to you. I would have given this 5 stars if they had provided even 10 viral formats. And then you pay for their private consulting to get them to make up 5 or 6 viral formats that suit your circumstances.

The book is an easy read - the hard part is implementing the missions. The book outlines what makes things viral with examples from social media and then gives you detailed, practical actions you can take to analyze and create videos that have the potential to go viral. It was a great book, and I can certainly recommend reading it

A must read for anyone who wants to make a mark in the world of social media...