Your viral marketing campaign is a creative process that begins with a desire and passion for the growth of your business. Have you got that? Good! Then let's carry on...
Now that you know the meaning of internet viral marketing, the next step would be to start crafting your own viral marketing campaign. With so many ideas that are surely on your mind right now, however, where and how do you start making the next most circulated and talked-about campaign?
Let’s start by discussing what makes a good viral marketing campaign. The search engines are flooded with tons of tips on making a marketing message viral, and some are really useful ones. We see such tips as giving away free stuff, offering rewards, using the novelty factor, telling a good story, etc., etc. Following these tips will surely give your viral marketing campaign an edge.
For examples of some of these internet viral marketing tips check out these informative pages:
Your Viral Marketing Campaign, starring Your emotions and simplicity
On this page, we will focus on two of the most powerful tips on creating a potentially goldmine of an internet viral marketing campaign: simplicity and emotions. They sound simple enough yet some marketers make the mistake of not capitalizing enough on these two potent factors.
Stir emotions to make your viral campaign stick to people’s minds
The human makeup is composed of a myriad of emotions. We are easily moved when we see a beautiful sunset, a crying child, a sad or funny movie, the list goes on and on. These things compel us to act.
Seeing a beautiful sunset, for instance, can make us stop on the side of the road to watch and marvel at all the colors as the sun slowly dip into the horizon. It may move us so much we decide to capture the moment with our digital camera and make the image a screensaver for our pc.
When we see a child crying, our motherly (or fatherly) instinct takes over and we want to comfort him and ask him what is causing him distress. These feelings are multiplied tenfold if we are parents ourselves and our own child is of the same age as the boy.
Seeing a tragic or very funny movie can make tears roll down our cheeks whether it be from mirth or sadness. We are so moved by it that we may rave about it in our blog and quote memorable lines from the movie. We recommend the film as a must-see to our friends and family. If the movie is based on a book, some would want to buy the book itself or some other promotional stuff related to it like t-shirts, posters, mugs—anything to remind us and tell others how much we adored the movie.
Okay, let me give you a specific example of how to stir people's emotions and get your message across in a subtle way. My partner Mark and I created a series of viral videos on subjects that we cared about and that we also thought carried a universal message.
Here is one we did called, a common thread...
Did you watch it? Good! Notice how we never mentioned our company once. The only mention was in the credits, and even this was subtle.
In case you didn't catch it, we mention our marketing business, www.Avenstar.net in the credits. We tripled the number of leads in the weeks following the release of the video.
The message is clear - people notice and appreciate subtlety, and they respond even more when their emotions are triggered.
Internet Viral Marketing...it's time to get involved
If you want your viral marketing campaign to be successful, therefore, don’t forget to capitalize on emotions. Make them tear up, laugh, angry, annoyed—make them feel something! The emotion factor is what makes all those forwarded emails about hungry kids in Africa viral.
In the world of viral marketing, anything that tugs at the heart strings is sure to stick in people’s minds and get passed along to others. Engaging people’s emotions also means getting them to do something, so your content must include a call to action.
Create a simple, easily digestible message
When creating a viral marketing campaign, strive to convey just one key message across. Make it just one selling idea so as not to clutter up your message. A good viral marketing campaign is something that people remember, and for people to remember the message, it must be simple. If you are toying with several selling points, it is just so tempting to lump them up in one content and try to spread it—but don’t! Just pick the most powerful, potentially viral idea and build on that.
Remember those nursery rhymes that we learned when we were kids and which we now teach our own kids? The fact that they are very simple made them stick to our minds. This simplicity factor helped make those Blentec videos irresistibly viral.
The key selling point is that Blentec blenders are so durable and versatile it can blend almost anything, even iPods and golf balls! The central idea is so simple it was impossible for consumers to miss it. It also nicely blended in the visually fun factor - well done Blendtec marketers!
And, remember John Freyer, the guy who advertised on eBay that everything he had was for sale? It’s considered one of the most inventive and successful viral marketing campaigns of all time, and the idea was simple enough: everything that Jonny Freyer owned (including a half-consumed bottle of mouthwash and an unopen container of taco shells) was for sale.
The items that were sold during this successful ebay stunt wound up displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This was an an "every guy" who made it big with a simple idea, because it related to the biggest commen deniminator - other everday, ordinary people. Sounds like a winning strategy to us.
Creating a WOW factor
When the message you create makes people want to read, watch, and pass it on to others, then you are in the midst of making a powerful viral marketing campaign. To wow them, you have to have a good product offering first and foremost. Now to make your publicity viral, tie this up with a message that is simple and appeals to the emotions. For more information on viral marketing products see our Viral Marketing Products page.
Itching now to get started on making your marketing message viral? The following resources will enhance your knowledge of crafting a truly spreadable marketing message
