How to go Viral on Instagram in 2026

Forget Cinematic Polish: Why Psychology, Speed, and "Lo-Fi" Authenticity Are the Real Keys to Winning in 2026.

At Bennett Creative, a social media agency in Austin, Texas, we hear the same question in almost every discovery call: “What actually works right now?” or “Can you make us go viral?”

The honest answer? Yes, if you are willing to do lip-syncing dances to Sabrina Carpenter songs.

But most of our clients—law firms, tech companies, healthcare providers—don’t want to do that. And honestly, neither do we. So the challenge becomes finding the balance: What is on-brand for a professional business but still capable of holding attention in a chaotic feed?

The short answer is less about cinematic polish and more about psychology, speed, and a willingness to be unglamorous.

As we discussed on episode 2, part 2, of our podcast, Great Take, we are real practitioners. We produce everything from TV commercials to social content, and we run it through every marketing channel on earth. We see what flops and what flies.

Below, we answer the 10 questions we get asked every single day, backed by the reality of the current algorithm.

The FAQ: 10 Social Media Questions We Get Asked Every Day (Answered Honestly)

1. "Can you guarantee that I will go viral?"

The Honest Answer: Yes, but you probably won't like the method. 

"If you're willing to do lip-syncing dances to Sabrina Carpenter songs, you'll have a million followers in a month."

The problem? That usually destroys your brand equity. Most of our clients don't want to be clowns; they want to be authorities. If you’re an attorney taking on national you want to be taken seriously. Our job as an agency isn't just "virality"—it's finding the intersection where "viral" meets "on-brand." Maybe it’s choosing a trending audio for your reel instead of jumping on the “Come on Superman” trend. It takes knowledge, research and experience to find ways for clients to go viral without making them dance.

2. "Do I need a million followers to be successful?"

The Honest Answer: No. Vanity metrics are often a trap. We often see clients stressing about broad appeal when they should be focusing on depth. Sometimes the mentality, especially with older generations, is that they have to go viral. They feel they have to be a sensation or a hit. But often, a viral reel isn’t actually contributing to a brand's success.

"Millions of followers doesn't always mean millions of purchases. It just means people are being entertained."

We would rather help you reach the 5,000 people that follow you, enjoy your content, and actually buy from you, than a million strangers who will never spend a dime. I mean sure, you might get recognition for a viral clip, but the longevity and ROI on that may not be worth it. 

There is a difference on platforms as well. On TikTok and Instagram people just want to be entertained. Finding the right trend for your brand is key. On YouTube, people go to learn. They know they’re going to sit still, settle in and find something they're looking for. The delivery is specific to the platform.

3. "What is the single biggest hook that works right now?"

The Honest Answer: The Curiosity Loop. This is the most repeatable formula on the internet. It works by opening a gap in the viewer's knowledge that they have to close.

One guaranteed way to go viral is opening a curiosity loop... What if I told you that XYZ is a lie, and you thought it was the truth? Now the viewer has to keep listening to see why it’s a lie.

It’s human psychology. You have to make them feel like they are missing a piece of the puzzle unless they watch the next 15 seconds. 

For example:  If you see a reel that opens with security cam footage - more often than not, people keep watching. Human brains know that either a crime is going to happen or someone is going to hurt themselves. We love watching that, as morbid as it is.

On YouTube, the curiosity loop is more about giving value or information on something you need and then you just have to deliver it. 

Adding in little nuggets, “make sure you watch to the end” is a huge part of this. How many times have you watched a 2 minute long video just for the information at the end of the video, even if it’s somewhat ridiculous? There is a formula to this. 

4. "Why does my high-budget commercial flop on Instagram?"

The Honest Answer: Because it looks like an ad. We started as a commercial production company. We love cinema cameras. But we had to learn a hard lesson: You cannot apply video production rules to social media.

"When you see something that's super polished on social media, it looks weird. It looks off. It looks like it's on the wrong platform."

People go to Instagram to kill time and connect with friends - especially when it first started (some would argue “back when it was cool”). If your video looks like a Super Bowl spot, their brain identifies it as an interruption and they scroll past. The content that wins is lo-fi—it should look like your buddy filmed it.

As filmmakers this breaks our hearts a little bit. We love a well color-treated, crisp clear video. But the curated look doesn’t work on Instagram and TikTok anymore.

We admit, even we start to scroll past high quality videos on those platforms because our brains immediately think, “Oh, I’m being sold to”.

5. "Should I post the same video on YouTube and TikTok?"

The Honest Answer: Probably not. As mentioned earlier, the audience mindset is different.

"People are in one mindset when they're on Instagram or TikTok... they are there for instant entertainment. When they go to YouTube, they're usually going there to learn something."

If you put a 15-second chaotic dance trend on YouTube, it feels thin. If you put a 10-minute educational breakdown on TikTok, it gets skipped. Respect the platform.

6. "How do I keep people watching until the end?"

The Honest Answer: Save the best for last. Start with a great hook, bury nuggets throughout the content. Creators are now using the "trailer before the trailer" technique.

