Viral campaigns – the secrets of their success
If the criteria for a successful viral campaign is…
- Reach a massive audience who have shared the viral, increasing exposure exponentially
- Creatively engage with consumers beyond traditional direct marketing campaigns
- Provide ROI far beyond what perhaps traditional media/marketing campaigns could achieve for the same amount
…then a viral campaign can work well.
What brands forget when planning these ideas is that a viral effect is hard to manufacture. We can’t guarantee what will work any more than we can exactly predict the outcomes of a marketing or PR campaign – at least with PR/marketing there is established methodology to follow.
It’s important to understand that a viral is not just a cheap advertising campaign broadcasting on the internet. Although really popular ad campaigns can translate well to online activity; Sony Bravia a good example.
Most virals, whether email chains, image round-ups or a video clip tend to come about spontaneously and be funny in some way. Deciding in advance what a large audience will deem funny and worth sharing is hard. If there was an exact formula no one would ever suffer through an open mic night again.
About:
I'm Darika Ahrens and I help brands develop marketing strategies for Social Media. My background is in Public Relations for companies like Orange, Microsoft, Philips, HTC, Yell.com, and Estee Lauder. I've worked with and trained some of the UK's top agencies.