Have you ever seen ads and campaigns that most people are talking about? Without a doubt, that’s the main reason a brand or business runs an ad or campaign. But what makes content go viral? Is it luck, timing, or pure genius? In this post, we unveil the secrets of viral marketing, its strategies, tactics, and tips to create a better campaign to go viral.
You should note that different methods can help you produce a viral video or content. If you find it challenging to create such a campaign, seek help from social media agencies. Furthermore, you can maximize the potential of your campaigns to go viral by connecting with Influencers. Therefore, sign up on Ainfluencer for free, and find the right influencer to collaborate with.
What Is the Meaning of Viral?
Generally, the word ‘vira’ refers to the spread of a virus. But in the world of digital marketing, ‘viral’ refers to the spread of information and opinions about a product or service from person to person, especially on the Internet or social media. For example, a viral ad is an advertisement that becomes very popular because it is shared many times. People will also talk about a viral ad or video, adding to its popularity.
A viral piece of content can capture the attention of a significant number of people in a short period of time. Once something goes viral, it is an easy and inexpensive way for a message to gain popularity.
What is Viral Marketing
Have you ever seen how easily and quickly a virus spreads from one person to another? That’s what happens with viral marketing. Its main goal is to distribute a message rapidly and with ease, just like a virus. But this time, it is harmless and entertaining to the people who are exposed to it.
Therefore, viral marketing is considered a sales technique that relies on the audience to organically push the message or information about your brand or product to generate more reach, clicks, and sales. Furthermore, viral marketing is a type of digital marketing strategy which uses existing social networks and platforms to spread this message. The concept of this type of marketing is very close to word of mouth marketing.
Although some people think only video clips or ads can go viral, this type of marketing can take various forms, such as video clips, interactive games, ebooks, images, text messages, or web pages. However, going viral on all of them might be difficult. In this article, we tell you techniques to create viral content.
Viral Marketing Benefits and Challenges
Is it effortless to go viral? Or are viral campaigns always successful? Let’s delve into the pros and cons of viral marketing.
Benefits
What are the benefits of launching a viral marketing campaign?
1. Cost-Effective
When you want to spread your message with an ad, you should dedicate a hefty budget to its design and the platform you want to share. For example, you should rent a billboard or pay a large amount to broadcast your ad on TV.
But when it comes to viral marketing, it’s different. You don’t need a large budget to run a viral marketing campaign because you don’t rent a place to show. Instead, you rely on your audience to share and spread your message. Consequently, all you should do is dedicate your budget to professional and creative content.
2.No Force to Watch
You might have encountered this irritating moment when you are eager to watch or read something; suddenly, an unskippable ad appears. This invasive method of presenting advertisements can be quite bothersome. However, viral marketing takes a different approach. It is non-invasive, meaning your audience is not forced to watch your video or encounter your ad against their will.
3. Wider Reach
A well-executed viral marketing campaign has the potential to reach a large global audience and attract mainstream media attention. Increased exposure for your brand undoubtedly translates into more fans and a greater number of followers.
4. Build Brand Awareness
Viral marketing can connect your brand with its audience creatively and engagingly by getting them excited about your product or service and sharing it with others. Therefore, you are introduced to a large number of users. That’s why marketing viral techniques is one of the best methods to increase brand awareness.
5. Increase Sales
Since more people see your products or services, it is more likely for them to be sold. Therefore, successful viral marketing can increase your sales.
Challenges
We talked about the benefits of viral marketing, which can help your brand grow more quickly. But you should know that viral marketing doesn’t always come with benefits. You may face some challenges too, which are as follows:
1. Lack of Control
When launching a viral marketing campaign, you will not have control over how your audience reacts to your message. Do they like it or interpret it negatively? That’s the main challenge of viral marketing. You may sometimes receive adverse feedback or even face legal issues.
2. Low Conversion Rate
It’s essential to remember that not everyone who sees or shares a viral message will become a customer or supporter of that product or service. Many people may engage with a viral message only for entertainment or social purposes, without any real interest in the offering. As a result, viral marketing may not generate a significant return on investment or cultivate a loyal customer. Moreover, trends and user preferences, which can change quickly and unpredictably, may also affect this issue.
