Based on a presentation we wrote for a client and a recent open question to Brice (answers 1 and 2), here are some basic elements of what we think make a campaign viral. Because it’s not about the tools but the concept, only the results will judge if your campaign was viral.
“You can launch a campaign and it can go viral, but you cannot launch a viral campaign. You can create a viral-esque campaign that’s hilarious / edgy / mysterious / adorable with the hope that it goes viral, but a campaign doesn’t go viral until, well, until it goes viral.”
Basics:
- Funny/Interesting,
- Clever idea,
- Amazing production (How did they do that!?),
- Worth talking about,
- News opportunism (cfr. Michael Jackson).
Following points are a plus:
- User-centric perspective,
- Understandable without sound,
- Content, content, content (Warning, very few users would pass a commercial on to their friends).
“Based on my YouTube viewing, you forgot to include cute animals and to finish with a painful looking accident.” — Thomas Crampton
What’s your experience? Please comment below.
2 comments
All true. I think what is missing is the channel through which the campaign is launched. It seems to me the more “word of mouth” it seems to be, the more people will want to retweet/repost/ share on their own network. They must have a feeling: wow, this is cool and widly unknown, i’ll look good and be the cool guy in my network if i am the one who bring this up first. You have to be careful thou: don’t hide the author’s identity, but just don’t over market it. Post it on youtube, send the link to your own facebook, in a comment on a wildly exposed blog such as engadget, smashingmagazine, etc. But do it at homeopathic doses. A few well placed links in the right context to start the wildfire is more efficient than a banner on a famous newspaper site. It has to feel “underground”, not meanstream.
That’s right, another title of the post can be “5 ingredients of a wow”. Thanks for commenting.
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