A common misconception among many beginners in the marketing field is that the success of an advertising campaign depends solely on the budget. They assume that low-cost advertising is bound to fail. But this is far from the truth. And the most convincing evidence of this is viral marketing.
What is Viral Marketing?
This is an effective way of promoting your product or service by tapping into the emotions of your target audience. It’s almost like brainwashing them into becoming your advocates. And they willingly or unwittingly spread your message to others.
Every person who comes across your ad potentially becomes a distributor. It's a budget-friendly way to attract a huge number of leads.
Definition
Here’s your viral content definition: viral marketing is a unique advertising technique that relies on the emotional impact of the content on the consumer. But that’s not the only factor. It is also part of guerrilla marketing – a global strategy that aims to cut down the advertising costs. Therefore, this approach allows you to save money on your marketing budget.
The main goal of viral marketing is to trigger an emotional response from the target audience to the content. And what do we humans do when we are emotionally moved by something? We want to share it with others. That’s how ads start to spread like wildfire, from mouth to mouth, from message to message, filling up social media feeds and even reaching influencers. Interestingly, it doesn’t really matter whether the ad has a positive or negative effect, whether it makes you laugh, curious, sympathetic or angry. These are all strong emotions that compel us to share. And negative ones even more so than positive ones.
Viruses can be classified into five categories: entertainment, information (and misinformation), sales, education and scandal.
Importance in Modern Marketing
Viral marketing has become a cornerstone of modern marketing: it’s hard to imagine an ad or a commercial that wouldn’t try this particular approach while fighting for user attention. The reason behind it is obvious: viral marketing is known for its outstanding ability to create widespread awareness and engagement in a blink of an eye. Awareness, however, isn’t the only benefit you get if you implement viral marketing into your strategy.
- Amplified reach. A well-executed viral marketing campaign can reach millions with minimal effort compared to traditional advertising. You can achieve that by leveraging social sharing, enabling campaigns to spread across various platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Cost-effectiveness. Hashtags aren’t dead at all — they’ve just been transformed. If you know how to arrange a creative hashtag challenge, you can thus generate immense traction without requiring extensive paid media. After all, viral marketing tends to rely on user-generated content and organic sharing, and this is exactly how you can reduce advertising costs.
- Brand awareness. You’ve seen it countless times across all platforms: one video turns into a meme, and if this meme gets associated with a brand… people start talking. That’s how viral content works: it places brands in front of diverse and large audiences, increasing recognition and recall.
- Engaged audiences. Everyone wants to conquer an engaged audience that forms a connection with a brand and boosts loyalty. Viral marketing exposes that need and scores a hit, as it thrives on emotional content that emboldens interaction in any form — likes, comments, and/or shares.
- Trust and credibility. Content shared by friends or influencers carries a sense of endorsement, so you can use this social proof to influence purchasing decisions.
- Rapid results. Impatient business owners and marketers can finally feel rewarded, because viral campaigns achieve results within days — in certain cases, within hours after the launch.
Benefits and Challenges of Viral Marketing
Let’s begin with the bright side.
Pros
Cost-effective way to run an advertising campaign. You don’t have to pay for the viral spread of your ad, only for its initial launch (seeding). For example, posting a meme on a few dozen public pages on Facebook is not very expensive and it can reach millions of users.
Huge reach. Of course, it all depends on your skill and, let’s face it, luck. But getting your ad in front of a hundred thousand people, paying only for ten thousand impressions, is quite a common scenario.
Ability to subtly influence the mood of the audience and create a positive attitude towards the product. Viral ads, if they are really good, stick in the mind. And usually, when people get a “good laugh” along with an ad, they become more receptive to the product. They think, if the creators of such content are good, the product must be good too.
Long-lasting advertising. A successful viral ad can keep the interest in the project alive for a long time. For instance, do you remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? This was a social media campaign that raised awareness and funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The challenge involved people dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads, nominating others to do the same, and donating money to the ALS Association. It went viral in 2014, with celebrities, athletes, politicians and ordinary people participating. The campaign raised over $220 million for ALS research and increased public awareness of the disease.
