58: The Reel Remix Strategy Behind My 8.8M View Viral Video (Part 2)
Welcome to Part 2 of the Viral Videos for Business Series!
This week, I’m pulling back the curtain on my most viral Instagram Reel ever. A remix that skyrocketed to 8.8 million views and brought in 8,500 new followers. I’m breaking down:
What is a Reel remix, and how does it work?
Why this remix strategy blew up and how you can use it for your brand
The biggest mistake people make with viral content (and how to avoid it)
How to optimize your Instagram profile BEFORE your content goes viral
This is one of the easiest viral video strategies I’ve ever used, and I can’t wait for you to try it.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
[00:00] How I Got 8.8 Million Views & 8,500 New Followers From ONE Reel
[03:51] What Is a Reel Remix & Why Are They So Powerful?
[05:16] Step-by-Step: How to Remix a Reel & Add Your Own Spin
[07:13] The Psychology Behind Why This Video Went Viral
[09:59] Why Shareability & Niche Alignment Are EVERYTHING
[10:29] The Biggest Mistake People Make With Virality
[14:08] How to Optimize Your Instagram Profile Before You Go Viral
Key Takeaways:
Reel Remixes are one of the easiest ways to create viral content—without filming from scratch.
A viral video only moves the needle for your business if it's aligned with your niche.
Your profile needs to be optimized for conversion before your content blows up—otherwise, you’ll miss out on followers & sales.
The best viral content is relatable, entertaining, or emotional (or all three!)
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
The remix that skyrocketed to 8.8 million views
How to Go Viral on Instagram Reels: Setting the Foundation for Success (part 1)
A Truth You Need to Hear:
"Views don’t pay the bills, clients do. Virality is only powerful if it happens inside your niche."
S3 Ep58 Transcript: The Reel Remix Strategy Behind My 8.8M View Viral Video (Part 2)
00:00
Welcome to part two of our four part series on how to go viral with Instagram reels. Today I'm breaking down a recent reel that I did that got over eight million views. And this single reel, if you can believe it, brought in over 8,500 new followers to my business. Today I'm pulling back the curtain and telling you exactly what I did so you can reverse engineer this simple strategy.
00:28
and apply it to your brand. Are you ready? Let's go.
00:34
Welcome to Strut It, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their sole lead work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram and you're seeking simple, proven Instagram marketing strategies that actually work, you're in the right place.
01:04
Let's dive in.
01:14
Welcome back to the show. I'm super thrilled that you have joined me for this four part series on how to go viral with Instagram reels. Last week we talked about what going viral really means. I remember that it's totally relative. There's not one magic number you're trying to hit. We also went over why virality alone is not the goal and what you should focus on instead. And we explored the benefits of going viral as well as the
01:43
dark side of viral content that not many people are talking about. So if you missed that, definitely go back and listen to last week's episode. My goal with the series is to walk you through three different reels that I had that recently went viral. So I can really break down exactly the strategy behind these different pieces of content so you can understand them and reverse engineer them for your
02:10
business. So in today's episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on one of the most viral videos I have ever posted. In fact, I believe it is the most viral video I've ever posted. And it is a real that I shared from my wedding dance business that as of today has over 8.8 million views.
02:35
This single reel has brought in over 8,500 new followers. And if you look at the engagement rate, it's absolutely bananas. We have over 544,000 likes, over 6,000 comments, almost 100,000 shares. And one of the things when I was looking at the analytics of this video in my professional dashboard,
03:00
I saw that it reached 6.1 million accounts, but as you heard me say, it's had over 8.8 million views. So when I dug into the insights a little bit more, I saw that it had received over 2.5 million replays. So that means that people not only watch this video, but they watched it over and over again.
03:23
So that is a tell that you have a viral piece of content when people cannot help but to literally binge it. So many comments were like, I can't stop watching this video. It is so compelling. Like, why am I sitting here watching it over and over again? So let's talk through exactly what I did in this reel so you can reverse engineer it for your brand. This reel was a remix. Yep, I didn't even shoot the original footage.
