What is Viral marketing?
Dollar Shave Club, The Ice Bucket Challenge, The Big Word Project, Hotmail, etc. These are some of the finest examples of viral marketing where the message spread like a “virus”, hence deriving the name. Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product through word of mouth or organic growth. Memes, shares, likes, and forwards are some popular ways in which products or ideas can go viral. Once a campaign goes viral, it is an easy and cheap way to gain publicity.
Social media is a force multiplier here with billions of users in Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and others.
Ways to create viral content for your products
Social Currency: If your content makes the customer feel important socially, they might spread it ahead. E.g. Hunter Boots that provided shoes for Queen of England.
Triggers: Creating triggers so that you get at the tip of the tongue of your users. Eg Rebecca Black
Emotion: Focusing on feelings rather than emotions is essential as social arousal can kindle a fire within the users. Eg United Breaks Guitar
Public: Should be agreeable and something that can be shared with the users. Eg Livestrong bracelets
Practical Value: Something that adds value is more willingly shared by the users.
Stories: Campaigns that carry stories like a Trojan Horse are more acceptable and relatable by the readers. Eg Be a Scout campaign
Components of making viral content
According to Kaplan, giving the right message to the right messengers in the right environment is essential for viral marketing.
- Messenger: They are required for the message to spread quickly. It is further classified into
- Marketing mavens: These are the ones in the pulse of things. They usually receive the message first and spread it further
- Social hubs: They are people with hundreds of connections. They serve to enable transmission of the message further into different sub-cultures.
- Salespeople: They amplify the message they receive from the marketing mavens before spreading it further.
- Message: The message delivered should be both memorable and interesting. Further, it should follow the STEPPS methodology. Only then it becomes a “must-see”.
- Environment: The timing and the launch of the marketing event must be right to be successful.
Mediums that viral marketing utilizes
- Influencer marketing
- Customer participation
- Search Engine Optimization
- Social Media Optimization
- Web Search Engines and Blogs
- Target marketing web services
Advantages of Viral marketing
- Low cost: The cost of viral marketing is much lesser as compared to traditional marketing campaigns.
- Not invasive: Here the user chooses to view and share, unlike where an advertisement is forced on the user.
- Helps in quick brand recognition: The speed and acceptance are much quicker in the case of viral marketing tools. The onus of sustainability lies with the product and the corporation.
- Potential to reach out to a large audience: A smaller company or private individual can go viral and reach an international audience in a short amount of time.
Bottomline
Viral marketing can be the best strategy for your early-stage startup. Good content will spread without any biases for your current company size or revenue. Many startup success stories resonate with their first viral video or campaign that captured the imagination of millions of people. How do you best know what could go viral? Keep on creating content and become receptive to the number of new social media platforms that are available.