The Science Behind Viral Marketing

Marketing campaigns going viral is the dream of any marketer and small business owner who’s reaching for the stars. A viral video or post can put your business on the map once and for all, ensuring the brand is admitted to the “hall of fame” in many clients’ memory banks.

Researchers have found that there are many factors that drive viral marketing, and it’s not what you think. For instance, they have found that a mere 38% of viral ads used a slogan. So, what did improve shareability?

Influencer marketing? An earworm? User-generated content? All three are good indicators of what makes an advert go viral, but these main ingredients also need emotion and compelling storytelling. Let’s unpack this.

Start with Emotion Before Going Viral

Whether it be joy, excitement, anger, fear or heartbreak, content that evokes a powerful emotion is shared more widely. A study from the University of Pennsylvania indicated these emotional triggers lead to higher engagement because of the strong sense of unity they create among those who identify with them. In turn, these groups spread it quickly across their network (regardless of platform).

For this reason, marketing with emotional stimuli is key.

Social Currency

Social currency relies on human nature, whereby humans are compelled by the psychological phenomenon to follow a crowd. If an individual sees their friends or someone like an influencer that they admire interact with content, they are driven by the need to participate in this activity. Their motivation is either to appear knowledgeable, entertaining, or valuable.

Marketers can use content types that are highly topical and shareable, like quizzes.

Storytelling for Marketing

Since the beginning of time, humans have been telling stories. We connect with the emotional element in stories, and by using various storytelling formats, we consume information in a memorable and shareable way.

When people connect with a story, the likelihood of sharing an advert is increased.

New! Fun! Exciting!

When content is new, fun or exciting, the brain is more likely to remember this information. You will often see that viral marketing, advertising and campaigns include an unexpected twist to drive the message across. Good storytelling means:

• Creating Relatable Characters: Include characters in your story that reflect your audience’s aspirations or challenges.
• Developing a Plot that Inspires: Just like a story, your viral marketing needs a good plot, such as a hero’s journey that builds to the high point in the narrative.
• Incorporating Universal Themes: A universal theme is something that everyone can relate to regardless of age, culture or language.

Leverage Viral-worthy Content

Social media trends, hot news topics and other noteworthy events are all topics that may lead to a campaign going viral. Research shows that users mostly interact with content that relates to current events and cultural events, indicating the importance of marketers to understand audience behaviour.

Combined with this, timing is everything. Releasing materials that aren’t first to the trend, but strike a balance between the viral wave and not towards the end of a trend when it is fading, is the best way to go.

Reciprocity and Incentives

This element of viral marketing suggests that people feel compelled to return favours. The best viral campaigns offer incentives like discounts, giveaways, or challenges. This type of language also encourages participation and sharing.

Marketers can turn to referral programs, social media contests, and interactive experiences to tap into this psychological tendency.

Influencer Impact

The simple fact is that people are influenced by people whom they deem opinion leaders. That’s why they trust influencers who recommend products and services if they admire those influencers.

Strategic collaborations between your business and influencers can help leverage the influencer’s influence over their audience and ultimately amplify your digital marketing campaign.

Strategically Approaching Viral Marketing

Strategic Content Placement

No marketing campaign should be approached without a strategy. Strategically thinking about your content means carefully considering the platform, type of content and timing. To do so, you must have a thorough understanding of your target audience and what resonates with them best.

If you are unsure what this is, research your demographic profiles of different social platforms and align your campaign launch with the platforms you identified.

For more information about marketing tactics that work, check out our article about “old school” techniques.