03:51
So today I'm gonna share with you exactly what I did, why it worked and how you can apply the strategy to your own content. Whether you're in weddings, real estate, coaching, product-based business, service-based business, it doesn't matter. You do not wanna sleep on remixing Reels right now on Instagram. It's working really well, not only for me, but for my clients. So if you're newer to Reels, let me quickly define what a remix is.
04:19
A remix is when you take another creator's video, if they've allowed remixing, because when you post your own original content, you get to decide, do you want to allow others to remix it or not? So if they've allowed remixing, then you can remix the original creator's video and add your own video content alongside or over it. So it's not just reposting someone's video, you're building off of what
04:49
already exists and making it your own. That's really key. To remix a reel on Instagram, when you're scrolling through and you see a video that you want to remix, you'll click the three dots in the lower right-hand corner and then you'll click on remix. Next, you'll see that video pop back up on your screen and that's where you can add your own text overlay, your own captions, your own hashtags, all of that.
05:16
Now the original video that I remixed was posted by behind the scenes bestie. She is a content creator. She goes to people's weddings and captures content for them. And this particular video was a bridesmaid at a wedding rapping, really lip syncing to an Eminem song. And she completely nailed it. And then as she is rapping, and of course the videography is just killer,
05:45
The bride jumped in and crushed it too. The energy, the confidence, and the glam, it was just one of those moments that like totally pulls you in. And I knew it had major viral potential when I watched it because I could not stop watching this video when I first saw it. I was just like, these girls are amazing. They're gorgeous. They are so glammed up and they're like rapping to these like really inappropriate lyrics. I sound like such a mom right now.
06:14
They were such inappropriate lyrics, but they were rapping to the song that's a little bit dirty, but they looked so glam. And I think it was just like a perfect juxtaposition of energies and just like total bad assery in action. But I didn't just repost this video, okay? Here's what I did. I remixed the video strategically. This is key to turning this piece of content into a viral high converting piece of content.
06:44
I added text overlays and I added my own storytelling through on-screen text. So the original video was just a video. There was no text on the screen. And this video was quite long, relatively speaking for Instagram. So the beginning of the video, the bridesmaid starts wrapping toward the screen and I put a hook on the video and I said, when your bridesmaid understands the assignment, then
07:13
As the song continues on, the bride starts to come in a different part of the lyrics. So I said, here comes the bride. And then I did a whole thing of, can't get over how elegant they look while they're rapping to Eminem. And then finally on the screen, I had a call to action, which was tag your bestie. When you see the original video and then you see how I remixed it, I added a whole nother storytelling element.
07:43
And I was very strategic about the different text overlays I added on the video to keep people watching the video. Cause like I said, it was a longer video. I want to say it was like 45 seconds long. I also had a strategic caption. So my first line in my caption said, some serious bad assery happening here. So it's very like scroll stopping and it tied perfectly into the vibe of the video. And like I said, I had that call to action.
08:11
tag your bestie, which people did. Hundreds and hundreds of people tagged their besties in the comments and said, this is us, this is gonna be me at your wedding next fall. If my wedding's not like this, I don't wanna have it. So many people were engaging around this video. So of course, a call to action will always help.
08:35
in boosting comments and shares and saves. And that's why it's really important that with each video you have some sort of call to action so people know what to do with it. Now, why did this work for my business? The video went viral because of three things. One, it was relatable and entertaining, okay? So if you've been listening to the podcast, you know that I talked about the three E's of viral content, which is entertaining,
09:03
Education, teach me something new or emotional, make me feel something or motivate me, move me, right? If you can do one of those three things really powerfully, you're more likely to go viral. Now, the other reason why this video worked is it was aligned with my niche. So my business is in the wedding industry. We do first dance lessons for couples.
09:30
So my ideal clients are engaged couples. They were instantly hooked by this video. They're already obsessing over their wedding content. So this fit right into their scroll pattern. And that's what I mean when I say the content was aligned with my niche and my target audience. And the third reason why this went viral is it is super shareable content. When you see something like this, like something really relatable and entertaining, you wanna share it with your friend, you wanna tag your friend.
