By: Stephanie Aanstoos, Account Executive
You want more page views, subscribers, followers and fans, right? Well, if you can get something to go viral online, you’re guaranteed to increase your online traffic. The question is: how exactly can you get your message to go viral? I know, we’ve all grown weary of politics by now, but there is a lot that can be learned from election season, especially from the massive amounts of information spreading like wildfire across the Internet.
Viral marketing is nothing new, and we have all seen how the Internet has drastically increased the power and speed of word-of-mouth messages. This past election season, we saw many things go viral and the seemingly increased speed at which information can be shared by millions. Just for laughs, view 9 Viral Moments Brought to You By the 2012 Debates and Top political memes of the 2012 race. One candidate makes a comment that could be used against them and within minutes, it was. Twitter accounts like @InvisibleObama, @LaughingJBiden and @MittStormTips; or hashtags such as #eastwooding, #bayonettesandhorses, #binders, #malarky and #bigbird appeared near instantaneously.
With the exception of the photo to the left, which became the most retweeted message ever, most content that went viral during the election was not initiated by a candidate or their campaign. Instead, the messages were started by witty individuals and picked up on by other social media users, in true grassroots fashion. How exactly were individuals so successful at getting their message to go viral and gain popularity so rapidly? Here are a few tips for how to make your content gain popularity online, based on the success of the best viral messages of the 2012 election:
1. Constantly monitor numerous social media outlets. Listen to your target audience and stay in touch with their views. Try to understand and evaluate the tone of the messages being sent so you can respond appropriately. Stay in touch with all of the main social media outlets your audience uses, rather than limiting yourself to just one or two.
2. Use visuals or videos. What viral messages from the election stand out most to you? If you’re like me, it’s the meme images. For many, it’s the videos. Either way, putting together visuals is the best way to catch the attention of viewers and create content people want to share. By uploading your video to YouTube or Vimeo, you increase the chances of others discovering your content, sharing it on their own social media and doing all the promoting for you.
3. Play off of current emotions and trends. During the campaign, the most shared content happened immediately after key events or statements, such as the infamous Big Bird comment. Look for these types of opportunities to seize, and be one of the first to run with it, in a format that is eye catching and suitable for sharing. If something is current, it is more likely people will search for it and find your content in their results. Keep an eye on breaking news from multiple sources and remember— news almost always breaks on Twitter first.
4. Pay attention to keywords and tags. Making sure you are using the right keywords and tags is vital to getting your content discovered. Think about what people would type in to search for what your message relates to, and see if there are already trending keywords or hashtags out there. Put the main words or phrases in the headline, description and message body, if it has more written content. Always make use of tags and hashtags when appropriate on the various platforms (No, you should not use hashtags on Facebook. Yes, you should use tags on YouTube).
5. Use humor. People love to laugh and they love to make other people laugh. Your message is more likely to be shared if it is funny. During the election, both sides made use of humor to attack each other. While this tactic may not have helped change anyone’s mind about who to vote for, it certainly helped the messages spread.
6. Don’t be boring. Better yet, be shocking and controversial. Take this with a grain of salt— I’m not telling you to go insult the opinions of your main fan base. Controversial content, as we saw in the election, is very likely to go viral. When strong emotions are sparked from viewing a message, people naturally want to share it to see how others react. You have to decide what is appropriate for your target audience and how to frame the message.
7. Share on multiple platforms. Just like with how you should follow multiple platforms, you should also share on multiple platforms. The most shared content of the election didn’t just appear on Twitter. There is no one set of rules for viral marketing, and the best avenues will vary depending on the particular content; however, sharing on different social media outlets will certainly increase the number of viewers and chance of being shared.
Keep these tips in mind when planning your next viral marketing campaign. With viral marketing, you must be ready to act fast, but having a plan ahead of time is extremely beneficial. Be funny, relevant, unexpected and present across several platforms, and you may be surprised by the reach you can achieve!