Way to disguise advertising. Grey niches (gambling, nutra), ads that are banned from official channels (alcohol, cigarettes) – viral marketing can bypass all these obstacles. After all, it can cleverly conceal the product, while still making it recognizable.
Cons
Well, the benefits are significant. Let’s look at the drawbacks:
Uncontrollable. Launching a viral ad is like setting fire to dry grass. The fire can easily spread to the crops. So the effect could very well be negative if you haven’t done your homework.
Just an add-on. Like any guerrilla marketing method, viral ads alone cannot sell. They can attract attention and interest, but you will also need traditional methods. At the very least, you will need to show your USP (unique selling proposition).
Dependent on luck. The method relies heavily on chance. Even top marketers cannot predict the outcome of a viral ad with 100% certainty. Even 50% is unlikely.
Viral Marketing Tools and Formats
They are not very different from traditional advertising tools. The only condition is that viral advertising uses a format that is easy to share – forward, send a link, tell where the banner is and so on. Read on to find out more about the tools — and illustrate the narrative with examples of viral marketing. How to find viral content? Just scroll your feed: you’ll recognize the viral gem once you see it.
Video Content
The most convenient and effective way. The main feature is that the video should be short and informative. Otherwise, it will not be suitable for word-of-mouth marketing unless it contains extremely interesting or shocking information. For example, here is a video from PooPourri.com. Their bold move has already earned 44 million views, which means people are willingly going to YouTube to watch the ad themselves.
Viral advertising video example by PooPourri
Images and GIFs
Creating a viral ad with images is easier, but they are often less powerful than videos. However, the difference is not significant. Often, to launch such a viral campaign, common memes are used. For instance, Bud Light created a viral marketing campaign based on the “Dilly Dilly” meme, which originated from their commercials that featured mediaeval characters saying “Dilly Dilly” as a toast.
The meme caught on with their target audience of young and fun-loving drinkers, who used it to express approval, celebration or solidarity in various situations. The meme also generated a lot of social media buzz and engagement, as fans shared their own “Dilly Dilly” moments and videos.
But not all viral marketing campaigns are successful and well-received by the public. Sometimes, they can backfire and cause more harm than good. For example, in 2012, Reebok launched a campaign with the slogan “Cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout” in various gyms in Germany.
The campaign was supposed to be humorous and provocative, but it sparked a lot of outrage and criticism from the audience. Many people found the slogan offensive, sexist and insensitive, and accused Reebok of promoting infidelity and disrespecting women.
Social Media Posts
This is a hybrid method that combines both text and visual content, such as images or videos. However, the main message is conveyed by the text. The types of posts can vary from scandalous, funny, educational or informative, depending on the goal of the campaign. It’s a way of using multiple elements to create a viral effect.
A great example of another viral marketing ad is Oreo, a cookie brand, that posted a clever tweet during the Super Bowl blackout in 2013. The tweet featured an image of an Oreo cookie in the dark, with the caption “You can still dunk in the dark”. The tweet was witty and timely, it went viral with over 15,000 retweets and 6,000 likes.
Outdoor Advertising (Billboards)
This is a good option to capture mass attention. For example, McDonald’s used a billboard to promote its Royal with Chili burger.
It was eye-catching and humorous and generated a lot of interest and curiosity among the public.
Outdoor advertising may be old-fashioned, but it can still be effective.
Viral Marketing Channels
Viral marketing can be done both online and offline, but the former has a much greater impact.
Offline channels can be grouped into one category, which is mainly outdoor advertising. Online channels, however, offer more variety and possibilities:
Advertising networks – these are platforms that connect advertisers with many websites (ranging from small blogs to large portals) that match their target audience and theme. This method requires careful manual selection of the websites to ensure the effectiveness of the campaign. Automatic targeting is not advisable.
Social networks – these are the best platforms for launching viral campaigns, but only the most popular ones should be considered: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. These networks have millions of users who can easily share and spread your content.