09:59
You wanna share it with your fiance. When you hit one of those three E's, entertaining, educational, emotional, and it really targets that ideal client, people are gonna wanna share it with other people. And the more shares you get, the more likely, of course, that your video is going to blow up and reach a bigger audience. So here's the part that most people miss. You have to make sure that your profile is optimized before you go viral.
10:29
Let me give you an example. So let's say you are a food blogger and all of your content is sending people to your blog, sending people recipes. Maybe you have a membership or a subscription where people can get your recipes every month. And then one day you decide, oh my gosh, I'm gonna remix this video of this kid because I'm a mom and I'm gonna talk about like what it's like to be a mom and parenting advice.
10:57
And let's say that video goes viral, okay? That video is not going to move the needle for your food blogging business, right? Because what's gonna happen is A, you're either gonna get a bunch of new followers that are not aligned with your niche. They don't necessarily care about food blogging or recipes or...
11:18
you're not gonna get any conversions. So I don't know if this has happened to you, but if you have a video that blows up, but you don't get a lot of conversions from it, it could be because your profile's not optimized and that video that blew up isn't in alignment with your niche. So if I went viral for this mom content, but then I click on the profile and I head over to your feed and it's all recipes and my husband cooks all the time and I don't cook and I'm not interested in that, I'm not gonna give you the follow, right?
11:47
Before you go viral, you wanna make sure that your profile is totally optimized if you want to convert those viewers into followers or prospects. Because what happens is people watch the video, they click over to your profile and you have five seconds to either hook them or lose them, right? So on my wedding dance coach profile, it's really clear who we help, what we offer and how we help them.
12:14
And the rest of our content really reinforces that, right? It's not just our bio. It's that if you quickly look at our bio and then you look at our content, our content delivers on the promise of our bio. So you can know within five seconds of coming to our profile, exactly who we help, what we offer, how we help them. So I want you to do a quick little audit of your page and maybe you ask a friend and say, hey, take a really quick look at my page. Like you have 10 seconds. Tell me exactly what I do.
12:43
Okay, and if they're like, well, I don't know, then you have a problem. Okay. You have to be really clear. So when this video, when this wedding remix that we did blew up and all these new viewers who are our target market, who are going to watch a wedding video, blew up and they hit our handle and came over to our page, there's no confusion. They know we teach wedding dance lessons for nervous couples and they know exactly
13:12
if they're interested in that or not. And that's where we got all those follows, right? So that's why this viral reel didn't just blow up in views. It actually converted to followers. So virality is really only powerful when it happens inside of your niche or your target market. So before you remix or hop on a trend, I want you to ask yourself,
13:38
Will this attract my ideal client or customer? Will they know what I offer from this content? If they watch this piece of content, they understand the messaging that I added, my own flair on it, that is using that messaging, that's speaking the language of my ideal client. And then when they come over to my profile, is that going to be a very clear bridge into the work that I do? Okay? In other words, is this
14:08
remix consistent with the story my brand is telling because views don't pay the bills, right? Clients do. You're listening to this podcast because you're a business owner, you're an entrepreneur, you're working on a side hustle. You're wanting to sell something. You're not just here to be a content creator and rack up views for Vanity Metrics. You wanna work with your dreamboat people and you wanna make money.
14:36
And that's why it's really important that you're strategic about what reels you remix. Now, the best part about this remix story is I literally did this remix after my kids were in bed one night. I swear to you, it took me less than 10 minutes. It was so quick. It was off the cuff. I didn't overthink it. In fact, there was this part of me that almost didn't post it because...
15:00
some of the lyrics were a little bit dirty and I was like, I don't know, this feels a little bit dirty. I sound like such a mom right now. But I was like, you know, I like it. It's like my vibe. I love hip hop music. I love getting down. Like these girls that are busting it out on the dance floor. I mean, me and my girlfriends would be doing that. I'm like, this is totally me. I'm the owner of the company. This is my vibe. I'm sure it's gonna resonate with other people and...
15:26
Holy cow, I had no idea that this simple reels remix that took me less than 10 minutes would move the needle so much for my business. So let that be your sign that it's usually the content that you're like, I don't know if I should post this. A lot of times that's the content that does the best. The one that you're not overthinking, you just post it, you're almost like afraid to post it.