"You see this in movie trailers now... the first five seconds are a montage shouting 'Hey, get over here! Shut the door and sit down!’ before the actual trailer starts."

You have to promise the payoff immediately, remind throughout and then deliver.

7. "Do I need to pick a niche?"

The Honest Answer: It’s safer, but it’s boring. We know the saying: "The riches are in the niches." But we admit to struggling with this ourselves. We’ve landed on a "half-niche" approach to keep the creative juices flowing.

We actually do have a niche of working with attorneys... but on the other side, I don't want to only work with attorneys. I want to keep myself entertained.

Some creatives love working on new projects - we like a change of scenery - it keeps us sharp and fresh. Other creatives  love to burrow down and work in a niche. I think knowing your creative type plays a huge role in deciding whether to niche or not. Bennett Creative likes to specialize deeply in certain verticals - like with attorneys - to build trust and recurring revenue, but we keep a generalist creative capability to prevent burnout.

8. "Why can't I just tell you what to shoot?"

The Honest Answer: Because that’s not what you are actually hiring us for. Clients hire us because they have a problem, not because they want to micro-manage a shoot. We use the Landscaper Analogy:

"Clients want you to take this off their plate. Just the way when you hire a landscaper, it's because you don't want to mow the yard anymore. You don't want the landscaper to show up and say, 'Well, how tall do you want the grass? Where do you want me to edge?' It's like, dude, just mow the yard."

You are hiring us to be experts. Our job is to show up with the mower and the plan, not to ask you how to start the engine.

And honestly, most clients don’t want to tell us what to shoot. They want us to come in and do the work. Our clients want to focus on their business, on what they’re good at and how they make money. Social media for them, is a thing they have to do, not want to do - so we’re here because we love social media, we’re the experts and we love taking that off other people’s plates.

9. "What makes a specific video clip hold attention?"

The Honest Answer: Implied consequence (aka the "Security Camera Effect"). If you want to stop a scroll instantly, use footage that looks like CCTV or a static shot where something is about to happen.

"Anytime security cam footage comes up on a news feed... you have to watch because you're like, 'Okay, what's going to happen? A crime is about to happen?'"

Again, this method triggers a primal "danger" response in the brain. Even if the payoff is just someone tripping over a rug, the format itself demands attention.

We spent 3 days batch capturing influencer content for French beauty brand Clarins - our pitch got them excited about the end product.

10. "How do I sell my vision to my boss/client?"

The Honest Answer: Visualization beats explanation - show don’t tell.

"The number one trick in sales is getting the customer to visualize the end product."

Don't just send an email describing the video. Pitch it. Act it out. Show a storyboard. The moment the stakeholder can see the video in their head, the friction disappears and you get the green light.

Sometimes as creatives, we forget that not all people’s brains are wired to imagine something in their head when you give a descriptor like, “over the shoulder shot”. At Bennett Creative, when we’re pitching to a client, we absolutely act it out in the Google meet while presenting a storyboard. 

If you can get them to visualize the end product they really want - you’ve landed the client. 

It's really a lot of leg work on the front end. Coming up with pitch decks, writing scripts, even writing scripts for the pitch meetings with the clients. Then basically giving them a presentation of the project so vivid that they can see it in their head.

It’s always been Andrew Bennett’s theory that with sales, customers don't want to spend a lot of time deciding on a vendor. They want a vendor to just get it and then they can just check that box off, move on to the next thing. So we spend a good amount of time trying to ‘get it’.

Another big part of winning a client is responding to inquiries as quickly as possible. Whoever that person is reaching out to that gets back to them the fastest - and produces quality content - is going to win the sale.

Bennett Creative has been doing commercial video production since 2018, but social media video editing isn't the same - it's quicker and lo-fi.

Why We Treat "Social" and "Commercial" as Siblings, Not Twins

Because of the answers above, we have fundamentally changed how our agency operates.

Andrew started Bennett Creative, as a commercial production company for video and photo. We used to think we could shoot social content on the same cameras and edit in Premier, just like we would our TV commercials. That we could tackle socials the same way we did commercials.

We were wrong. Commercial production takes way more time. The turnaround isn’t quite as quick. Social media is usually a quick turnaround. It doesn’t matter what lens you’re shooting on - it’s more about the vibe and energy.

"I think we're going to do that less and less... sometimes just doing it in the Instagram app or the TikTok app."

Today, we treat social media and TV commercials as separate pipelines:

1. Commercial Production: Meticulous, scripted, color-graded, cinema-quality.

2. Social Content: Fast, low-fi, authentic, edited for speed.

We now have editors specifically for social media and other video editors for commercials. The workflow and editing process is different - more attuned to how the content is distributed. 

How an Austin Social Media Agency Helps You Right Now

We act as the creative landscapers: you describe the outcome (more leads, better brand awareness), and we show up with the mower, er camera.

If you want content that converts in 2026, and maybe even goes viral if that’s your goal, you have to stop trying to make "movies" for a vertical phone screen. You need to prioritize curiosity loops, speed, and authenticity.

If you need help executing that—especially for local Austin, Texas brands—Bennett Creative can take the heavy lifting off your plate - just contact us! We do the work. You get the views.