You’ve got five seconds to snatch the attention of your viewer in social media or you get finger-flicked into scroll oblivion.
Michael Humphries knows this and other secrets to social media success, and advises dozens of leading celebrities and corporations on how to collect views – and dollars.
He crashed into TikTok fame by accident – literally – when his car caught fire on the freeway. His video of it garnered 35,000 views though he had no following. He realized this opportunity for organic reach was a game changer. He grew his first following from zero to 1.4 million. His dog’s account went to 250k followers in three days.
Watch Michael Humphries at METAL
Humphries quickly learned what worked from being in the trenches. Two keys to success, says Humphries, are authenticity, and what he calls “negative harmony.”
His model of authenticity is Justin Bieber, who recorded 15 personal responses to fans who had commented on his most recent video. “He just sat down with his iPhone and recorded authentic responses, and those 13 videos outperformed his entire previous year of views!”
His second focus is more counterintuitive.
“Negative harmony means that negative things are a beacon for our attention. Evolutionarily, we are drawn to see lions, not pretty flowers. So we hook people with negative words and phrases like ‘don't do this,’ or ‘the danger of doing this thing,’ or ‘the three worst things’ at the start. Suddenly, you want to hear what that person has to say.”
His overall advice for success in social media:
- “Never put your eggs in one basket. You should be posting on every platform. I would heavily invest into doing short-format media. Learn how to film on iPhone. You'll be shocked at the response that you'll get from platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.”
- If you are selling items, focus on Reels and Shorts. TikTok is mostly for exposure only.
- “Get quickly to negative harmony – literally almost to the point that you're cutting off kind of your first word! Then get to value.”
- At the end of the video, end abruptly, “because people are sent back to the beginning of the video automatically. If you can get them to watch the first five seconds again, that counts as another view. Those extra five seconds can help you go viral.”
Is Humphries cynical about virality?
“I could see how this could be seen as cynical,” he says, “but this is how it works. If you go to any parkour or skateboarding channel, the video that is most viral among them is of them failing. People just want to see other people hit a wall.”
You can reach Michael at futureselfconnect@gmail.com.
METAL members only can text him privately at: 562 290 9098.
Written by Adam Gilad
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