Organic Strategy

Insta CEO reveals a hidden metric for virality

June 2, 2025

2 min read

Turns out if you’re only focusing on getting views you’re hurting your virality potential.

But don’t believe me, hear the scoop from the man himself…

In a recent reel, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri revealed the most important metric content creators should be looking at:

Sends per reach.

That is, how many people share your videos to their friends in a DM.

You may think “That's crazy, I enjoy a lot of videos without sending them to anyone!”

But the thing is, it’s shares that build community, and that’s the backbone of the platform’s success.

So if you want algorithm daddy to push your reel to more people, you need to make it more shareable.

How?

One way is to make your content strikingly relatable.

It’s videos that make people go “This is so me!” or “We’ve literally just been talking about this!” that end up in people’s DMs.

We saw this time and time again with role-play videos popularized by TikTok that later took Instagram by storm.

Their formula is simple: Tap into a universal experience or embody a common character trait that a large number of people can identify with.

In fact, comedians use this exact same tool to continuously raise the emotional arc of their performance.

It’s what makes them hilarious—and us come back for more.

But you don’t have to do stand-up (or use humor at all) to make your content shareable.

You can also wow your audience with a paradigm shift.

AKA offering a surprising new perspective that goes against the status quo.

Reels in this category bust myths that your audience is fed as the norm.

Such as acting negatively at salary negotiations.

Others introduce easily adaptable ideas no one seems to talk about.

Such as pre-freezing rice before frying it.

So what misconceptions about your industry make you want to scream?

What about your product would make your audience think “Why didn’t I think of that?”

The best part of dropping truth bombs is that they don’t just make you go viral.

They also make your audience more likely to trust you and buy from you.

And isn’t that what you ultimately want?

So whichever strategy you choose, make sure you keep your reels short and snappy with a clear message so they land in people’s DMs.

Stay tuned till next time where I break down how internet celebrity MrBeast shortlists content formats for his viral channels.

Keep sharing.

Want help with your social media strategy? Connect 1-on-1 with Hook Point's team here to see if we are the right fit to work together.

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