Why go Viral?

Viral marketing has proven to be very successful for many online companies, so long as they get it right. That`s the trick though: to get it right. There are many reasons why viral marketing can sometimes hit the mark, and will at other times slither into underground territory where no one takes any notice of it. Finding the right playing field can be tricky, but once you`ve correctly targeted and researched your market, your viral campaign should be set to go. Only the right target market will catch on to the intent of the campaign, so double check that you are distributing/introducing it into the appropriate social community.

According to Mat Siltala of 97th Floor, a viral campaign all comes together once you have found the right audience, a valuable piece of content, a good idea or catch phrase, done some networking and turned it into a whole lot of serious fun. Now this all sounds rather simple, but once you put it into practice, things can get fairly complicated. The most difficult step of this process, I believe, is coming up with that unforgettable catch phrase associated to your brand, which is really going to grab the attention of your target audience and encourage them to spread it like wild fire.

The campaign should flourish through a curiosity for the subject matter, thus emphasising the importance of getting the right target market involved. Without them, the campaign may go no where, as only interested parties will pass it on and make it go ‘viral`.

One of the factors driving people to send ‘viral` content to their friends/colleagues/family members is the ‘they might miss it` scenario, discussed by Dan Zarrella. He explains that people tend to forward on links and articles of interest (with viral tendency) because they think their friends may not receive it otherwise, and could potentially be uninformed regarding certain important issues, or some really amusing videos.

Ultimately, viral marketing will either work for your brand, or it won`t. Having the right team on the job definitely helps, as the viral piece needs to be worth spreading and must attract enough attention to create a buzz around the product, service, or preferably the company`s brand. Participation in online social communities will build the basis for the essential mass exposure of the campaign, and could, in due course, create a database for sharing other virally popular marketing operations.

Tags: brand marketing, viral campaign, viral marketing