Large forums – these are old-fashioned, but still relevant channels. They allow you to reach a specific niche of users who share common interests. However, this method requires creating a credible profile that fits the forum’s culture and norms.
Video hostings – these are similar to social networks, but with less emphasis on community and more on content. Obviously, this method only works with video format, and such type of viral content can be more costly and challenging to produce.
Social Media Platforms
To create a successful viral advertising campaign, you should get back to the question we’ve asked at the beginning of the article: what is viral advertising? The meaning is clear: advertising that spreads like a virus. Keeping that in mind, analyze social media platforms: traditionally, their practices for viral marketing are different and depend on the features and functions of each site:
Community promotion. Many social networks have communities or groups that users can join or follow, but not all of them are effective for viral marketing. For example, paying for viral posts in selected Facebook groups or pages may not yield much results. On Instagram, community pages are similar to influencer profiles and often do not collaborate with brands, but rather serve as their online portfolios.
Reward for reposts. You can incentivize users to share your content by offering them some rewards. Of course, paying cash for every repost is only feasible for big brands, but there are other options: you can offer bonuses, discounts or coupons for your products or services. Or you can simply organise a giveaway: randomly select a few winners from the users who reposted your content and reward them with free subscriptions, services or products. If you have a large and active audience, this can be a very profitable strategy.
Paid advertising in the feed. Most social networks display ads directly in the user’s news feed. This is a convenient way, but it requires two conditions. First, your content must stand out from the rest of the user’s feed and catch their attention. This is not very hard to do: most entertainment or news pages post low-quality content with high frequency. You can invest more time and effort into creating high-quality and engaging content. Second, you must create a well-targeted advertising campaign that reaches your ideal audience. You cannot just pick a few pages that have a similar audience and hope for the best. You need to use various criteria and factors to narrow down your audience and optimise your campaign. We have explained how to set up and run targeting on Instagram in one of our articles.
If you want to promote your project through viral marketing, social media will always be the best platform available.
Email Marketing
Viral marketing can work within the frames of email marketing: all you have to do is combine the principles of viral content with email campaigns, encouraging users to share the message within their networks. This strategy leverages the power of social sharing and word-of-mouth to expand the campaign's reach.
Your number one priority is to create engaging, shareable content: the emails you craft should contain entertaining or emotionally resonant message that recipients will want to share. It’s not your first day on the internet, you know how it works: creative visuals, compelling stories, exclusive offers — anything that drives interest.
Keep in mind, however, that you should nudge people to share your message. Implement the tactics you feel would suit the situation: for example, add this enticing phrase somewhere, something like “Share this message with 5 friends and get a 20% discount!” Apart from discounts, you can offer exclusive access or free products. By the way, make sure your message contains and a social sharing button, “Forward to a Friend”, or something that encourages sharing and renders the process seamless. Otherwise people will abandon your email after one brief look.
Is there anything else to add? Perhaps, just a little note: as usual, you can highlight exclusivity and include a “Limited-Time-Offer!”, but you already know that. This isn’t a new approach and it is widely used in other types of marketing.
Examples of Viral Email Campaigns
- Referral Programs. You can name a dozen referral programs, but we will stay in the confines of only brand, otherwise the article risks to outshine “War and Peace” and “Les Misérables”. Here’s how Dropbox worked: it gained millions on users through an email referral system, offering extra storage to both referrers and referees.
- Contents or Challenges. Quite common on the internet, too. In these campaigns, users are invited to share an email to participate in a contest or challenge, driving widespread engagement.
- Quirky and Humorous Emails. Ever heard of Dollar Shave Club? Now you have. This company specializes in all things shaving and razors, and you should see their materials. Such humorous content encourages recipients to forward it to show the copywriters’ creativity to all friends around.
Influencer Collaborations
Who doesn’t want to collaborate with influencers, throw a stone at me!.. Well, don’t do that, let’s just talk like civilized people. Anyways, every marketer seeks a way to collaborate with an influencer to drive viral marketing campaigns. The idea is to play with the public trust these influencers have established, use the engagement they get on every post, and amplify your brand messages, creating shareable content.
