Viral is a word that sounds like nirvana to every internet marketer! Once your content goes viral, there is no stopping it from being shared with an insane number of online users. Your online traffic shoots through the roof and you are instantly an internet phenomenon. But what happens to PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ is unlikely to happen to your content unless you are simply lucky or catchy enough. For hardcore business content, the number of content going viral is lower, more because very few internet marketers know how to take their content on a viral spree.
Viral Content Strategies
Before you start your initiative to create viral content or to make your content go viral online, you should need to understand a few important terms below.
Viral coefficient
To get your content viral, here are some terms that you need to understand about viral content marketing. The first one is called viral coefficient. This is the number of online users that are generated by a single user who shares your content online. The higher the viral coefficient, the more successful your content is going to be.
Viral cycle time
The next one is called the viral cycle time. This is the time span required for a content material to go viral. This is usually a period of one or two days. And finally, you need to know about total available market. This is the number of online users out there who might find your content shareable. If you are dealing with generic content, this value is higher while for niche content, it is narrow.
Now that the basics are in place, how do you get your content to go viral? The trick is that you have to understand that people share content only when they feel an emotional connect with the material that you offer. The tug at the heart-strings must be stronger than the ones pulling your online users to other content material!
Remember that you are competing not just with players in your domain but with practically everyone on the internet space. Users check out websites of different types every time they go online. So, you are vying for their attention just like the others. Unless your content is unique, different, eye-catching and connects at some level with the user, it cannot go viral.
How to make Content Viral
Viral Content Marketing
You have often heard the much used, but mostly abused, term of taking content viral. For the uninitiated, a content is considered to go viral when a large number of people view it within a very short period of time. It is like you open a restaurant and find a deluge of people visiting it in a matter of a couple of days!
Taking a piece of content viral is the digital marketer’s nirvana! Every marketer wants to achieve that but few actually make it to that cherished land. The funny part is that the harder you try to do it, the more difficult it becomes to crack. Sometimes, most times actually, it becomes very difficult to actually put a finger on what make a particular piece of content clicked while a better one did not create any waves. Much like a good film that finds no takers at the box office.
Related post : Let the user optimize your website content
The best we can do is, try to assess some features of what makes a content piece go viral. Studying these features will give us a fair amount of idea of what makes content tick the checkboxes required to go viral. There are essentially 3 ‘able’s that you have to worry about:
The 3 ‘able’s of making content viral
Playable:
Content has to be something that users would like to play around with for some time, even precious time at the office! There are some videos that make the cut in this department. The more you play them on repeat, the more you like to watch them. It is like listening to a favourite song on repeat mode.
Clickable:
Content goes viral if the presentation or the layout is enticing enough for users to click away at it. No matter what you do to make readers click, a catchy title, an eye-popping photo, a subject that has forbidden fruit value, there should be more clicks on the content piece to take it to the status of viral content.
Shareable:
Finally, the last of the troika is the social media activity: sharing. You cannot go deep into the corners of social media pockets alone. You need the support of your support base to act as your brand ambassadors. They must take your content and introduce them in their own personal circles. It could be because you create jaw-dropping content or simply because it is ‘cool’ to share your pages.
Now that you know what attributes make the framework of viral content, it does not make your job any easier as a content creator! To be honest, you are still very much at sea as to what to do to create content that ticks the boxes mentioned above. To make matters easier, here are some features that you need to inject in your content to make it click among netizens:
How to create viral content?
Uniqueness:
This has to rank at the very top of the list. Content that is unique has the best chance of going viral. It need not have top notch production value or writing or even images. What it does need to have is originality of thought. That alone distinguishes it from most other content pieces online.
Insights:
Online users are sold on insights about modern life, existence and the world at large. Satire and sarcasm, even spoofs, have an amazing amount of pull for most online users. A quick look at YouTube will give you an idea of how sarcasm and ironical content rules the roost across the online channels.
Topical:
Matters change quickly online. What is trending on Twitter today may be forgotten the next morning. Contemporary topics have short shelf-lives. You have to seize the moment as and when they come. Develop content that addresses topics trending online and you may somehow catch the trending wind beneath your sails!
