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How to Create A Viral Marketing Campaign in 2024

Viral marketing campaign

Initially, most people correlated Viral Marketing with Viral videos.

However, this correlation was somehow valid. Just like a viral video is contagious and spreads.

Similarly, Viral Marketing is a form of marketing that takes relatively less time to reach out to the target audience.

Elements of Viral Marketing can be a video, post, audio, picture, content, and even a joke.

Anything can go viral if it meets the need of the marketers. This is why Viral Marketing has become the latest trend among marketers.

Viral Marketing is based upon engaging, entertaining, unique, and relevant content that can instantly hit the web.

You must have heard about some video and audio content getting viral within a short period because they had something unique for which the audience was compelled to share it with their friends.

A meme with some content related to a current burning event will go viral if the user finds it unique and exciting, and it is one of the trendiest viral marketing examples.

It works on creating engaging and entertaining content that can tap into the emotions of the users. We will delve into those emotions later; first, let us understand the Viral Marketing Definition-

Very often, we do come across the term “Viral Marketing.”

What is Viral Marketing?

It is a marketing technique in which the marketing content is framed so that it generates tremendous interest among the people and spreads like a virus.

The message of the business content in viral marketing campaigns spreads rapidly from one person to another.

The best thing about this marketing technique is that this one is cost-effective at the same time, and there are various Viral Marketing Examples to look at.

Users on their work to market your brand by sharing content. The user shares the content hence the marketing expense is minimal.

With the vast expansion of the social network, it has become easy to enhance your marketing. With the use of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc., the advertiser shares their content in video/audio, photo, or blogs.

It is due to these platforms that viral marketing is possible; otherwise, with traditional marketing means like radio/TV, it was next to impossible to make your content go viral.

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Viral marketing meaning is straight and simple- To make the users market your brand without even realizing it.

Percentage Role of Emotions to make Online Content Viral (A BuzzSumo & Statista Study)

As mentioned above, developing an emotional connection is essential in viral marketing.

So, let us now go through different emotions and their roles in making content viral-

Emotions 

Percentage

Awe

25%

Laughter

17%

Amusement 

15%

Joy 

14%

Anger

6%

Empathy 

6%

Surprise, Sadness & Others 

17%

Now, we are ready to dive deep into the working of viral marketing campaigns-

How does Viral Marketing work?

Viral marketing campaign

It is a straightforward process like other marketing methods; you must create content, publish it on the internet, and then wait for a response.

You can never predict which content will go viral and which will not. It depends upon the user. Sometimes unexpected content can go viral, and sometimes when you are damn sure about the content, it will fail to fulfill its purpose.

The gist is that you need to create unique and exciting content that the audience will like to share.

Sometimes Virality can be unintentional, you may share a video accidentally, and it can go viral if it contains interesting content.

When brands create an advertising video, they can highlight or conceal their brand name.

In video content that shows the brand name, the user knows the brand name at the start of the video, but in a concealed video, there remains suspense throughout the content, and the name is revealed at the end.

The second type of video content can go viral a lot, but there are a few critical things that advertisers must keep in mind; the video content should be framed in such a way that it doesn’t look suspicious, and the user should not feel getting tricked otherwise the campaign can go against you.

(i) Few things that must be kept in mind are never showing too much desperation.

(ii) Never become a spammer while sharing the content, as it may upset the audience.

(iii) Content goes viral on its own, so you have to publish it at the right place and wait for it to fuse.

Advantages of Viral Marketing

There are several considerable ways viral videos can make your marketing effective.

If you are not using it for your business, you are missing out on a huge factor that can enhance your marketing on a grand scale.

The following are the significant advantages of viral marketing that can be beneficial for any business;

(i) Nowadays, marketing is expensive, and if you want to do it better, it can cost you heavily.

However, if you use a viral marketing technique, you do not have to worry about the expense, as it is probably the most cost-effective marketing method. Since the users are doing most of your job, viral marketing costs are meager.

(ii) One of the most vital advantages of viral marketing is that it can reach many audiences without much investment.

The range of this type of marketing is infinite. You never know who can share the content with whom. Even small businesses can reach out to a wide range of customers.

(iii) Whenever the content goes viral, the decision users make is not invasive; hence the interaction is better and not similar to traditional advertising methods.

(iv) If you successfully create creative content, you can best market your brand with the help of viral marketing.

There is no doubt that this method can be compelling to reach many customers.

Tips for running a Viral Marketing Campaign

Making effective content that can hit the mark is never easy, and you need to make a perfect strategy before creating the content for your marketing campaigns.

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There is massive competition in the market, and if you want to stand out from them, then unique and engaging content can lead you through that.

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Following are the specific Viral Marketing Hacks that you must consider while creating content for your campaign-

Target the Right Audience & Channel

Before creating content, the most important thing to consider is to find out the targeted audience.

You need to figure out the platform where your targeted audience spends most of their time.

(i) The message does not go viral on its own hence you need to trigger the right spot.

(ii) Targeting the right channel is equally important because if you are not using the right channel, things will not go in your way.

Use Videos

Nothing is more effective than video marketing content to make a campaign viral. We get influenced by video content very easily than others. Hence, video content can quickly go viral.

(i) It will engage the users. As you add videos on Daily Motion and YouTube, your friends and your audience can watch them, and if they find it interesting, they will share it.

(ii) This will lead the video to go viral, and different websites, Social Media Channels, and blogs will also feature that, building trust among those who will watch it.

