How many times have you heard, or been asked to “Make it Viral”? Probably plenty. With the rise of online advertising came the rise of the ask to make it viral. My answer to this question has become a standard one. Either make it really good, or make it really bad. That’s viral.
Viral activity as an objective is an impossibility, clients hire agencies to create advertising that answers their objectives. Having a campaign go viral is the holy grail in advertising today. Getting your campaign in front of as many eyes as possible for as long as possible is the goal. We’ve all been sent something where it’s just so good that we can’t wait to send it along, share it on our blogs, facebook, through IM. We’ve also been there, on the chain where something gets sent back to you, that you already sent around weeks, months, years ago that triggers the immediate “seen it”. This is viral.
Generally speaking the things I actually share or send around are things that are entertaining, funny, laughable. Sometimes due to the inherent cleverness or others, and quite honestly, and more frequently – silly. Most people have seen hamster dance, the cuppy cake song, and starwars kid. None of which were intended to be viral, they just were. When advertising goes viral, it’s because it’s good. It resonates, it surprises us, it’s clever. Whopper Freakout, Subservient Chicken,
I don’t believe in ‘tricks’ to help with viral marketing. Consumers are smart, and generally don’t like to be tricked. A recent example would be lonelygirl15. When I found out it wasn’t real. I was disappointed. Someone was profiting. It makes you as a consumer cautious, jaded. Creating a myspace/facebook fan page for non-existent brand characters has become transparent, and consumers are more frequently shying away from allowing advertisers into their social networks.
So how do you create something viral? You make it good. You do something new. You do something funny. Whether it be for the objective of selling, PR, or just awareness. As an advertiser, or an agency we walk a fine line between viral and spam. Putting something out there and seeding it to bloggers, and communities is a good start. Make it their decision of whether or not it’s something they’ll share.
Don’t create new accounts on forums, or post shameless, and obvious self promotional messages on blogs popular with your demographic as comments. It doesn’t work. It annoys your target. Let the content speak for itself, if it’s good, people will share it organically. Let it happen. Rely on the power of what I like to call the “nodes”.
Nodes are users within social networks who are early-adopters, the first with the funny links, the first with the new technology, they’re the ones who have the credibility. They’ll share it if they like it, and if they like it, their friends will look at it, so on and so forth. Every social circle has them, it starts at the top and then trickles down, that’s why you see the waves of sharing. It’s why you get links you sent out 6 months ago from your Mom, your aunt, your old highschool friend. It’s because someone shared it with them down the line.
It’s important to band together with a common answer when it says “viral” in the brief.
Viral isn’t a strategy. It’s a reaction to good content.
- Amy Miranda
