An applicator smoothly gliding a coat of oil-based finish over an old floor is not a novel sight for a wood floor pro. But a 10-second video of just that from Dony Buendia of Kensington, Md.-based DB Genesis Hardwood Flooring last year exploded into a social media sensation, accumulating over 38 million views on Instagram in just a week. Buendia posted the video as an Instagram Reel and credits its success to two factors, the first being the popularity of “satisfying” videos. The second viral factor was the music. With permission, Buendia sampled a soothing acoustic guitar rendition of “The Sound of Silence” from a musician he follows on Instagram. The musician’s post went viral, and in discovering or searching for the song, people found Buendia’s video. Today, Buendia has over 191,000 followers on Instagram and shares three or four Reels a day. Reels around 10 to 15 seconds in length have the most success for Buendia, who encourages other pros to use the platform for their businesses. “We get a lot of good customers from Instagram, because the new generation of clients are coming from Facebook, TikTok and Instagram,” he says.
