Member Article

How to make your campaign go viral

Viral marketing campaigns have taken over our social media feeds this year. The no makeup selfie, the ice bucket challenge and the dog selfie have captured the attention of CEOs, politicians, celebrities and consumers alike and raised awareness of brands as well as millions of pounds for charities.

But it isn’t just about charitable causes. Companies use viral campaigns to create a buzz around a service or product, push a company name and logo in front of new audiences or reach new followers via social media platforms.

Throughout the course of this year there have been some great examples of successful viral campaigns. In July, chocolate maker Cadbury’s decided to construct a giant Facebook thumb out of their signature Dairy Milk chocolate bars to boost the number of likes on their Facebook page. It worked – within hours an additional 40,000 users liked their page and 350,000 watched a real-time video of the thumb being made.

Another notable viral campaign was that of South African company Urban Degree Clothing. They came up with an ingenious idea focused around the selfie. They offered customers a $10 voucher for taking a selfie wearing their clothing and posting it on social media using the #urbanselfie. As part of the campaign, the customer with the most retweeted selfie won a $1,000 shopping spree with the company. Not only did this campaign expose new audiences to their clothing, it raised the profile of the business in the fashion world, boosted its online presence and encouraged more customers to shop in store.

So how can you replicate this? Whilst some would argue that there is no guarantee of ever succeeding as it depends on the luck of the draw, US entrepreneur, marketer and author Jonah Berger suggests there is a science behind viral marketing campaigns. He says there are six key principles drive people to help make a campaign go viral and uses the acronym STEPPS (Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value and Stories). The idea behind this is that people share content that makes them feel something – a funny video or image, an interactive action that customers can get to complete then pass on (like the ice bucket challenge), or a trend that they can associate themselves with to be perceived in a certain way socially.

Whilst I accept his point, I am not convinced that viral marketing is a science. I am, however, certain that if you create compelling content that has a ‘sharability factor’ for your target audience, you will succeed in delivering a campaign with real results for your business. Here are some tips to help you:

• Focus on current events an trends then create you’re a concept with your own twist
• Produce a video and create visuals
• Pay attention to key words and tags (SEO)
• Use humour
• Create a contest or interactive platform for your audience to increase engagement
• Be social
• Encourage people to share, share, share

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by KD Communications .