Viral Marketing Initiatives

Photo Courtesy of Forbes.com

I have been a part of many viral marketing campaigns as a participant. I never really gave it much thought as to why certain things where more viral than others.

Following are the five things that I feel make a successful viral marketing campaign:

It is super creative!

I am a creative person and have been a part of many marketing campaigns. The more creativity, the higher chance it would be more memorable and reach a larger audience.

Emotion! Emotion! Emotion!

A viral campaign must evoke an emotion that sticks with people. It needs to connect the audience with it at a personal level. This characteristic is a big part of what makes a successful marketing vehicle as well.

Recognizable Brand

I believe some of the most successful viral movements are from already recognized brands. People have that relationship with their favorite brands. So that relationship can set the stage for even greater viralness.

Explodes on Social Media

In 2021, one of the the number one news sources in the world is Facebook. When viralness begins it will spread rapidly through almost all social media channels and is shared millions of times. Personally, I learn almost all things happening in the world from Facebook or Twitter.

Timing

So since we are in this Pandemic, there have been many things that have gone viral. One example is the viralness of Baby Yoda (Grogu) the Disney Mandalorian series. It is the perfect timing for something like Baby Yoda. We all need a little bit of him in these times.

Now that you know how I feel about viral marketing, let’s take a detailed look at my favorite viral campaign, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I would almost say that 50% of the US participated in this challenge.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge demonstrates the power of social media to influence cause marketing on a national scale. The Challenge was a perfect storm of social media, celebrity and grass-roots philanthropy, producing hurricane-strength viral social engagement during the dog days of summer (Olenski, 2017).

The Challenge took advantage of many tools, but mainly used Facebook Twitter posts. The Ice Bucket Challenge raised over $220M worldwide. Its combination of competitiveness, social media pressure, online narcissism, and low barriers to entry led to more than 2.4 million tagged videos circulating Facebook (Wikipedia)

I think one of the biggest characteristics that leds to the initial success was the celebrity promotion. As I watched videos of Martha Stewart or Justin Timberlake doing the challenge, I realized I could do that. I also feel that the challenge piece of it helped its viralness as well. I challenged like 3 people to do it as well.

In the end, this challenge was not planned, therefore it happened at the exact time when it was best suited. Everybody that did the challenge felt so much a part of helping with ALS research.

References:

Olenski, S. (2017, March 20). 7 marketing lessons from The ALS ice bucket challenge. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2014/08/22/7-marketing-lessons-from-the-als-ice-bucket-challenge/?sh=20710dd97586