Apart from wide reach and the ability to connect with niche audiences, an influencer, viral content creator, can offer a wide range of other benefits. For example, they toy with the concept of authenticity, very much admired in the modern world — and modern marketing. Followers tend to trust their favorite influencer’s recommendations, so they are several times more likely to engage with the promoted content.
Speaking of the content influencers post on their social media platforms, have you ever noticed how endearingly creative they can be? This is your ticket to success. Not only do influencers know what content will go through the roof and hit the spot, but they are also professionals when it comes to creating engaging and relatable videos and photos that resonate with their audience. They may not be able to predict which Reel goes viral, true, but there’s always the potential, and the more engaging the video is, the higher this potential.
Enough of that. But what about you, business owner, affiliate marketer, or a marketing specialist? What’s in that for you? Social proof. Social proof is the thing you’re hoping to get. Partnering with a well-known influencer lends credibility to your brand.
Popular Types of Viral Advertising
What makes online content go viral? A lot of things, and we’ll discuss them in a moment. First, let us cover ways that can create create viral ads, but some of the most common ones are:
Word of mouth – this is an old but effective method, which existed long before the terms viral or guerrilla marketing were coined. The idea is to make the users share the information with each other, whether they are customers or not. It is enough to see the ad and be impressed by it, even without buying the product. And if the ad is really good, it will spread like wildfire. The best viral ads can reach hundreds of thousands of users in a matter of days.
Rumours – this is where viral marketing can use both information and misinformation. Sometimes the most intriguing, amusing or absurd rumours about a project are deliberately spread by the brand itself. Even if not everything is true, the only way to find out is to get to know the brand and its offer better.
Opinion monitoring – this has two aspects. One is to monitor the reviews, comments, discussions and feedback from the users about the product. This helps the brand identify and address its weaknesses and improve its offer. The other aspect is to influence the opinions by hiring or paying commentators to steer the conversation in a favourable direction.
Scandal – this type involves shock value, provocation and negative publicity. And let’s be honest, this is one of the most effective ways to get attention quickly. It may not be very ethical, but it certainly works. However, there is also a risk of backfiring if the brand goes too far. Customers may end up boycotting or rejecting the brand.
Paid distribution – this is a type of viral marketing that we have already mentioned. It involves rewarding the users for sharing or promoting the content. The rewards can be monetary or non-monetary, such as discounts, coupons or prizes. It is always a good idea to organise giveaways, as they are very popular among users.
Emotional Content
Emotional content is a powerful driver that can trigger audience engagement and encourage people to share the message across platforms. In fact, any emotion you arouse in people — whether it’s joy, sadness, or inspiration — is often perceived as worth sharing. It’s like a chain reaction: you share a post with your friend because it’s unbearably cute, they see as something extremely funny and send it to their friend, and the list goes on. By the way, people are found to interact with content that evokes a strong emotional response, and that’s where you can count on those likes and comments.
In addition, emotional content creates a memorable experience, sticking in the audience’s memory, thus building a connection. In certain cases, you can simply increase brand loyalty, or, on the other hand, it’s possible to foster a sense of relatability.
Examples of Viral Emotional Content
- Dove’s “Real Beauty” Campaign. You’ve seen it before, haven’t you? It was a blast back in the day. The brand highlighted real women’s natural beauty, promoting self-acceptance. Oh, did it ignite widespread discussion! Everyone was talking about it.
Real Beauty Campaign - Spotify Wrapped. An annual campaign everyone anticipates. People on Twitter bring it up early in November, right after the infamous spooky season draws to a close. This campaign evokes nostalgia, and in tow with appealing visuals (excluding the 2024 campaign, that was an AI flop, sorry not sorry), it prompts users to post their Wrapped stats on social media, creating a viral loop.
Spotify Wrapped - Apple’s “The Greatest” Campaign. Your inspiration and inclusivity, right on spot! Apple managed to showcase how its technology empowered individuals with disabilities to live independently and make their dreams come true. Remember the heartwarming visuals? Inspiration is one goal, but the other, greater one, is to emphasize the brand’s commitment to accessibility.
