Everyone wants to create the next viral moment. The problem is that virality isn’t something you can manufacture on command. You can plan the idea, but you can’t script how people will react to it.
What you can do is create something worth sharing. The content people pass on isn’t usually the most heavily promoted; it’s the content that makes them feel something — surprise, laughter, curiosity, nostalgia or even outrage. It feels authentic, timely and human, and that’s what audiences respond to.
Listeners can spot content designed purely to “go viral.” They don’t share something because it was promoted well; they share it because it connected with them. The goal isn’t to chase shares but to create something people naturally want to talk about.
Some of the biggest viral moments I’ve been involved with started with a much simpler question: “What would our audience love right now?” We weren’t thinking about algorithms or social media. We were focused on creating something our listeners would genuinely enjoy.
One example came while I was programming Z100 Portland in the U.S. We invited Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding to make her singing debut at our annual Last Chance Summer Dance shortly after she became one of the most talked-about figures in American sport following the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan. The event was bold, local and impossible to ignore, generating international media coverage and even appearing on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” We didn’t begin by asking, “How do we make this go viral?” We asked, “What would our audience love right now?” That simple shift in thinking made all the difference.
Another example followed the release of the hit film “Jerry Maguire.” After taking our air staff to see the movie, we heard an opportunity in Bruce Springsteen’s “Secret Garden.” We produced a special version for the morning show by weaving extracts from the film’s dialogue into the song. Listeners embraced it immediately, and what started as a local promotion spread across the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K. and beyond after we shared it with Columbia Records. The production became so popular that Howard Stern devoted an hour of his nationally syndicated radio show to discussing it. Once again, the idea wasn’t created to become viral. It spread because it captured something audiences were already feeling.
That’s how the strongest ideas travel. They succeed because they’re timely, emotional and unexpected—not because they were engineered to satisfy an algorithm. When people recognize themselves in an idea, they become its biggest advocates.
Your job is to understand your audience well enough to recognize those opportunities. Pay attention to what they’re watching, discussing, celebrating, remembering and experiencing, then create something that belongs in that moment. If it’s surprising, authentic and genuinely worth sharing, your audience will decide how far it travels.
Takeaway: Don’t chase virality. Create something worth sharing and let your audience do the rest.
Ken Benson has spent more than 40 years helping radio stations around the world build stronger brands, sharper programming and more memorable on-air content. Through his consultancy, P1 Media Group, he has advised broadcasters across six continents on strategies to turn good stations into dominant ones.
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