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Offer Valuable Things for Free

People like to get things for free, and who doesn’t? There is probably none who would hate to get things for free of cost.

The “Free” word can attract a number of customers to your brand; hence this is one of the most effective strategies to attract traffic.

(i) A number of successful marketing campaigns use the word “free” in their vocabulary. You will not be getting profit then, but sooner or later, if you build a market, you will earn huge profits.

(ii) You would have to give some things for free if you want the users to pay attention to your key products and where your business will reach the sky heights.

Make an Emotional Appeal

This is the key technique of “viral marketing.” Almost all of the content goes viral because it appeals to them emotionally.

Things will not get viral if there is no emotional appeal.

It is all about emotions. But here, a common question might strike your mind how do you create such content? To create emotional content, you will have to;

(i) Fill it with love, passion, commotion, or something thought-provoking.

(ii) The main element of the content can either be a genius or dumb.

(iii) Make content that will make people feel extremely happy or passionate about something.

(iv) If you successfully attack the right area with emotional content, your content has a high chance of going viral.

(v) The people will only share content if it is unique and has something creative. People will watch it and share it if something resonates with their lifestyle or thinking process.

Integrate Sharing, Embedding & Downloading

Make sure sharing, embedding, or downloading your content is easy. With this help, the chances of your content going viral are huge.

You need to create content and allow the following features-

(i) Easily share

(ii) Easily embed on their site

(iii) Download the content in an easy way

There is a straightforward rule of marketing – the more simplified your content is, the more attraction you will get from the audience.

If you alleviate sharing and downloading and your content is compelling enough, your audiences will surely share them.

This will also improve your social outreach.

Ultimately, it is about increasing your reach to a wide range of customer networks. You need to help your content to reach out to a number of people.

(i) To do so, you must also have a social network where you can share the content.

(ii) Develop a social account so you can provide the content to a number of people when you first publish it, as it will be more beneficial.

Let us now understand the dynamics via some of the best Viral Marketing Examples-

Viral Marketing Examples
1. Old Spice’s “The Man, Your Man Could Smell Like” Campaign

Old Spice is one of the trendiest viral marketing examples, which came up with some out-of-the-box and highly engaging ad campaigns that also depicted the brand character of Old Spice.

This campaign came out in 2010 and is still contemporary regarding the case studies of some best viral marketing examples.

“The Man, Your Man, Could Smell Like” viral marketing campaign of Old Spice received a highly positive response from the prospects and generated more than 55 Million Views on YouTube.

After the ad was launched starring Isaiah Mustafa, the agency came up with 200 short videos for answering queries on Twitter and Facebook Sorts of Social Media Platforms.

The unique part of this was featuring Isaiah Mustafa in all the short videos.

This increases the Social Media Following of Old Spice by 1000 percent.

(i) This ensured better engagement.

(ii) Integration of social media and television was top-notch.

(iii) Real-time response from Old Spice Man (Isaiah Mustafa) boosted conversions.

2. Dove “Real Beauty Sketches” Campaign

Unilever’s Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign in 2013 is again one of the best Viral Marketing Examples. The campaign was designed to empower females about their appearance.

This unique and highly creative campaign involved an FBI-trained sketch artist Gil Zamora who sketched two portraits of one woman-

(i) The first portrait, as per the description given by the woman herself

(ii) The second portrait, as per the description given by strangers

As a result, depictions given by strangers helped the sketch be more attractive than the self-description given by that woman.

The motive behind this campaign was to provoke the thought that you are more beautiful than you think.

(i) This video campaign got more than 114 Million Views just in the first month.

(ii) Audiences consumed it in more than 110 countries, and it was the most-watched internet video of 2013.

(iii) A Brand that references its culture will for sure have the potential to go viral is one of the essential takeaways of this campaign.

(iv) Involving customers in a discussion where they can put forward their perspectives or feel motivated is another crucial factor in making a campaign viral. You can learn this from Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” Campaign.

To Conclude:

Offering value to your audiences and developing an emotional connection is one of the most critical factors that can make a campaign viral. This will increase your brand’s exposure and your business’s reach, lead generation, and sales potential.

Joining a Digital Marketing Course can enable you to learn and master the best online marketing practices essential to run a result-driven Viral Marketing Campaign.

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FAQ

1. What are the types of viral marketing?

There are two types of viral marketing campaigns:

  • Organic, also known as “in-the-wild” campaigns
  • Amplified, also known as “controlled” campaigns

2. What are the elements of viral marketing?

The viral marketing campaign has the following elements-

  • Strong emotional presence
  • A big name or a good cause
  • A unique view of the times
  • Connection with your audience
  • Simplicity

3. What are viral marketing strategies?

Viral marketing is a promotional strategy that aims to spread a campaign quickly and widely through social sharing.

4. What is the objective of viral marketing?

In digital marketing, Viral marketing is a promotional strategy that aims to reach a mass audience through word-of-mouth and social sharing.

5. Who invented viral marketing?

Steve Jurvetson invented the term ‘viral marketing in 1997

Avatar of garima kakkar
Garima Kakkar
Garima is a data-driven marketing manager who is buff of Big Data, Digital Marketing & Social Media. Conceiving and executing Digital Marketing Strategies that focus on the audience engagement and acquisition/growth are her strong suits. Writing blogs is something that she holds high for sharing her expertise of which you can get the dividends here, through Digital Vidya blogs.

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