The Greatest Campaign
Humorous Content
We don’t know about you, but we’re one journal that likes a good laugh. Our writers can’t brag the John Mulaney or Taylor Tomlinson kind of humor, but we’re trying to do our best and deliver informational content spiced up with a joke. Bear with our sense of humor. We’re adjusting to the modern trends.
As you can see, humorous content is one of the most effective strategies in viral marketing: laughter breaks barriers and makes your message stick in the minds of your audience.
Humor, however, can be different, and you should choose the right tone to not appear outlandish at best — rude at worst: it may result in huge backlash and comeuppance. We’ve adopted the cancel culture, and we live with it, so take a closer look at these types of humorous content, and choose the one that suits you.
Types of Humorous Content in Viral Marketing
- Satirical content. Parodies or exaggerated takes on cultural trends or everyday situations. Say, if you shoot a comedic take on workplace habits in a LinkedIn post, it might turn into a satirical speech.
- Meme marketing. Personal favorite. If you have social media in a chokehold, you imbibe modern memes and don’t have trouble discerning a Squid Game meme from a K-Pop meme. Why not use it to your advantage? Take a popular meme, or create branded memes to connect with online communities.
- Unexpected twists. Surprise the audience! Change their attitude in a second by wedging in an unexpected punchline or humorous turn! You’ve likely seen commercials that employ this type humor in their work: a video that sets up a dramatic scene, only to end with a comedic outcome.
- Playful brand voice. We’ve mentioned Dollar Shave Club before, and we are bound to do it again, because this is the company that nails playfulness.
- Humorous storytelling. This one may be a little trickier than the previous options, but you can make it once you set your mind on it. As a brand, you can tell funny stories or anecdotes that both convey a message and evoke a sense of relatability.
The moment is as good as any to slap a few examples into your face!
Examples of Viral Humorous Content
- Netflix Social Media Humor. If you’re a fan of Netflix, you know what we’re talking about. We’ve recently come across their Squid-Game-related page somewhere on Instagram, and were absolutely elated to discover an endless source of jokes, memes, and witty remarks. You can’t but get engaged in a dialogue, perhaps with the SMM manager themselves.
Netflix Social Media Humor - Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Campaign. It’s not old, it’s vintage, you punk! It aged like wine: it is so ridiculous and absurd that it still can work and make people discuss it across all imaginable platforms. Remember the rapid-fire transitions! The unexpected scenarios! The punchline!
Timeless Classics - Duolingo’s TikTok Presence. Spanish or vanish! Do you maintain your 11 day streak? And another thousand of jokes about The Green Owl, the Reaper of the Damned (by the damned we mean people who failed to sustain their streak or learn Spanish.) That’s what makes it so funny though: language learning struggles and threatening push notifications.
Not quite TikTok, but media presence nonetheless 
Korean or Get Eaten - The Barbie Movie’s Social Media Marketing. The Barbenheimer phenomenon is so fresh in the memory that we want to bring it up immediately, but alas, this is not what we’re here for. The Barbie movie’s campaign went so incredibly viral as it leaned heavily into humor, using witty captions, meme-able posters, and self-aware jokes about Barbie’s exaggerated world. We don’t know who the SMM manager is, but give that person and Oscar. Really.
Barbie Campaign Unrolled 
And completely unleashed
Relatable Content
We’ve spoken about humorous and emotional content a lot, but what’s the third ingredient in this concoction of digital marketing soup? How to make your content go viral? Quite possibly, relatability is the word you’re looking for. Relatable content taps into shared experiences, emotions, or everyday struggles (hi, Duolingo, I’m learning my Hangeul, I swear!) that activate inner response in a broader audience. When people recognize themselves in the characters in your Reels or memes, they are inclined to engage, share, and, quite possibly, remember the message.
