Viral marketing: how it works

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Any company is interested in creating a strategy to ensure that advertising affects people so that they not only accept the idea of a product, but also actively participate in its dissemination. However, not everyone manages to achieve this goal. What is the secret of success? Every entrepreneur wants to develop a plan to ensure that advertising influences people in such a way that they not only understand the idea of the product, but also effectively contribute to its replication. However, not everyone manages to realize this goal. What is the key to success?

Viral marketing and psychology

Many businesses use viral advertising for different reasons. It helps to increase brand awareness, reduce promotion costs, improve search engine rankings, increase the effectiveness of communication with consumers, and build customer confidence. This is especially effective for small brands or companies that want to attract the attention of a wider audience. Millions of videos and posts appear on the Internet every minute, but only 1% of them go viral. What makes people share the same information? Understanding the psychological nature of viral advertising helps to distinguish between messages that go unnoticed and those that become new Internet hits.

Jonah Berger, who teaches marketing at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and is the author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, identified six principles that define the “contagiousness” of marketing.

  1. Feelings: Information that evokes emotions is more likely to be shared.
  2. Practical value: People share useful information, so it’s important to create content that they will need.
  3. Social currency: Individuals want to do things that emphasize their social status.
  4. Triggers: Content should be easily memorable to inspire recall.
  5. Society: Products should support stereotypes and expected behaviors.
  6. Stories: Humans are naturally storytellers, so information is best disseminated through stories.

Each of these steps increases the likelihood that people will start discussing and sharing information, which can theoretically be used to create content with high viral potential. A study by Melanie Dempsey and Jason Ho identified three key factors that stimulate interpersonal communication: interaction, empathy, and control. According to their findings, interaction and affection are the main motivations for sharing online content: interaction expresses the need to be part of a group and attract attention, while affection is related to showing appreciation or care for others. Through content sharing, we reaffirm our sense of self-worth, demonstrating our involvement and belonging to social groups. Social networks help us interact with others, express feelings, emotions, interest, and humor.

The beginning of the form

A study conducted by the Fractl team showed that some feelings have more viral potential than others. Experts identified the top 10 factors, including entertainment, curiosity, wonder, happiness, delight, pleasure, joy, hope, affection, and excitement. If you can evoke emotional interaction with your audience, there is a high probability that they will share it with others.

How marketing messages influence product perception: the case of Gravity Blanket

In 2017, John Fiorentino and Mike Grillo launched a Kickstarter campaign to develop their business of producing blankets. The campaign was successful, raising $2 million out of $4.7 million. While working on it, the company recommended revising the marketing message due to a problem with the word “treat”. The entrepreneurs analyzed the feedback and found that consumers prefer a blanket that provides comfort and looks beautiful. By changing their approach to advertising and collaborating with influencers, they increased sales to $15 million, reinforcing the need to study the audience’s lifestyle for successful development.

There are several important steps to a successful viral campaign:

  1. Planning: This stage involves carefully developing a strategy and clearly defining the goals of the campaign. It helps to ensure that the message is clear and appealing to the audience.
  2. Setting goals: Understanding the needs and expectations of the target audience allows you to choose a strategy aimed at achieving specific results.
  3. Simplicity: Simplicity and brevity of the message allows you to effectively communicate with the audience and be remembered by them.
  4. Visual appeal: The use of attractive graphic elements helps to attract the attention of consumers and associate the product with the brand.
  5. Working with emotions: The use of emotions in an advertising campaign can positively influence brand perception and stimulate audience interaction.
  6. Don’t annoy the audience: It’s important to avoid intrusive advertising, as it can scare off the audience and cause a negative reaction.
  7. A place to get off to the right start: Choosing the right distribution channels helps to maximize audience reach and message dissemination.
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