15:54
I remember one of my private clients, she was a real estate agent and she was really goofy and she loved to dance, but she didn't really want to post that side of her. Cause she's like, you know, I want to be professional. And she recorded this reel where she was doing this little like jig on the couch as she was like getting up from the couch. And it was totally her. It was just her personality. And she said that it sat in her drafts folder for over a week. And then she finally posted it. She wanted to barf cause she was like, I'm nervous.
16:24
And that was the video that got over 10,000 views when all of her other videos were stuck around like a thousand views. So that just goes to show you that if you can allow your personality to come through, that is how you stand out in the sea of sameness. And remember when you're remixing content, it is imperative you're not copying, you're not just reposting.
16:47
you are adding your own storytelling, you're adding your own flavor and flair to make this piece of content your own. I also, after the fact, when I posted this and the video started blowing up, I made sure that, you know, when you remix a reel, the original creator, you can see their name in the remix. So they're automatically credited. But as this video was blowing up, I made sure I did a special shout out in the caption of who did the original video.
17:15
I shouted her out in my story and I said, you need to hire her to film content at your wedding. This is so epic. This is her video. So of course, always give credit where credit is due, but my gosh, don't sleep on remixes. They are working so well for my clients right now. They're so simple and easy to do. And now that you're clear on exactly how to do it, so it works alongside your business, I cannot wait to hear your results.
17:43
So here's your homework. I want you to choose a video that you're gonna remix this week. I want you to choose one that really aligns with your audience and your niche. I want you to add value with your own text overlays, caption, call to action. I want you to make sure that your Instagram profile is really optimized for conversion. And if you're like, Elizabeth, I don't know what the heck you mean by that. I have a free IG bio refresh.
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guide, okay? This guide is gold. I walk you through exactly how to optimize your profile so it works like a magnet to attract your ideal clients. We'll link this guide in the show notes, but if you are on Instagram, make sure you are following me. Right now it's Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y, and send me a message with this keyword, refresh, R-E-F-R-E-S-H, refresh.
18:39
When you send that, my robot assistant will send you the link where you can download your free guide to make sure that your profile is optimized. Do me a favor, if you remix a reel, I want you to message me on Instagram, tell me, oh my gosh, Elizabeth, I did it, I remixed a reel, I figured it out. And if you want my help creating content that actually works for your business, I want you to join the Hot Reels wait list.
19:06
This is my 12 month Instagram content lab where I coach business owners to stop throwing spaghetti at the wall and start building content that actually drives followers, nurtures them and converts. To join the wait list, you can go to Elizabethmarberry.com slash hot. That's Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y.com slash hot.
19:34
or you can DM me the word hot, H-O-T on Instagram, and you'll see the link to join the wait list. You definitely wanna be on the wait list because I emailed the wait list first when the doors opened. There are limited spots in this high touch group mentorship. This is a live group coaching container. This is not an online course that you're just gonna do on your own and buy it and forget it. I am with you for a year helping you with your content so you can become masterful.
20:03
at creating short form video content to boost your brand visibility. It's so fun inside. We have the best group and I'm super excited to open the doors. Again, I only open them a few times a year. So you definitely wanna get on the wait list. Again, go to elizabethmarbury.com slash hot. Waitlisters get early access and the best bonuses. You definitely want to join that list. Next week in part three, I'm breaking down a video that went viral for my personal brand.
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And it's a totally different strategy from what I just shared today. You're gonna love it, so make sure you have subscribed and followed the show. And of course, if you know of another business owner or colleague who's also scratching their head trying to figure out how this whole Instagram thing works, I would be so grateful if you could share the episode with them. That really helps us to reach more incredible, brilliant people like yourself. I can't wait to see your real remixes.
21:01
Have so much fun with it this week, and I can't wait to strut it with you next week. Thank you for listening to Strut It. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business, then you're gonna wanna grab my free Monetize Your IG Guide, where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. You can grab your guide at elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies.
21:29
That's ElizabethMarberry.com slash freebies to get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.