Viral marketing is a marketing strategy that seeks to get users to share an advertising message quickly and widely, similar to how a virus spreads. The main idea is to create content so attractive and valuable that individuals feel the need to share it with their contacts, thus taking advantage of social networks and other digital platforms to achieve mass dissemination.
This marketing technique is based on the ability of the content to generate interest and motivate users to spread it on their own, thus achieving an exponential reach without the need for direct advertising investment proportional to the impact obtained. Viral messages can take various forms, including videos, memes, articles, games, and other interactive formats.
- Attractive Content
- Ease of Sharing
- Emotional Appeal
- Relevance and topicality
- Incentives to Share
- Use of Social Platforms
- Influencers and Brand Ambassadors
- Incentives to Share
- Analysis and Adjustment
Attractive Content
- Description: The core of viral marketing is content that is interesting, entertaining or valuable enough for people to spontaneously want to share it.
- Examples: Viral videos, memes, shocking articles, infographics….
Ease of sharing
- Description: It is crucial that content is easy to share across multiple platforms and devices.
- Examples: Social media share buttons, direct links to send via instant messaging, and embedding options.
Emotional Appeal
- Description: Content that touches users’ emotions (happiness, surprise, humor, etc.) is more likely to be shared.
Examples: Touching stories, humorous situations, inspirational messages.
Relevance and Topicality
- Description: Content that is relevant to the audience and leverages current trends or popular events has a higher potential to go viral.
- Examples: Campaigns based on current events, viral challenges, hot topics.
Incentives to share
- Description: Offering rewards or incentives can motivate users to share content.
- Examples: Contests, sweepstakes, discounts for sharing, gamification.
Use of Social Platforms
- Description: Social networks are essential for viral dissemination, providing the means for content to be shared quickly and widely.
- Examples: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube.
Influencers and Brand Ambassadors
- Description: Collaborating with influencers or brand ambassadors can amplify the reach of viral content.
- Examples: Sponsored posts, influencer-created challenges, reviews and mentions.
Analysis and Adjustment
- Description: Monitoring the performance of viral content and adjusting the strategy based on the data collected is crucial to maximize impact.
- Examples: Social media analytics tools, engagement metrics, share rates.
1.Engaging Content: The first step for any viral marketing campaign is to develop content that captures the attention of the audience. This content must be unique, visually stunning and emotionally resonant. Researching and understanding what motivates your audience is crucial to creating content that is not only engaging, but also share-worthy.
2. Shareability: For viral content to spread quickly, it must be extremely easy to share. This includes incorporating social media buttons in prominent places, as well as optimizing content to look good on a variety of devices and platforms. Simplifying the sharing process will significantly increase the likelihood that users will share.
3. Emotional Appeal: Content that evokes strong emotions, such as joy, surprise or humor, has a higher likelihood of being shared. Using storytelling techniques to connect emotionally with the audience and reinforcing the message with visual and auditory elements can enhance the emotional impact of the content.
4. Relevance and topicality: Aligning your content with current trends and popular events is essential to increase its relevance. Staying on top of your audience’s interests and launching campaigns at strategic times can maximize the visibility and impact of your content.
5. Incentives for Sharing: Offering incentives can be a powerful motivator for users to share your content. Rewards such as discounts, exclusive access or participation in contests can encourage users to spread your message, turning the sharing process into an engaging activity.
6. Use of Social Platforms: Identifying and focusing on the social platforms where your audience is most active is crucial. Each platform has its own dynamics and optimizing your content for each can significantly increase the reach and effectiveness of your campaign.
7. Influencers and Brand Ambassadors: Collaborating with influencers and brand ambassadors can amplify the reach of your campaign. These individuals have a loyal audience that trusts their recommendations. By designing challenges or campaigns that influencers can promote, you can reach a much wider and more diverse audience.
By following these steps, brands can develop effective viral marketing campaigns that not only capture the audience’s attention, but also encourage active participation and content dissemination. This structured approach ensures that every aspect of the campaign is designed to maximize impact and reach, leveraging the power of social media and personal connections to achieve mass reach.
- “Ice Bucket Challenge”: An ALS awareness campaign that went viral through videos of people pouring ice water on themselves and challenging others to do the same.
- Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”: A series of humorous commercials that generated a large number of online parodies and responses, significantly increasing brand awareness.
«Contagious: Why Things Catch On» by Jonah Berger:
Este libro explora los principios detrás de la transmisión de boca en boca y cómo algunas ideas y productos se vuelven populares. Jonah Berger This book explores the principles behind word-of-mouth and how some ideas and products become popular. Jonah Berger offers specific techniques to help information spread. More information and resources about the book are available at : jonahberger.com.
BookAuthority:
This site lists the best viral marketing books recommended by experts. You can explore the list and find options that suit your needs at : BookAuthority.
«Principles of Marketing» of OpenStax:
This book offers a complete introduction to marketing, including current techniques and strategies. You can read it or download it for free from : OpenStax https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-marketing
Frequently asked questions about viral marketing
The advantages of viral marketing include:
- Broad and Rapid Reach: Allows content to reach a very wide audience in a short time without the need for a commensurate advertising investment.
- Cost Effective: It is often cheaper than traditional advertising campaigns, as it is based on organic content sharing.
- Increased Credibility: When content is shared by friends or family, it is perceived as more trustworthy and authentic.
- Increased Engagement: Viral content tends to generate high levels of audience interaction and participation (BookAuthority) (Coursera).
The challenges of viral marketing include:
- Unpredictability: It is not always easy to predict what content will go viral.
- Limited Control: Once content goes viral, it is difficult to control how it is shared and how it is perceived.
- Risk of Negative Publicity: If the content is not well received, it can generate a negative reaction and damage brand reputation.
- Content Saturation: In an information-saturated environment, it can be difficult to stand out and capture the attention of the audience (Jonah Berger) (Internet Archive).
Viral social media marketing can be used in the following ways:
- Create Shareable Content: Design content that people want to share, such as funny videos, memes and challenges.
- Collaborate with Influencers: Work with influencers to promote your content to their followers.
- Use Popular Hashtags: Incorporate relevant and trending hashtags to increase content visibility.
- Promote Interaction: Encourage users to comment, share and tag others in your content.
Small businesses can benefit from viral marketing in several ways:
- Broad Reach on a Small Budget: Viral marketing allows small businesses to reach a mass audience without the need for large advertising investments. Well-designed content can spread widely, generating significant impact on a limited budget.
- Increased Brand Awareness: Viral campaigns can increase brand visibility and make the brand known to a wider audience. This is especially useful for small businesses looking to gain recognition in saturated markets.
- Customer Interaction and Loyalty: Viral content often generates high levels of engagement, which helps build a community of loyal and engaged followers. This can translate into increased customer retention and positive word-of-mouth.
- Traffic Generation and Sales: By attracting more visitors to their website or physical store, small businesses can see an increase in sales. The traffic generated by a viral campaign can also improve conversion and sales opportunities in the long run.
