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.
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:
What is Viral Marketing?
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.
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Pros and Cons of Viral Marketing
Let’s begin with the bright side:
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.
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
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:
Video
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.
Images or 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.
Billboards and Other Outdoor Advertising
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.
Viral Advertising Campaigns on Social Media
Social media platforms have different best practices for viral marketing and they 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.
Types of Viral Advertising
There are many ways to 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.
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Methods of Viral Marketing
Viral marketing has four main methods that can be used to create and spread viral content.
Pass along
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 viral
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
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
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.
How to Create Viral Ads
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 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.
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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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