How to Go Viral: 3 Tips for Marketers

Viral campaigns, when successful, can be some of the most effective marketing techniques out there. However, creating a campaign that stands a good chance of going viral is not an easy task, otherwise everyone would be doing it. Furthermore, a poor attempt could end up trending for the wrong reasons, harming your brand.

This doesn't mean you should give up, of course. There are plenty of ways to give your campaign the best possible chance of going viral for the right reasons, earning your brand a boost in awareness and engagement. Here are three tips marketers should consider when creating such a campaign.

Be as visual as possible

Can you think of a viral campaign that was almost purely text-based? The answer is probably "no". Audiences respond so much better to visuals, and a key element that determines virality is how well a piece of content stands out from the many others that litter social media feeds.

So what makes an image or video likely to go viral? The Personal Branding Blog recommends you make your visuals "humorous, informative or surprising" while also making sure they are on-brand. Out of these elements, surprise is probably the most important. Content an audience has never seen before is more likely to be shared.

Tell your audience something they don't know

SEO Site Checkup's Robin Burton talks about the "I never knew that" moment. This is the point where a user is hooked into a piece of content by something that is interesting and unique, leading to a like, a share or a subscribe.

Being viral in many ways depends on this moment, as it's this that causes an audience to want to share your content. Adding value is the foundation of all content marketing, and while entertainment is a value in itself, it is much more effective when paired up with interesting knowledge.

Be ready to interact with your audience

It's not enough to create a great piece of content, unfortunately. This is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to going viral. Because the vast majority of content sharing goes on over social media, it is very likely you will attract comments and attempts to interact with you once your campaign goes live.

Business.com is clear that one of the most important aspects of viral campaigns is how you interact with the audience. This is what will change your campaign from something fun, but disposable, to something that genuinely builds engagement. You can use your campaign to cultivate more of a relationship with your audience and help your viral campaign have a long-term impact.