But what makes your content relatable? First of all, simplicity. You should focus on universally understood themes or situations (e.g. work, family, relationships, everyday struggles, common childhood memories and experiences, etc.). Then, the content you are about to post should feel real, not overly polished or meticulously contrived. At the same times, it is expected to align with current trends, memes, or social conversations: for example, right now we’re mentioning Squid Game a little too much, because this is the talk of the day (to some extent). One year ago, people cranked out content with an allusion to Barbie and/or Oppenheimer. Prior to that, you can fish out a few memories about the pandemic, about the sort of creative community people drew into. Please let’s not repeat this “trend”, but it’s impossible to argue: the pandemic became a relatable and interactive experience that helped influencers (and ordinary people) gain audience and recognition.
Proven Methods of Viral Marketing
How to make viral content? Well, make a choice. Viral marketing has a lot of methods that can be used to create and spread viral content.
Pass-along Marketing
This is the basic method. It involves the manual transfer of information from one user to another. The customers or the viewers (or listeners) have to share the content themselves. This is viral internet marketing in its purest form. The most important factor is the quality of the content. Everything depends on it, not on the channels or platforms, but on the creativity of the author and the reaction of the audience.
This is the type of viral advertising that hits the target and spreads like a snowball and there are many examples of it. One of them is PPAP, a viral song by a Japanese artist, which has over 452 million views. There is nothing complex or brilliant about it, but it was the viewers who made it so popular.
Incentivized Campaigns
This is the method that rewards the users for sharing or distributing the content. This includes paying for reposts or hiring users to spread the content. The principle is the same, but we initiate and accelerate the promotion ourselves in hope that the audience will pick it up. This reduces the chance that the content will fail, but it also increases the cost.
Undercover Marketing
This is the method that hides the fact that the content is actually advertising. The goal is to avoid the negative reaction of a potential customer, who may not trust advertising. If they think that they are not being sold anything, they will have a better attitude towards the information. A classic example of this is Reese’s Pieces from Zemeckis’ movie “E.T.”.
The company’s stock soared 65% after the movie’s release. And at that time, no one realised that this was a product placement and the advertising was indeed covert.
Buzz Creation
This is the method that creates hype around the product or brand, using rumours, innuendos or controversies. One of the main tools of buzz marketing is influencer marketing, which is promotion through opinion leaders. They are often assigned the role of spreading prepared rumours. They can use different techniques: words in stories, posts, mentions in videos or podcasts. The main objective is to plant the seed of the viral content and then wait to see what grows out of it.
In 2019, Netflix launched a buzz marketing campaign for its show The Umbrella Academy, which is based on a comic book series by Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance. The campaign involved sending out mysterious packages to influencers and fans, containing clues and hints about the show’s plot and characters. The recipients were encouraged to share their unboxing videos and reactions on social media, using the hashtag #UmbrellaAcademy. The campaign generated a lot of curiosity and excitement among the target audience, who eagerly awaited the show’s premiere.
Viral Marketing Techniques
Here are some of the techniques that can make your content go viral and reach a large audience:
Social relevance. By creating an image or a message that appeals to a certain social group or identity, this technique attracts and influences the audience. For example, the content may imply that the product or the brand is exclusive, elite or intellectual. A common example of this is posts with simple maths problems and a caption like “Only people with an IQ above 135 can solve them”.
Emotions. The audience’s emotions are triggered by this technique, using humour, shock, drama or inspiration. Emotions make the content more memorable and more likely to be shared. The content can use different tones and styles to elicit emotions.
Usefulness. The value or benefit of the content is emphasised by this technique, such as tips and tricks, hacks or solutions. Even if the content is simple or obvious, it can still attract attention and appreciation from the users who find it useful.
Interest. The curiosity or intrigue of the audience is aroused by this technique, such as by leaving a cliffhanger, teaser, question or challenge. The content can also use news or fake news to generate interest. For example, this is how the famous satirical website “The Onion” was promoted.
Consistency. A regular and high-quality output of viral content is maintained by this technique, so that the audience gets used to and expects it from the source. Viral content is not always predictable or successful, so it is important to keep trying new ideas and following up on previous ones. This way, some of the content may go viral thanks to the reputation and popularity of the previous ones. And since viral marketing is usually low-cost, it is possible to keep the channel “in tune” constantly.
