When planning a go-to-market strategy (GTM), going viral could work wonders for your launch. However, doing so isn’t easy in today’s competitive digital landscape.
If you’re a content marketer looking to make your campaign stand out, keep reading to discover our essential tips.
What is Viral Marketing?
Viral marketing relies on an audience organically spreading the word about a product or service, until it reaches significantly more people than your target audience.
Viral content could include anything from funny memes and popular, trending topics to videos of celebrities getting to grips with new phone systems. The good news is, it doesn’t require a huge budget.
8 Ways to Make Your Content go Viral in 2023
Before we begin, it’s worth noting that a viral content marketing strategy can be a double-edged sword. Yes, it can increase brand awareness, audience growth, and sales. However, executing it poorly can negatively impact your brand image and cloud the initial message.
With that in mind, let’s look at the primary ways to deliver a successful strategy.
1. Set Clear Goals
Deciding what you are trying to achieve is crucial, as this will determine your content. Are you trying to increase brand awareness? Create buzz around a product? Or, just entertain people?
There’s no point trying to go viral for the sake of it. Consider whether your goal aligns with your brand image.
2. Make the Most of Social Media
Social media is a fantastic tool to help you go viral—your followers could give you a headstart. With that in mind, it’s essential to understand their likes and interests.
For example, let’s say your target audience is small business owners and their comments often show a frustration with standard business communication methods. By creating content showing, let’s say, Dialpad’s small business phone system in action, you can share the benefits of virtual office tools while helping solve their pain points.
Through social media, you can build strong customer relationships, encourage conversations, and connect with a wider audience for minimal cost.
There are many ways this can be achieved, including:
- Utilizing social media analytics: By monitoring key metrics such as clicks, keywords, and engagement, you can understand what type of content resonates most with your target audience. This will help you create content that’s more likely to hit and reach beyond your audience base.
- Connecting with influencers: Bringing an authentic influencer on board can increase interactions and engage an audience that is genuinely interested in your message. Just be sure to work with an influencer who is relevant to your brand and audience.
- Cross-promoting content: Ever noticed a Tweet on Instagram? It’s an increasingly popular trend that’s worth trying. Also, consider short snapshots of long-form content such as blog posts on your site.
Social media automation tools can also help streamline your viral marketing strategy.
3. Write Memorable Titles
Whether you’re creating a blog article, podcast, or social media post, having a catchy title or caption is essential. It’s the initial touchpoint that encourages people to view your content.
This is an excellent chance to get creative (and potentially controversial) in an effort to create a conversation. With that in mind, ensure you:
- Keep it short and sweet
- Ask questions that encourage interactions and drive engagement
- Use a target keyword and other phrases that have worked for you in the past.
4. Create Eye-Catching Visuals
An eye-catching image or short-form video will stop scrollers in their tracks, helping you attract more viewers at first glance.
In a blog, your featured image should be what grabs people’s attention. On social media, there’s more scope for creativity as you can incorporate GIFs, video tutorials, screenshots, or even text.
When choosing your visual, consider what emotions you want your post to instill, whether it’s joy or nostalgia. Whatever you choose, ensure it’s relevant to the headline and its content.
5. Take Advantage of Viral User-Generated Content (UGC)
Sharing user-generated content is one viral trend that’s here to stay. Why? Well, it’s free for starters. Original content that you produce yourself can prove costly. But moreover, research suggests UGC cements trust in a company.
This could provide you with content that engages, inspires, or simply entertains your viewers in an authentic way. One excellent example is TikToker @costoflivingcrisistips who shares budget-friendly grocery shopping tips and meal ideas for supermarkets across the UK.
6. Time It Right
One of the most common questions we get from BBTV creators is “when is the best time to post on social media?”
Monitor your audience analytics to better understand when your audience is most likely to see and engage with your content.
In addition, consider utilizing tools such as auto-scheduling software and analytical platforms. These can help guide your social listening strategy, track trends, monitor keywords, and identify types of content shared from each of your social media platforms.
It’s also worth considering the timeliness of your content. For example, if you’re riding off the back of a trending news topic, you’ll want to post at a time when the message of your content is still relevant.
7. Make Do & Mend
When it comes to content marketing, don’t be afraid to repurpose content in new ways. Trends move quickly, and there’s not always enough time to create original content for each new trend.
Also, some of your target audience may have missed a post the first time you shared it. Perhaps it was well-received but you have ideas to make it more engaging. If you believe something has potential, don’t be afraid to repurpose it.
8. Stay Relevant
Relevant content is a determining factor in persuading people to share and engage with it, helping it to spread organically.
Take this viral tweet from McDonald’s: it’s incredibly simple but works because many of us can relate.
Achieving this doesn’t have to mean being completely original. You can utilize current trends or stay ahead of the wave using social listening.
Giveaways and competitions are another way to foster relevant content as it involves your audience. These posts encourage engagement and can be a fantastic opportunity to curate UGC that can be used in another campaign. Not to mention, you improve your brand affinity by giving back to your consumer base.
Let’s go viral
As mentioned, there is no set formula for creating viral content. But there are ways you can increase the likelihood of your content blowing up.
Start by asking yourself why you want to go viral in the first place, then identify who your audience is and what content is relevant to them. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different content formats, cross-share content across platforms, and engage with influencers.
With a carefully executed content marketing strategy, you’ll be going viral in no time!
