Washington, D.C.-based Universal Floors President Sprigg Lynn has been posting videos to his company’s Instagram account for years now, but none have achieved as much success as this one. Most of his videos get around 10,000 views, but the one he posted in May of an employee installing herringbone has amassed more than 40 million views, 280,000 likes and 200 comments. Over 99% of those views came from non-followers, Lynn says, meaning his video has been able to bring in new eyes to his work. Since posting the video, his Instagram account, @universal_floors_dc, has gathered more than 8,000 new followers. Lynn says he’s not entirely sure what caused this particular video to go viral, but he has noticed some trends regarding which videos get more views than others. “It seems like when you do something short and repetitive, it gets more traction,” he says. Videos of someone performing a rhythmic task, such as nailing herringbone, tend to capture people’s attention more effectively than videos of someone talking. Lynn has also noticed viewers like to see a clean workspace. “People don’t want to see crap lying all over the place,” he says. “You gotta clean your place up a little bit.”
