marketingskills/skills/social-content/references/reverse-engineering.md

# Reverse Engineering Viral Content

Instead of guessing what works, systematically analyze top-performing content in your niche and extract proven patterns.

## The 6-Step Framework

### 1. NICHE ID — Find Top Creators

Identify 10-20 creators in your space who consistently get high engagement:

**Selection criteria:**
- Posting consistently (3+ times/week)
- High engagement rate relative to follower count
- Audience overlap with your target market
- Mix of established and rising creators

**Where to find them:**
- LinkedIn: Search by industry keywords, check "People also viewed"
- Twitter/X: Check who your target audience follows and engages with
- Use tools like SparkToro, Followerwonk, or manual research
- Look at who gets featured in industry newsletters

### 2. SCRAPE — Collect Posts at Scale

Gather 500-1000+ posts from your identified creators for analysis:

**Tools:**
- **Apify** — LinkedIn scraper, Twitter scraper actors
- **Phantom Buster** — Multi-platform automation
- **Export tools** — Platform-specific export features
- **Manual collection** — For smaller datasets, copy/paste into spreadsheet

**Data to collect:**
- Post text/content
- Engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares, saves)
- Post format (text-only, carousel, video, image)
- Posting time/day
- Hook/first line
- CTA used
- Topic/theme

### 3. ANALYZE — Extract What Actually Works

Sort and analyze the data to find patterns:

**Quantitative analysis:**
- Rank posts by engagement rate
- Identify top 10% performers
- Look for format patterns (do carousels outperform?)
- Check timing patterns (best days/times)
- Compare topic performance

**Qualitative analysis:**
- What hooks do top posts use?
- How long are high-performing posts?
- What emotional triggers appear?
- What formats repeat?
- What topics consistently perform?

**Questions to answer:**
- What's the average length of top posts?
- Which hook types appear most in top 10%?
- What CTAs drive most comments?
- What topics get saved/shared most?

### 4. PLAYBOOK — Codify Patterns

Document repeatable patterns you can use:

**Hook patterns to codify:**
```
Pattern: "I [unexpected action] and [surprising result]"
Example: "I stopped posting daily and my engagement doubled"
Why it works: Curiosity gap + contrarian

Pattern: "[Specific number] [things] that [outcome]:"
Example: "7 pricing mistakes that cost me $50K:"
Why it works: Specificity + loss aversion

Pattern: "[Controversial take]"
Example: "Cold outreach is dead."
Why it works: Pattern interrupt + invites debate
```

**Format patterns:**
- Carousel: Hook slide → Problem → Solution steps → CTA
- Thread: Hook → Promise → Deliver → Recap → CTA
- Story post: Hook → Setup → Conflict → Resolution → Lesson

**CTA patterns:**
- Question: "What would you add?"
- Agreement: "Agree or disagree?"
- Share: "Tag someone who needs this"
- Save: "Save this for later"

### 5. LAYER VOICE — Apply Direct Response Principles

Take proven patterns and make them yours with these voice principles:

**"Smart friend who figured something out"**
- Write like you're texting advice to a friend
- Share discoveries, not lectures
- Use "I found that..." not "You should..."
- Be helpful, not preachy

**Specific > Vague**
```
❌ "I made good revenue"
✅ "I made $47,329"

❌ "It took a while"
✅ "It took 47 days"

❌ "A lot of people"
✅ "2,847 people"
```

**Short. Breathe. Land.**
- One idea per sentence
- Use line breaks liberally
- Let important points stand alone
- Create rhythm: short, short, longer explanation

```
❌ "I spent three years building my business the wrong way before I finally realized that the key to success was focusing on fewer things and doing them exceptionally well."

✅ "I built wrong for 3 years.

Then I figured it out.

Focus on less.
Do it exceptionally well.

Everything changed."
```

**Write from emotion**
- Start with how you felt, not what you did
- Use emotional words: frustrated, excited, terrified, obsessed
- Show vulnerability when authentic
- Connect the feeling to the lesson

```
❌ "Here's what I learned about pricing"

✅ "I was terrified to raise my prices.

My hands were shaking when I sent the email.

Here's what happened..."
```

### 6. CONVERT — Turn Attention into Action

Bridge from engagement to business results:

**Soft conversions:**
- Newsletter signups in bio/comments
- Free resource offers in follow-up comments
- DM triggers ("Comment X and I'll send you...")
- Profile visits → optimized profile with clear CTA

**Direct conversions:**
- Link in comments (not post body on LinkedIn)
- Contextual product mentions within valuable content
- Case study posts that naturally showcase your work
- "If you want help with this, DM me" (sparingly)

---

## The Formula

```
1. Find what's already working (don't guess)
2. Extract the patterns (hooks, formats, CTAs)
3. Layer your authentic voice on top
4. Test and iterate based on your own data
```

## Reverse Engineering Checklist

- [ ] Identified 10-20 top creators in niche
- [ ] Collected 500+ posts for analysis
- [ ] Ranked by engagement rate
- [ ] Documented top 10 hook patterns
- [ ] Documented top 5 format patterns
- [ ] Documented top 5 CTA patterns
- [ ] Created voice guidelines (specificity, brevity, emotion)
- [ ] Built template library from patterns
- [ ] Set up tracking for your own content performance