We have witnessed many occasions of viral videos gaining insane amounts of views in the past 15+ years. Videos like “Charlie bit my finger – Again!” or songs like “Chocolate Rain,” “Lazy Sunday”, Susan Boyle’s rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Tallent, and “Gangnam Style” are just some of the examples of how viral videos can break the internet with their popularity. All of those examples were for the entertainment industry. But can we use this principle for business purposes, and what is viral marketing in general? With that in mind, today’s article aims to explain viral marketing strategy. Moreover, it should help you make an informed decision and decide whether this advertising strategy is right for you.
What is Viral Marketing?
We all know what “going viral” means. But how would you define viral marketing? Take a couple of minutes to think about this before you continue reading.
Viral marketing is a form of advertising that catches the eye of your targeted audience and compels them to share it with others. The idea is to share your brand’s message and values in such a way that it becomes a trending topic. As a result, you will see exponential growth in your brand’s awareness.
Now that we have defined what viral marketing is, one might ask, “Isn’t that the purpose of all forms of marketing?” While that is true on an overall level, there is one major difference between viral marketing and other forms of digital advertising. Let us see what that difference is before you start creating your business marketing plan.
Upsides and downsides of viral marketing
When a viral marketing campaign goes live, and it actually becomes viral, you will lose all control over its course. Everything is in the hands of people all around the world. While that can benefit your business on a large scale, it can also create negative publicity. A huge downside is that if things start going south, it will become almost impossible to stop the wave.
If you are creating a business marketing plan and relying on the benefits of viral marketing, you must consider the pros and cons of viral marketing first.
How to create and run a viral marketing campaign?
One thing to have in mind is that you can never guarantee success with a viral marketing campaign. What you can do is try your best to optimize it for the current market and hope for the best results.
According to the moversdev.com marketing team, the three most important elements that may positively affect the outcome of a viral marketing campaign are:
- timing;
- authenticity;
- social awareness;
Let’s see why these three elements are so important and why they may make or break your viral marketing efforts.
It is all about the timing
The online world is a highly fast-paced environment. Trends come and go in a heartbeat; if you don’t use your spotlight, the opportunity will pass and may never present itself again. That is why timing is crucial for viral marketing.
You need to be informed about the latest trends and events and use them to create the base for the viral marketing campaign. As soon as something big happens, it would help if you used it as a trigger to quickly publish your marketing idea. Tomorrow might be too late if you don’t act at that moment. Remember, the one who does it first is the one who gets the spotlight. Everything else is just people trying to rehash old ideas.
It is essential to be authentic
As mentioned in the previous section, reusing old viral trends is not a good idea. You need something new, something fresh. Something that was not seen before. You need to be authentic.
But the main question is, how can someone be authentic in a world where every single idea has been used and reused in a multitude of variations? It is challenging but not impossible.
Let’s take a step back from what the campaign should be and focus on who the targeted audience is. What do people want to see? What makes an idea viral?
The authenticity of an idea lies in its organic nature, a genuine response to a situation. With that in mind, you need to spark a conversation or elicit a laugh from your customers. Create an emotional connection. That is how you can be authentic.
Another idea is to make the campaign culturally relevant. Your customers belong to a specific culture that is close to their hearts. Use that as a way to connect with them.
Practice social awareness
One of the reasons why a viral marketing campaign could become so successful is that it is treading a fine line between “yea” and “nay.” On the one hand, you want to create some risk because that catches the public’s attention. You want to be a little bit cheeky. On the other hand, it is crucial to be tactful and not cross that fine line. That is very tricky to do.
Have in mind that a viral marketing campaign largely depends on a couple of factors:
- how appropriate it is for the current culture and time we live in;
- what the taste of the customers is;
It is very important to understand this because your brand will feel a backlash if you are not careful about what you present to the public. There were so many examples of companies wanting to use social media to grow their business, but they ended up creating a wave of negative publicity due to something they posted without thinking about the potential consequences.
Is viral marketing right for you?
What is viral marketing? It is a “high risk-high reward” marketing strategy that compels your customers to share your brand message with their friends and family. You need to decide for yourself whether it is right for your business or not. As a piece of advice, try to define where your company currently stands and what the marketing needs are. Going viral is not a strategy you should use to build your company but only to help it reach its maximum potential and spark extensive growth.