Leverage Current Trends
Marketing in general requires that you should be aware of the current trends, it’s the baseline of the brand’s survival. In fact, this is an effective way to capture attention, drive engagement, and amplify your brand's reach. By tapping into what’s popular or culturally relevant, brands can position themselves at the center of conversations and maximize shareability. You just have to become a viral content finder to learn how to deal with the reality.
How does it work, you are probably wondering. As simple as that: when you address or use current trends in a timely manner, you can attract bigger audiences who share your content just because you mentioned a particular fandom in your video. If you manage to pull it off and go further, you may exploit cultural relevance and find ways to associate your brand with trend topics to demonstrate that you’re in tune with your audience’s interests. Besides, it won’t cost too much money: as in case with viral marketing in general, viral trends originate organically, allowing brands to piggyback on them with minimal investment.
Optimize for Shareability
Creating content that spreads quickly and organically depends on optimizing for shareability. Shareable content not only captures attention but also motivates audiences to pass it along to their networks, amplifying its reach.
Key Factors That Enhance Shareability
- Emotional appeal. Content that elicits strong emotions — happiness, awe, humor, or even surprise — is more likely to be shared. We’ve spoken about this before, but you might want to refresh that idea.
- Simplicity. Don’t overcomplicate. Easily digestible and clear messages are more likely to be shared. We aren’t here for rocket science!
- Relevance. Post content that resonates with your audience’s interests, beliefs, or experiences.
- Humor. If you can make things funny, do that. It goes viral even faster, as people feel an urge to entertain others.
- Interaction. You know what makes people share and comment? Campaigns that involve challenges, quizzes, and UGC.
Is there a sure way to optimize shareability? Definitely; and it’s not as difficult as it may seem. Here’s your instruction:
- Leverage Social Proof. Show how many others have already engaged with the content. High engagement creates FOMO.
- Focus on Visual Content. Videos, GIFs, and infographics are more engaging than text-heavy content.
- Encourage UGC. Create campaigns that invite users to share their experiences or creativity.
- Include Clear CTAs. Encourage viewers to share with explicit CTAs like “Tag a friend who needs this!”
- Ride on Trends (and Memes). Tapping into trending topics or memes increases the likelihood of your content being noticed and shared.
- Optimize for Platforms. You’d better tailor your content for specific social media platforms. Short videos for TikTok, striking images for Instagram, and witty one-liners for Twitter.
Use Compelling Storytelling
Storytelling is a power that can move heaven and earth, should you need this task to be accomplished. That’s one important step in viral content creation. We’ve previously spoken about emotional connections, and, well, storytelling is that one tool that can help you achieve your emotion-related goals. It gives your content a face, a persona, if you will; it makes your posts memorable and shareable. When stories capture attention, revealing relatable aspects, they exert an influence on the audience, inducing people to interact with the video or post.
Storytelling is a powerful tool in viral marketing because it creates an emotional connection with the audience, making the content memorable and shareable. When stories are engaging, relatable, and impactful, they resonate deeply, prompting people to share them with their networks. In fact, if you’re wondering how to write viral content, you should simply stick to the monster trio of humor, relatability, and emotion. And that’s it, give it a shot!
We won’t dwell on memorability any longer; instead, it feels to mention the connection to brand values you can convey in your story. You can make up a post that aligns with your brand’s identity, creating a cohesive and authentic campaign.
There was an article on Storytelling on our site (scroll up to see the link sewn into the first word of the paragraph), so we won’t delve into detail, letting you get acquainted with the topic yourself, without any interruption on our part. However, it should be noted that good storytelling goes along with the general tactics you’ve chosen: humorous, dramatic, witty, or something else entirely.
How to Create Viral Ads
So, how to create viral content? Creating a viral advertising campaign can be challenging but not impossible. You can follow these steps to increase your chances of success:
Define your target audience. You don’t need to have a detailed profile of your ideal customer, but you should have some basic criteria for targeting, such as age, gender, interests and income. Remember that your content will also reach some people who are not your target audience, but you should start with the most relevant ones.
