What Is Viral Marketing & How Do Viral Campaigns Work?

WHAT IS VIRAL MARKETING?

Viral marketing is a style of promotion that relies on an audience to propel the message, rather than relying on hefty media budgets to gain reach.

WHY GO VIRAL?

Brands often invest heavily to increase campaign reach online, so when a campaign goes viral it drastically cuts down these costs, leaving much of the hard work to users. The potential audience on social media platforms is immense, with 3.6 billion social media users worldwide, so going viral can present huge opportunities. People are much more likely to take notice of content shared by friends than a brand, which allows for more authentic interactions. Viral marketing puts the user in control and lessens the possibility of coming across as invasive.

HOW VIRAL MARKETING WORKS

In theory, viral marketing is no different to any other marketing campaign. However, whilst you can do as much as you can to make the content compelling, the potential of virality is largely down to viewers. There’s a huge amount of online content out there, (300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute), so content hoping to go viral must tap into the zeitgeist, feel culturally relevant to the user, and offer a clear value exchange.

Excellent Viral Marketing Campaign Examples

It’s worth noting that the extent to which campaigns or content ‘goes viral’ has reduced over the years, thanks to the wealth of content available online. However, we can look to other viral content or campaigns to get a better understanding of which factors help make something go viral.

Greggs Vegan Sausage Roll Launch Film: Timing

Gregg's vegan sausage roll was timely launched during Veganuary - a month-long event encouraging people to try more meat-free options. Prior to taking the world by storm and selling out in shops nationwide, Gregg’s created a huge amount of hype around the new product with a parody video of a new iPhone, featuring dramatic music, technical food language and witty copywriting.

The video gained five million views on social media, and was supported by PR tactics to encourage viral exposure; journalists were sent vegan rolls in mock iPhone packaging and stores sold sausage roll phone cases alongside branded coffee cups and jumpers. The launch film’s virality surged even more when journalist Piers Morgan tweeted back at the campaign video; “Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns.”

According to YouGov, Greggs were able to more than double its ad awareness and positive buzz scores as a result of the campaign. Gregg’s figures showed like-for-like sales were up 9.6% in the first seven weeks of 2019 which included the vegan sausage roll launch.

Source: YouGov

Mask Up America Campaign: Comedy

As a part of the New York State’s Mask Up America Campaign, Governor Andrew Cumo enlisted the help of Paul Rudd to urge young people to wear a mask during the Coronavirus pandemic. Rudd stars as a character from the show “Hot Ones”, attempting to emulate millennial vocabulary and reach out to the “young people” of the city. The video which was released on Twitter and YouTube subsequently went viral, achieving 9 million views in the first 24-hours of release with the original tweet accumulating 100K retweets and 8.2 million views. The film was a huge success because it used entertainment and comedy to frame a public health awareness message. Secondly, the use of Rudd’s Hot Ones character used a format and cultural reference people had already connected with.

Run For Heroes: Personalisation

Viral marketing doesn’t have to come in the form of a video, and 2020 saw the rise of viral social challenges, through the likes of TikTok and Instagram. Whilst a lot of the challenges are a bit of fun, some are also being used to carry an important message. #RunForHeroes is a viral challenge which aims to raise vital funds for the NHS by using exercise to make a difference. People were encouraged to run, walk or cycle 5km, and donate £5 to support the welfare and the wellbeing of the NHS staff as they fight COVID-19. Nominating 5 others to do so via social media creates an active and personalised way of contributing, based on an existing behaviour. The challenge was initiated during the UK lockdown earlier this year, raising over £5 million for NHS and frontline workers just one month into the campaign. It soon became the 2nd largest viral fundraiser in the UK and third largest in the world after the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the No Make Up Selfie.

RESEARCHING AND PLANNING A VIRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

With such a wealth of content online, it’s become harder and harder for content to ‘go viral’ in the same way it used to. However, there are some steps which you can take to increase your chances of share-ability.

Decide on a goal and message

It’s important to establish why you want to go viral. Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Are you looking to promote a product? Aligning your content with your overall goal will help guide you towards creating meaningful content that resonates with the audience.

Research your target audience

Research into your intended market will give you insight into what the targeted consumers like and don’t like, which cultural references are relevant and important to them, and most importantly, what will motivate them to share.

Optimise for engagement

As well as ensuring the content feels highly relevant to your audience, it’s worth considering the format and placement of your campaign. If it feels natural to the context, your audience will be more likely to engage and share.

TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR VIRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Our social media and content services can help increase the share-ability and talk-ability of your marketing campaign, converting eyeballs into action.

LONDON CREATIVE AGENCY

If you’d like to talk to us about your next campaign, get in touch with us at newbusiness@dontpaniclondon.com.