Quality:
Another important factor is quality. Never for a second believe that anything put together in a shoddy manner will click for viewers and go viral! You need to work hard at your content and come up with something that is the best you can do. Quality is king even for viral content.
Taking content viral is the Holy Grail of online marketers. Keep trying!
Related reading: How to create shareable content?
21 Things To Make Content Viral | Viral Content Marketing [Infographic]
Viral Content Marketing [PDF]
Make a Video Go Viral
Have you ever wondered how some videos go viral? Many people wish to know the big secret to make a video go viral. But the ultimate truth is, there is no magic trick. From Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shake to Pepsi’s Test Drive- all viral videos have one thing in common, they all follow a strategy.
What matters most is how a video travels, regardless of the content of the video.
You can consider this as the single most important tip in virality. The internet matters a lot because word travels fast. If your viewers have to struggle to spread the word then make sure that you are seriously hampering your video’s viral chances. You should make it easy for them to circulate your video across the web by placing social media sharing links. A quick encouragement to share could make the difference between virality and internet nothingness.
It is absolutely necessary to capture viewer’s attention within the first 5 seconds.
This can be possible through many techniques, dramatic intros, great music, action sequences, but perhaps most effective will be (if you can afford it) the use of celebrities. Do you want it to go viral with teenagers who are really interested in pop culture? Then make a video with their favorite singer to catch their eye. Are you trying to get your video to publicize like wildfire with home decorators? Justin Beiber will not fit much here- to get them interested, you need to use high-value graphics of beautiful homes.
Stories can be used easily in different kind of videos.
It can be only a short clip as well. For instance, a video is asking audience to help sick dogs in your hometown. In this case, don’t just express reasons why they should help. Instead of this, show sick Fido is getting better as a result of caring donations from community members. This can be digestible easily.
Clearly, good video is just about finding the exact balance and communicating the message in an appropriate form.
How Viral Videos Can Change Your SEO Efforts
Video SEO is an area which has been growing in the last few years. What is great about video SEO is that Google gives a lot of SEO credit to videos, much more than a typical link, or even an image. Videos going viral is nothing new, but with the invention of video hosting sites like Youtube, it is easier than ever to get people to share your videos.
By utilizing other SEO tactics like embedding links, you can use these videos as a much larger, more beneficial link building tactic. By utilizing these video sharing sites, and by creating worthwhile videos, you can really increase your link building and SEO efforts. So once you have an idea ready and appropriate to film, then you’re ready to increase your backlinking.
Embedding Links
Although social sharing sites like Youtube are very beneficial, it should be said that hosting your own videos on your site will give you more link building credit. If you are using Youtube, Vimeo, or any other social sharing site, you can use a custom embed to include your link.
That way, if you have created a great video that people want to share, your link is being passed around every time it is shared, retweeted, or posted to someone’s blog. Since Google looks at videos, and any multimedia really, as higher quality, it gives you more link juice, and acts as many links versus just one backlink in an article. So if you are trying to increase your search rankings, make sure you get your link in the video embed.
Finding the Right Material
One thing that will quickly kill a viral video is making a piece that is not right for the medium. For instance, a lot of people get caught up with the idea that they need to make a video, and forget about substance. For instance, you should never start with wanting to create a video, and then come up with a message. Instead, you start with a message, and work your way to discovering that video is the best way to get that information out.
For example, if a satellite service provider wants to do a tutorial on how to use their service, that is the message. They then realize that using a video is the best way to demonstrate the service. So instead of starting out with wanting to create a video, a company should work their way to making a video so it’s completely relevant.
Properly using video is a great way to build links back to your website, and can really get your rankings up. You just have to remember that you should use the proper SEO tactics by embedding your link. When it comes down to it, you can get as many shares as you want, but if you don’t have your link in the embed, then you won’t get any SEO benefits. You also want to make sure that you have material worth sharing, because making a video that isn’t worth sharing will not do you any good. So if you want to maximize your SEO efforts, than look into video sharing with your link.
How to Go Viral With Instagram Reels
Related reading: Content ideas for Instagram reels & Instagram marketing guide
The Top 5 Tips of Taking Infographic Viral
Infographics are eye-catching additions to web content. A properly written Infographic can do the job of several web pages provided you make the infographic viral . Moreover, because the Infographic is compact and precise, with some designs and templates thrown in, the combination helps online marketers.