Choose your main goal. Your viral marketing strategy will depend on what you want to achieve. If you want to increase sales, you should focus on creating a positive image of your brand and product. You should also monitor the feedback and opinions of your customers and avoid negative emotions. But if you just want to attract attention, you can use more controversial or scandalous content.
Choose your promotion channel. Your budget and the type of content will determine the best channel for your promotion. For example, if you want to promote a viral marketing video, you can use YouTube or Facebook, but if you want to promote a post, YouTube is not an option. You should also consider the cost of advertising on different platforms, as they vary widely.
Choose the type of content and the method of promotion. You can use different types of content and methods to spread your message, such as paid opinions, community advertising or manual spamming. You should also decide on the direction of your content, whether it is humorous, unique, interesting, negative, fake or provocative.
Create the content. You can hire professionals to help you create the content, but remember that the best viral content is often created by accident. There is no formula or recipe for making a viral hit. It depends on the idea and luck. So don’t overpay when hiring experts.
Launch your viral marketing campaign. The final step is to launch your campaign and pay for the ads, posts or giveaways that you have prepared. You can use different platforms to run your ads, such as Google AdWords. If you need help with setting up your ads on Google AdWords. You should see the results of your campaign in the first two weeks. If the content does not go viral, you should try another idea.
Here are some tips on how to create a viral advertising campaign:
If possible, involve influencers. They are perfect for spreading viral information. They can casually mention your product, post or meme and their loyal fans will immediately check it out. Yes, promotion through influencers can be expensive, but the return can be much higher than the investment.
Use multiple channels. Don’t limit yourself to social networks, but use other online platforms as well. Viral marketing can create a whole ecosystem of interconnected content. Ideally, you should not repeat or copy the same content on different channels, but create variations or adaptations.
Simplify the sharing mechanism as much as you can. Make it easy for users to share your content with others. If you are promoting on a social network that has a built-in sharing function, highlight it in your post. Remind them that this information is worth sharing with their friends.
Don’t go overboard with provocations and scandals. They can bring a lot of views, but also a lot of backlash. You don’t want to alienate or offend your potential customers or damage your reputation. Use this technique with caution and moderation.
Examples of Successful Viral Marketing Campaigns
You’ve seen quite a few successful campaigns on the pages of the article, but we’re impelled to enlarge on the subject and add several more to show how boundless human imagination can be. Some of them may seem outdated (but the notorious Ice Bucket Challenge cannot be ignored, it’s a milestone in the world’s history), but all of them made a mark that can send your head spinning. Perhaps, the oldest examples will inspire you so much you will be able to create something just as viral. Now you know what makes online content viral, and you can find the aspects that resonate with audiences back then, if you give it a little thought and analyze the campaigns.
Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” (2013)
Concept: Highlighted how women often view themselves more critically than others do, using forensic sketches to reveal these perceptions.
Why It Worked: Emotional storytelling with a focus on self-esteem and relatability.
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (2014)
Concept: Participants dumped buckets of ice water over their heads, nominated others to do the same, and donated to ALS research.
Why It Worked: Simple, participatory, and tied to a meaningful cause.
Wendy’s Twitter Roasts (Ongoing)
Concept: Wendy’s engages with followers on Twitter through witty, humorous, and often savage responses.
Why It Worked: Combines humor, relatability, and a bold personality that resonates with younger audiences.
Tesla’s “No Advertising” Strategy (Ongoing)
Concept: Tesla relies entirely on word-of-mouth, viral social media posts, and Elon Musk’s personal tweets rather than traditional ads.
Why It Worked: Musk’s online presence and Tesla’s groundbreaking innovations naturally spark organic viral discussions.
Conclusion
Viral marketing is a cost-effective way to reach a large number of potential customers, enhance the reputation of your project and build a loyal fan base. Although viral marketing depends on luck, you can increase your chances of success by having a clear understanding of the structure, channels and target audience of your campaign.
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