When it comes to launching a marketing campaign, the goal should always be to go viral, since accomplishing this feat means massive exposure, increased brand awareness, and more sales of your products or services.
In this digital age, going viral is a term that refers to marketing or advertising that attracts such immense interest and attention that other people share it, copy it, and disseminate it across various social networking platforms. When you have hundreds or thousands of people doing this, you can be sure that your message will go far and wide.
The thing is, however, that there is no magic formula that will guarantee a viral marketing campaign. But that is not to say that there aren’t some common features found in viral marketing campaigns that you can emulate to increase your odds of hitting the ball out of the proverbial ballpark. What follows are five steps to creating a viral marketing campaign.
- StrategyJust winging it won’t do. Trusting your gut will work for some things, but creating a viral marketing campaign will more often than not require proper planning. In other words, you need to plan exactly what you want to say and then consider what text, pictures, and video clips you will need to best convey your message to your target market.
- Visuals And TextOne feature that virtually all viral marketing campaigns have to be a strong visual component. So, you ought to think about how you can work images or video clips into your campaign. You don’t have to make visuals the star of your campaign, but they should at least be a solid addition. Images or video clips should either be funny, compelling, or informative if they are to grab attention. Use only as much text as it will take to make the impact you want. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience, after all.
- Emotional ConnectionYou’ll increase your odds of launching a viral marketing campaign if you find a way to tap into the emotions of your audience. Posting something that is funny or that tugs at the heart strings in one way or another will increase the attractiveness of your marketing effort. So, give your audience a reason to care, and it will attract their interest.
- Understand AudienceIn order to create an effective marketing campaign, you need to know your audience. Understanding your target market or demographic will give you all the information you need to figure out how to put together a campaign that resonates with this market.
- LaunchAfter you’ve considered the previous 5 steps, it will be time to launch your marketing campaign. You need to consider your target market to find out how best to launch your campaign. For instance, your audience might be more likely to visit a site like YouTube over Facebook — or vice versa. Knowing which social marketing sites make the most sense will be key to achieving maximum exposure.
Launching a viral marketing campaign is definitely within the realm of possibility. While there are no guarantees on what will catch on in a big way and what won’t, you can increase your odds of creating a viral marketing campaign if you take to heart the above-mentioned steps.
