Going viral is pretty much every brand’s dream, and understandably so – your brand skyrockets in digital reach and suddenly, you’re known by anybody and everybody who keeps up with today’s trends. Raising brand awareness tops the list of social media goals of marketers today, and though there are many ways to achieve that awareness gradually, there really is no better shortcut than going viral in a week, a few days, or even overnight.
Viral marketing is a style of promotion that relies on an audience to generate the message of a product or service (Barnhart, 2020). Essentially, viral marketing is a strategy that aims to have a brand’s content organically shared by the general public on a large scale rather than just its target audience. When executed effectively, it has the potential to reach users on a scale that the brand might not have otherwise achieved through other, more traditional forms of marketing.
Viral marketing relies heavily on wit, riding trends, and most importantly, making trends. Although this can be largely situational, you can follow a few guidelines to increase your chances of creating a viral campaign:
1. Know your target market.
Beyond general classifications of who they are and what they want, it is even more important to know what they value in order to create a message that can be most impactful to them.
2. Focus on emotional impact.
Content that draws out a strong emotional response from viewers is more likely to be shared along with those responses. Timely, humorous posts tend to especially attract Filipinos’ attention, with exciting, witty, nostalgic, and sentimental posts having proven to be effective as well.
3. Be timely and bold.
These two attributes have been the most commonly present among viral campaigns, with timely content capitalizing on what viewers value and pay the most attention to in a given time, and bold content enabling a brand to stand out by being brave and authentic in messaging.
But enough of the theory. You must be wondering “What are some examples of viral campaigns?” Check out some of the best known ones in recent memory.
Nike’s Dream Crazier Campaign
Few campaigns spell out timely, bold, and emotional better than Nike campaigns, with its viral Dream Crazier campaign empowering people to dream big and to pursue those dreams. The poster series and video ad featured top athletes who had overcome difficult odds and societal expectations to achieve their dreams. Upon going viral after appealing to the emotions of countless people, Nike saw a revenue increase of 10% in the quarterly report following its release, which goes to show just how much viral campaigns can impact not only brand equity, but revenue as well.
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
In 2014, The ALS Association launched the Ice Bucket Challenge, where people were challenged to film themselves pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads and post the video on social media while nominating three other people to follow suit. It soon became a viral sensation, as audiences enjoyed the fun challenge, the attention they received for it, and seeing the people they nominated do the same. The non-profit organization’s plan to raise awareness and medical research funding for the ALS neurological diseases was a massive success, as they earned $115,000,000 in donations after elegantly connecting a complex and relatively unknown topic to a fun, light-hearted challenge that ultimately enabled solidarity with ALS patients.
Viral marketing can get your brand reaching more people in one month than you would normally reach in six, but you can start with our tips and take inspiration from our examples. At the very heart of viral marketing, the key really is to listen – to what your target market needs, what the general public values, and what makes people tick at any given time. So pay attention when you’re scrolling through your social media feed, or when you’re browsing your friends’ Instagram stories, because you could be the next big thing just by knowing what’s in based on what people are saying.
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