How to write threads

You know them, you love them, you’ve probably tried to write them…

They’re viral threads!

I’ve not had much success with this in the past.

So, I decided to do some market research and figure out how to get better at these.

Here’s what I learned…

Let’s start with some examples from my personal swipe file:

So, what do all of these have in common?

Glad you asked…

They all have this in common:

• Hook

• Cover image

• Good content

• Multimedia

• Clear delineation between sections

• CTA

Now let’s walk through each.

Hook

The hook is all about grabbing attention and holding it.

You want to craft this to be so good, that people feel like this is the missing piece they’ve been searching for all this time.

And how do you do that?

You hit the top 3 evergreen pillars:

• Health

• Wealth

• Relationships

If you look at each of the examples, they are talking about one of these:

• “The elites pay millions for his advice”

• “Worth over $4 Billion”

• “by giving them a success BLUEPRINT that made over $400 BILLION”

• “There are 4 serial killers trying to kill you”

• “Stress controlled me for years”

This hits pain points that a HUGE portion of the population has.

Then what they do is allude that they have the painkiller:

• “Do this to avoid it”

• “Here are the top 7 to change your life”

• “Here’s what you should learn from Josh Waitzken”

• “8 of his lessons that will change your life”

The cherry on top is using a well-known figure. You don’t want to pick somebody super well known, like Oprah or Elon Musk. But you do want to pick someone that is associated with them, like their coach.

Include a cover image

This is part of the attention grabbing formula.

A text-based hook CAN be good enough, but if you look at all the example up above, they all have a great image.

You want to pick something that is semi-complex, or behind the scenes-ish. This’ll pull people in like a magnet.

Deliver on the hook

This is obvious, but make sure the body is great.

Don’t phone it in.

Make each section readable and give actual insights.

DO NOT USE AI COPY PASTE.

People can tell. So, use your stories. And make the ideas good.

Use video

One thing I’ve noticed about recent viral threads is that each section typically has video now.

This is especially true for the popular figure type posts. They will have 1-3 minute video clips of interviews with that person illustrating the point you are making in that section.

A great way to do this is to download pre-made videos from IG or YT and put them in each section.

Toolzu and y2mate are 2 tools I’ve used to do this.

Don’t make it too long

I would say 10-12 sections is the sweet spot.

It can certainly be shorter too.

Anything longer starts getting unwieldy.

Deliver on the promise quickly, then get out.

Clearly articulate between sections

Use the #\ section nomenclature.

I even like to bold the line like this:

“1\ Be the go-to guy”

Makes it easy for people to mentally know when to switch.

CTA

Finally, always include a CTA at the bottom that is unique to you.

Use humor if that’s your vibe.

Usually this is just the typical “follow+share.”

And that’s it!

Hope it was helpful.

To your super success,

Swanagan