Every day, millions of blog posts, content updates, and social media shares are made. In such a scenario, it is not easy to differentiate yourself and get maximum coverage. The ‘viral’ concept sounds captivating and every online marketer dreams about it but exactly how often does that happen?
Not much, that’s for certain.
Let’s first learn what actually we mean with the word ‘viral’.
Viral Content– The Real Meaning
Anything that goes viral spreads like wildfire, is shared at lightning speed, and gets unimaginable coverage from all sorts of online media, especially from social networks.
So, viral content could be;
“Anything that is liked by thousands and shared by millions”
Emotions That Make Things Trend:
• Awe
• Surprise
• Joy
• Pride, hope, courage, or trust
• Humour
Anything that is unconventional, witty and hilarious has high chances of going viral. People always want to share stuff that evokes emotion, inspires and informs.
Ways to Go Viral:
- Relatable content is always strikes the right chord with people. If you give a human angle and keep it interpersonal, your content will have greater chances of being shared.
- Allow readers to comment, share and respond.
- Thinking not just out-of-the-box but truly unconventional.
- Push your content on multiple mediums for maximum reach.
- Weave your message with something that is already trending.
- Keep it short and crisp.
- Experiment with new marketing tools. Vine, the short video making app, was surrounded with buzz some months ago. Fashion brands are making smart use of it to get eyeballs
However, before you even embark on the viral road, find answers to the following questions:
- What is the type of content your target audience wants to consume?
- Which controversial topics of your industry can generate a buzz?
- Which emotions work best and capture maximum attention for your brand?
- How do you plan to curate the content?
- What is the type of viral content you wish to opt for? Blog, video/audio, interactive content or infographics?
The Real Example;
Jesus Kit Kat campaign is a very popular viral campaign that set people talking for a long time and is still a matter of gossip for many:
In 2009, three separate ‘Jesus sightings’ occurred in Europe. The news was all over the place and Kit Kat saw the opportunity to bring in its famous ‘Have a break’ tag line. Using a fake email address and identity, its marketing team sent email to 2 major news sites, claiming another sighting after having a bite of the crunchy bar.
Within four days, ‘Jesus Kit-Kat’ was trending on more than 100,000 websites.
It is one of the few campaigns that were truly able to channel the power of free media. The brand got free-publicity and their tag line was on every European lip. What more could you ask from free internet?
Conclusion
It’s exceedingly tough but not impossible to create something truly capable of going viral. Thinking differently and planning obsessively obviously helps.
In case you know any example of online campaigns gone viral, please share in the comments section.
Also, share your take on the viral concept. I would be happy to add to my present knowledge.