However, how well you create your content can overcome this challenge. Promote your message clearly on the video or ad you share on the internet. Advertisement design tips can also help create a more appealing design for your campaign.
3. High Competition
You are not the only company to think about viral marketing. Your competitors may have the same idea in their digital marketing plan. Therefore, you may face much clutter or noise on the online market. So your campaign should be more interesting, creative, and trendy to attract your audience and make your message stand out among your competitors.
4. Difficult to Measure
Measuring the success of a viral marketing campaign can be challenging due to the lack of control over such campaigns. Unlike traditional marketing strategies, there is no precise metric to measure the effectiveness of a viral campaign. Additionally, even if you see an increase in reach or engagement, it can be difficult to identify the exact source.
Viral marketing can be hard to track and evaluate, as it relies on various platforms, channels, and metrics. It can be challenging to determine the source, reach, impact, and effectiveness of a viral message.
Viral Marketing Strategies
You should have a strategy for your campaign, especially if you want it to shine and go viral on social media. Here are some tricks that can help you create a viral campaign.
1. Create a Story
People like stories. They will be more interested in watching a video that tells them something in a fun and creative way. So before you start anything, think about the story. What do you want to say? This will be the message you want to spread more entertainingly and excitingly.
Tell your message without telling your message! It means your story should be a way to make people take action, which not only can help your ad to go viral but also can lead more people to what you want. Make sure your message is transparent in your story so it will be more interesting for the audience when they find it out.
2. Have a Visual Strategy
Besides the engaging story, your content should be visually appealing for the audience to see and share. The icons or images you use can define your brand and make the viewers remember you by seeing them anywhere else. Use visual elements, and your brand’s colors to make people notice your content the next time you run a campaign or create an ad.
3. Use Trending Hashtags
Your content can go viral if you use the right hashtags. Therefore, you should always be aware of trends on different platforms. Trending hashtags can make your content visible to more people. However, you should note that your content should be related to this trend. Don’t forget to add other hashtags relevant to your content.
If you don’t know what hashtags are trending and which ones are proper for your business, use hashtag generators.
4. Share Your Content at the Right Time
Sharing wonderful content at the wrong time can ruin your campaign. You should find the perfect time to share your content to maximize its impact and reach. Check your Instagram insights; it will tell you a lot about the audience’s behavior. Therefore, you can find the time when most of your audience is online. Use these insights to launch your campaign at the best time.
In addition to understanding your audience’s behavior, it is crucial to consider current events when implementing a viral marketing campaign. If an unexpected event occurs that significantly alters the trends or captures public attention, it is advisable to stop launching your campaign on that particular day.
5. Trigger User’s Emotions
Viral marketing campaigns should form an emotion in your audience; it can be joy or curiosity. If you appeal to users’ emotions, you can motivate them to share your message or take the desired action. However, it is crucial to exercise caution and avoid manipulating or abusing their emotions, as such tactics can have negative consequences and damage your reputation.
Remember, as mentioned, not having control over the message you spread with a viral campaign is one of the challenges you will face with this type of marketing. So, be careful and think about every aspect of your campaign twice.
6. Ensure Content Is Easily Shareable
To make it easy for the audience to share your message with others, you should use platforms and formats that are popular and accessible. You can’t go viral on a platform that only a few people have access to or share your content in a format that is not openable on everyone’s device. Make the sharing process as easy as you can; for example, if it helps, add a button or link with a clear call-to-action to encourage people to share your content.
7. Find the Right Platform to Share
You want to target a group of people to spread your message. Therefore, you should find which platform is more interesting to them. However, you can still launch a campaign on several platforms, but it is better to make them more suited to each platform you use. For example, you can create an Instagram reel that attracts your users to share with others, or your campaign can be a game or competition that makes your followers retweet on Twitter. Thus, adapting your viral campaign to the platform you intend to share it on increases its chances of success.
8. Participate with Influencers
Did you know how helpful influencer marketing can be for your business and campaigns? Since influencers have many followers, it is more likely what they promote goes viral. You can create a video together and ask them to share it on their social media accounts. But first, you should find the right influencer for your market.
