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I’m frequently asked what makes a good viral campaign. More often, I’m asked how to do a really great viral campaign on a shoestring budget. Even more often, the request is for a cheap viral produced overnight that catches on like GMail on steroids.
Once you know the answer to the first question, the next two take care of themselves. So I thought I’d share with you our five secrets to a successful viral campaign.
1. Good virals are simple.
So simple, a four year old can figure it out. Simple, simple, simple. A good viral can be described in one sentence and sound like fun. Even better, a good viral is summed up in the domain name of the micro site it’s hosted on.
Keep in mind that the simplest ideas frequently float to the top after the most complicated ideas have all failed. Simple takes time.
2. Good virals are funny or rude. Sometimes both.
Most campaigns that start out as virals are either funny or rude. Usually they’re either rolling around on the floor funny or shock your maiden aunt rude. Once in a while, they’re just incredibly useful.
Going for shock value? Think of the most shocking thing you’ve seen on TV lately. Now cross that line. If it can be seen on the TV, no-one’s going to bother emailing it to a friend. At least, not unless it’s side-splitting hilarious. Which brings me to…
Funny. This is harder than it sounds. Funny means something different to everyone. Think Dave Chappelle. Now think Dennis Miller. Chances are if you think Dave is funny, you don’t laugh as hard at Dennis. And vice versa. See the challenge?
The useful kind tends to start out as just that – something useful. It begins as something of value and when the web community realizes that value, they pass it around. All on their own, without any prodding from you.
3. Good virals support your brand.
Let’s face it, a viral campaign isn’t likely to generate direct sales revenues. What it absolutely must do is build awareness of your brand, and do so in a positive way. In other words, somewhere, somehow, your customers must be able to identify with your viral in a way that leaves them feeling good about themselves. And good about how well your corporate values fit with theirs. To accomplish that, support your viral initiatives with research and enough financial resources to do the job well. Because it’s branding, your identity is important. But beware of the hard sell – obvious commercials need to be unusually innovative to be shared.
4. A good viral is more than a video with a tell-a-friend button.
A true viral campaign is an idea that has a life of its own – gaining momentum the same way a virus does. Remember the old Breck shampoo commercials? “And she told two friends, and they told two friends, and…”
Email is the obvious way to enable viral growth. But it’s not the only way. A good viral includes an email component but doesn’t limit sharing to the email channel.
Think of the many ways you can catch a cold – the common denominator is the virus, but the methods of infection are numerous. The more ways people can share your viral idea, the more successful your campaign will be.
5. Some of the best viral campaigns just happen.
These are the nice surprises of the online marketing world. The ultimate objective wasn’t to build something viral, but somehow, on the way to doing something else, you put something out there that catches on like wildfire.
Usually, these campaigns fall into the “useful” category. A company develops something that they think might be of value for some of their customers. And it turns out to be exactly what everyone has been looking for. Or, a developer puts up a hobby site based on his passion for fly-fishing and includes a wry, humorous flash-based tutorial on how to properly bait a hook that’s so good, it get’s found and profiled on a half-dozen or so fly-fishing blogs. Voila – the virus starts to spread.
Frankly the options are infinite – just like the variations in your customers. The trick to viral success is to find the common threads of interest, then shape your campaign to tickle those interests.
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