In the same vein, it must be said that every Infographic cannot go viral. Only the carefully designed and written ones make the cut. It is very difficult anyway to find out what kind of content has the power to become an online sensation. But there are some tips that you can follow to take your Infographics viral. Here are the top 5 tips to take your infographic viral:
Tip 1 # Compelling Content:
There is no substitute to quality content. Compelling content is the first thing to take the infographic viral. It is the main attraction of Infographics, even more than the designing aspect. The content must complement the design and explain the visuals in an easy, uncomplicated manner. If the content is weak in pulling people to the Infographics, it will never go viral.
Related reading: How to write compelling content
Tip 2# Sharing Options:
Infographics must always contain sharing options at the top or bottom of the page. You have to place social media sharing buttons at strategic locations so that people viewing it can quickly share it in their personal circles.
Tip 3# Analyze and Test:
Keep testing and analyzing your Infographics update times so that you know when your friends and followers are going to be online. The timing of the post is very crucial to take the Info graphic viral. You must always do it when the maximum number of your followers or friends is going to be online.
Tip 4# Promotion is Important:
Uploading an Infographic is not the end of it. You need to promote the Infographics page actively. You should not leave it for your friends and followers to do the task for you. Aggressive promotion of the Infographics will make the viral phenomenon more likely to happen.
Tip 5# SEO is Integral:
The Infographic page must be properly optimized to grab the top slots on the search engine results. Use keywords wisely so that users who search for your brand finds your Infographic. SEO also makes it possible for more users to come across your Infographic, even if they are not on social media networks.
The Reality about the Myths of Viral Content
The only formula about viral content is that there is no formula.
Content creators all over the globe, be it writers, photographers, editors or videographers, strive to deliver something that spreads online like wildfire. Every brand worth anything is looking for content creators who can deliver content that ‘goes viral’. However, this search for viral content often ends in disappointment. Most of the content created with the aim of taking it viral falls flat on the deck or doesn’t reach the intended dizzying heights of online popularity.
That leads various sections of online content creators and digital marketers to question: is viral content a reality or a myth?
To answer this question, this piece looks to shed some light on some of the realities surrounding the myth of viral content. Let’s take them apart one at a time!
Myth 1: Viral content can be recreated.
No, it cannot! When you watch a competitive brand doing something that has caught the attention of the online public, you are tempted to try something similar. That is the worst mistake you can make if you want to gain popularity.
If you want to imitate the success of a viral campaign, don’t imitate the content of it.
Instead, spend time to think of something new and unique. You are more likely to create something that gets instant popularity this way than walking on a path where someone else already has a significant first-mover’s advantage.
Myth 2: Viral content is all ideas, little expenditure.
While it’s true that spending hefty money on a campaign cannot make a mediocre idea fly, the inverse is true as well, except for a few cases. You cannot take content and make it take off with a shoestring budget. You need earmarked funds to research and develop content that has potential. If you look at the history of the kind of content that has gone viral, only a few of them were constructed with little money. Most of them were the results of a lot of hard work and expenditure of dedicated resources.
Myth 3: Viral content spreads organically.
Again, it does not! You may feel that content that has spread out in a short time did so with the help of numerous faceless netizens. But the reality is that it can only happen if you promote your content through the right channels, both paid and otherwise. You need the backing of influencers and have to get the demographics spot on so that people who are interested in such content get to see it. The rest is up to the merit of your content. External factors matter too, that are beyond your control.
It’s true that you will need some luck to create viral content. But it’s more about doing your bit the best you can.
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Getting traffic in their own website is really a boon for every online marketer.
If once some of their contents go viral it helps to grow their brand faster.
I found this blog really helpful as they shared everything about getting viral with proper tricks.
Thank you Arindam. Few of the most important tips to make your content go viral are –
1 Use interesting visuals to increase audience engagement.
2 Create interactive and personalized content.
3 Produce well researched longform content.
4 Put high-arousal emotions.
5 Know your audience well and keep communication ends with questions.
6 Get influencers to promote your content.
7 Create content that builds sharers’ identities and makes them feel good.