Many brands desire for their web content to go viral. Obviously due to the benefits of reaching a wider audience and raising brand awareness. However, not many brands can really claim to have achieved genuine viral success up to this current stage in time.
By this I mean that brands have yet to succeed in going viral SOLELY on internet exposure without any further backing from other means. Many have succeeded by having a supporting campaign in other forms of media, newspaper talk or through promotions to increase traffic to the viral itself (e.g. the Burger King Facebook promotion/viral). However, a pure viral should be the most efficient way of attaining brand awareness and exposure, incurring small costs and left to blossom within the world on the internet gaining in popularity while requiring no extra support from the brand itself. It is these pure virals that are so rare yet so sought after.
You may have recently noticed a number of your friends creating a note on Facebook titled “25 Things About Me”. It’s basically a list of 25 facts about the person, who then tags 25 of their friends within the note, in order to bring it to their attention and encourage them to compile 25 facts about themselves. The phenomenon hit a peak, at least in the US, during January, during which time .
The increase in profiles being created on Facebook seems to correlate with the increase in use of the “notes” application on the site, which triples it figure between October and January, as can be seen on the graph below. It is within the “notes” application that the “25 Things About Me” list is displayed for each person who completes it.
This may all seem rather trivial when compared to generating a brand viral. Essentially it’s the chain letter of the 21st century, but with a huge personal touch. However, this brings me to what I believe the key is to going viral. Personality. People are joining Facebook to find out 25 things about their friends, they are reading these notes to gain more personal information. This desire to find out and share personal information caused the viral effect. If it had nothing to offer its readers, the 25 things note would have died off quickly.
This leads me to the effect of the growth of Twitter, essentially a mini blog for anyone to broadcast their personal lives to the world (or at least their “followers”). The success stories of Twitter have been people as opposed to brands. Stephen Fry had a sizable following far before Fleet Street decided to jump on the Twitter bandwagon. This was because he was happy to broadcast an insight into his daily goings on, giving a personal touch and link to his fans.
This is where brands need to be able to act. The most successful brands on sites such as Twitter are those that are actively engaging with their customers. Rather than just broadcasting promotions within their tweets, these brands are actively picking out followers complaints and suggestions, encouraging further feedback and ultimately learning more from their customers. This can be seen in vivid detail .
Twitter allows you to go viral in a very simple way, yet brands haven’t fully embraced it’s opportunities as of yet. Even marketing and ad site PSFK took a while to realise it .
The personal attachment that comes with Twitter again points out that the key to viral success is personality. Allowing users to feel a part of somethings growth by passing it on to a friend, being involved in it’s development and allowing them to claim to have been there before another. It acts to show others their characteristics and tastes.
Therefore when you come to consider how to approach your next viral project, don’t just consider how to make set content appeal to the widest audience. Instead allow customisation, a variety of options within the content that allow people to alter it to match their personality and tastes. This personal approach will only encourage them to share what they produce with their friends and colleagues and you may find you’ve managed to create and brand the next “25 Things”.
