The dream of all marketers is to be able to implement a brand marketing campaign that spreads on its own and makes it a trending topic, allowing customers to voluntarily share this information. Viral marketing means reaching a very large number of people without the company having to invest a lot of time and money. However, implementing viral marketing is not so easy on a day-to-day basis because viral communication is difficult to calculate and control.

Definition of viral marketing

It is the use of the public's motivation and interpersonal networks, so that the marketing message spreads and spreads like a virus, the marketing message is quickly replicated to tens of thousands and millions of viewers, which is able to penetrate deep into the human brain like a virus, replicate quickly, spread quickly, and spread the message in a short period of time to a much larger audience in a short period of time. Viral marketing is a common online marketing method, often used to carry out website promotion, brand promotion and so on.

That is to say, viral marketing is through the provision of valuable products or services, "let everyone tell everyone", through other people for you to publicize, to achieve the role of "marketing leverage". Viral marketing has become the most unique means of Internet marketing, and is being successfully utilized by more and more businesses and websites.

Viral marketing can also be regarded as a kind of word-of-mouth marketing, which is to utilize the dissemination between groups, so that people can build up an understanding of the services and products, and achieve the purpose of publicity.

Since this kind of spreading is spontaneous among users, it is a relatively low-cost means of Internet marketing. Viral marketing is not the same as spreading a virus.

Tip: Make sure that users do not see the content as an advertisement. They should find the video or text so interesting, exciting or entertaining that they decide to send it to others without any additional work put in by the company. This is the reason why digital content spreads so quickly and. They spread like a virus, hence the name. The aim is to achieve efficient distribution across different channels, which is carried out independently by the communication network, with the company hardly having to lift a finger.

How viral marketing works

In contrast to the traditional marketing model, viral marketing is a "many-to-many" mesh of communication, where the actual recipients and consumers, i.e., the users and potential customers, are themselves the medium of the advertisement, and where messages are passed on through person-to-person contact. Through the connection between people, the information is passed out, such as the audience is attracted by a message, his next action may be to pass the message to the people who have contact with him, there is always some kind of connection between people, and through such a connection, it also makes the exponential dissemination possible.

For example, a user recommends content to his circle of friends by sharing it on WeChat. One or more of their friends may then share the content with their own contacts, and before long the scope and target group increases.

As mentioned above, the campaign had strong momentum: the person hosting it didn't even know how many people ended up participating before the campaign started. The user is transformed from a passive recipient of the advertising message to an active promoter of the message. Viral marketing channels are essentially online channels with a social component: microblogs, WeChat, social media platforms, forums, communities, news sites or emails.

What has "viral potential"?

In viral marketing, not every piece of content has the potential to go viral. Many factors play a vital role in the formation of a viral marketing campaign.

Originality: creating content that other people want to share because it's different from what they're used to: new, innovative, and most importantly, original.

Emotion: viral communication usually evokes emotions; content that evokes positive emotions and positive energy is often more likely to be shared by users who are happy to get viral results.

Value: Viral content doesn't have to be funny or quirky, it can also be used to solve problems, provide solutions and answer questions. You just need to make sure you provide users with value that they want to share.

Recognition: If you're interested in a topic, you're more inclined to comment on it. Viral marketing campaigns usually contain topics that make people want to join in. One way to do this is to choose everyday topics that everyone knows about and on which everyone has an opinion. But be careful: not every topic is right for this - it's best to keep a low profile. If you start a heated debate about politics or religion, it could easily have a negative impact.

Surprising results: content that goes viral successfully is usually surprising, controversial and unexpected. Creates tension and surprises users when they least expect it.

Authenticity: Advertising messages that lack authenticity rarely have the potential to go viral. Most marketers will place a brand message somewhere in the content, but it's the content and the story that should stay in the user's mind - the connection to the company happens subconsciously.

Summary:

In online marketing, only new, valuable, interesting and extraordinary content is likely to stand out. To develop a viral marketing campaign, not only does one need viral marketing expertise, but it is also important to create an interesting and creative idea, coupled with a detailed knowledge of the target group and channel in order to make its implementation successful.