Vital Tips for Going Viral
Since its inauguration into our video vocabulary, the term “going viral” can appear to be a daunting concept. Every John Doe with a camera and a dream wants to be the next YouTube sensation. Up-and-coming entrepreneurs and advertising gurus alike want their brand to make a resounding splash in the global market. So how do you make your social media content, whether a controversial blog post, juicy tweet or innovative video, worthy of spreading across the web like wildfire?
Pow wow with power users. Take advantage of the networking effects of the Internet and start reaching out to those omnipresent social media power users. These are the users with mega networks behind them, with the power & prestige to share content across a vast range of networks in a matter of seconds. Get your content in the hands of a head honcho in the blogosphere or an influential member of the Twitterati and your small town social media can hit celebrity status.
Digg a little deeper. Social network aggregation platforms take social media sharing to the next level, organizing content from every corner of the web in one place. Digg is a site for people to discover & share everything from the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog as voted on by the Digg community. Sharing your social media content on a site like Digg, StumbleUpon or Delicious exposes your brand to thousands of interested users who are willing & able to spread the word to their networks with a single click.
Explore the emotional angle. Human emotion is a very influential tool in our consumer-driven society, and if we can relate to a video, article or blog on an emotional level, the leverage of word of mouth becomes unstoppable. Take for instance Volkswagen’s Passat commercial titled “The Force.” The ad was created for the Super Bowl, but reached an even larger audience online with more than 44 million views since February, making it one of the top viral videos of 2011. An adorable kid tugging at our heart strings and a reference to a cult classic merge with a hint of nostalgia to create a playful, heartwarming advertisement.