Ainfluencer is here to connect you with a wide range of influencers that can properly impact your business. Sign up on Ainfluencer for free and find influencers based on their gender, location, category, and hashtags they use. You can easily communicate with them on this marketplace and share your ideas about this campaign.
Furthermore, since it is their job, they are more familiar with trends and what may appeal to their audience. Therefore, it is more probable for your viral campaign to succeed.
Examples of Viral Marketing
When checking the examples of viral marketing, you will be surprised how simply these companies made messages viral.
1.Melbourne Subway System (Dumb Ways to Die)
Let’s start with Australia’s subway system. We know it’s sometimes hard to tell people how dangerous a place like the subway or train station can be, especially kids. What would you do if you wanted to make metro travelers consider their safety around trains?
What the Australian metro system did was create an animated video ad with cute characters and a funny story. It shows several funny and stupid ways a person may die. In the end, it connects the story to how people may endanger their lives at train stations. Dumb Ways to Die comes with a funny song too.
This video went viral on social media as soon as it was released. The message spread funnily. But, the result was more interesting. In a very short period, rail-related accidents were reduced by %20. This animation became so popular that it turned into a game.
2. The Ice Bucket Challenge
There is no doubt that many of you have heard about this challenge or might even have participated. The ice bucket challenge was a project to raise awareness of a health condition called ALS. But apart from this awareness, the main idea was to raise funds for researching this condition and finding a way to treat it.
One of the reasons why this challenge became so popular was the celebrities who joined it. Every individual poured a bucket of ice water over their head and then nominated three other people. In the end, everyone donated an amount to the ALS Association to help them with medical research on this health issue.
This challenge was viral for almost a month, and this association received over 115 million dollars in donations.
Mark Zuckerberg was one of the first people who joined this challenge. You can see the video on YouTube.
3. Cosmetics Company #eyeslipsface Challenge
Viral marketing is not always about sharing content. Sometimes the hashtag, music, or song you use can go viral. E.L.F (standing for Eyes Lips Face) is a cosmetic company that decided to create a song for the brand. They created a video on TikTok and encouraged their followers to create a video showing they are doing makeup with this song and share that with the hashtag of this brand, #eyeslipsface. This challenge was one of the most successful campaigns on TikTok, reaching over 1 billion views.
Apple: Shot on iPhone
You may wonder why a well-known brand like Apple needs to go viral. Actually, top brands like Apple should always stay on top! So they still need to compete with others. They should show how creative and entertaining they are. Therefore, viral marketing is something that works well for top brands and startups. Let’s see how Apple entertained its users.
Apple engaged its users in the Shot on iPhone challenge by asking them to shoot a wonderful picture or video on their iPhone. They received thousands of files that showed how well Apple users are informed about its features and how creative they are. Then, they selected the greatest ones for their ads like billboards or even TV ads.
5. Spotify Wrapped
The other great example of viral marketing is the Spotify Wrapped campaign. This music streaming website understands that its users like to share their opinions about the music they listen to and the artists they like. Therefore, it began a plan in 2016 called Spotify Wrapped to make its users share the overview of their favorite songs at the end of each year. As a result, people became eager to share their experiences on different social media channels.
After this plan, Spotify’s mobile app downloads increased by %20, which made it more popular among social media users to share their Spotify Wrapped on their profiles.
Bottom Line
Viral marketing is a powerful digital marketing method that has revolutionized how businesses connect with their audience. However, launching a successful viral campaign is not that easy, and you need to brainstorm about its story, message, and user action. As technology continues to evolve, viral marketing will undoubtedly continue to shape the marketing landscape, offering endless opportunities for businesses to captivate audiences.
If you need help spreading your message to your target audience, create a campaign on Ainfluencer and invite influencers to participate. On our marketplace, you can easily find influencers to promote your brand’s products or campaigns.
FAQs
The main purpose of viral marketing campaigns is to engage the audience with your brand and its message. As the name indicates, viral marketing means spreading your desired information from one person to another in a costless and organic way. Just like how easily a virus spreads!
The word viral refers to how a virus spreads. Therefore, it is used when something spreads rapidly to others. The reason it is called viral marketing is that it resembles how viruses spread from one person to another.
Several factors can impact the success of a viral campaign. To list a few, we can mention the story telling, the right time to launch, being visually appealing, and having practical value.
