Todd Sumamno
Having a piece of content that instantly goes viral is every individual’s dream. It’s an incredible feeling, to be honest!
With literally billions of internet users congregating online every day, shared digital experiences have become the core of our lives. It pretty much takes a bullet from one campaign – and hence, one brand – on the verge to captivate millions of users’ attention. Through viral marketing, your content can take advantage of the internet and perceive exponential growth.
It pains us to admit that it is nearly impossible to wangle content that will, for sure, blow up the internet. As a content creator/marketer, your primary goal should be to share your brand with the right target audience. On its own, that is a sizeable task to accomplish given the cut-throat competition in the digital landscape. Yet everyone still aspires to achieve virility overnight.
It’s not impossible, but it definitely is hard! You can increase the chances of your content going viral by incorporating some key elements. The formula is part science, part art, and a whole lot of elevation. Below are the seven secrets to going viral.
1.Use Visuals That Create A Wow-Factor
The first impression counts, and this is immensely determined by the visual components you use. In the case of blogs and infographics, 60% of your content’s approval rating relies on your color scheme. It’s also crucial to break wordy content into smaller portions that are easier to read and understand.
Using infographics for outreach marketing is a proven method of success. In a study of millions of articles, users are 30 times more likely to read an infographic than a text, thus eventually increasing your content’s virility. Let’s put it this way, when compared to other forms of content, infographics are the most seen and shared components of any content.
Contrary to a universal-online belief, videos are passed on less than other forms of visuals, such as infographics and images. Users tweet images more than videos.
2. Find An Attractive Headline And Tell An Engaging Story
Your blog’s title can make or break your story. So, find a headline that will both provoke curiosity and convince website visitors to continue reading. If you’re short on time for brainstorming ideas, try to create a headline swap folder for inspirational ideas. You can find billions of awesome blog post title templates and even a topic generator from HubSpot.
3. Allow Your Viewers To Comment
Comments serve as excellent social proofs, and they can increase virility especially if they become a meme. People comment to get heard. For instance, someone drops a comment on a post, even better, tags their friends, there’s a high chance their connections on Facebook might witness that and’ butt into’ with the discussion. This conversation eventually shows up on multiple feeds.
See where we are going with this?
These days, commenting doesn’t just feel nice, but it always keeps you connected with the readers and increases your content’s vitality. Moreover, while you allow your viewers to engage in comments, keep the following tips in mind:
- Enhance the quality of your content via user-generated feedback
- Always be responsive towards your readers’ to strengthen and maintain the relationship
- Utilize a massively attractive comment section
4. Enable Downloading, Sharing, And Embedding
You’ve seen how the flu season works. Nurses advise us to stay away from those who cough and not touch our mouth, eyes, or nose before washing our hands clean because the virus spreads when it is easy to transmit.
Similarly, if your content is quick to share, embed, or download, it will spread as fast as a virus. And for that to occur, you must allow people to do so. Take Twitter for instance. It is arguably the most share-friendly social media platform, and content tends to blow out of proportion in a matter of seconds. If people can’t share your content, how is it ever going to go viral?
5. Lure Influencers In!
At some point, you’re going to be depleted if you try to promote excessive amounts of content all alone. Here’s where influencers come into the picture! First, identify authentic influencers with a sizeable reach on social meida with online tools such as FollwerWonk. Next, do a bit of research on them before approaching them. This will help you to bond with them on a personal level. And while you bond, keep in mind that when you share “their” content, you must tag them as well. That is how they will come to know that you are serious about building an online business relationship.
6. Provide An Instant Call To Action
For heaven’s sake, do not let social media engagement fall into the pit! In addition to re-sharing or liking a piece of content, make it clear to your audience what they should do next. This can be in the form of asking them to like, share, or retweet, or even reply. Asking questions helps. In fact, prompting them not to interact with the infamous “don’t @ us” is also a great way to trigger online users to retort, thus adding to the potential to go viral.
7. Display Novel Content
Exclusive, original content is a thumbs up for everyone! Content that is somehow absurd or seems strange is more likely to get engagement than content that contains flashbacks of campaigns from other brands. Premium content is never forgotten, like the ALS Associations’ ice-bucket challenge or Apple’s 1948 Super Bowl ad. Repetitive content will be ignored and may even receive negative feedback.
Conclusion
Going viral is a jawbreaker in content marketing. It is never clear what will ignite the power in a post to make it go viral. We believe that content marketing is more about amplification, and considering these seven ninja-techniques will surely get the job done. Viral posts are outliers, and chances are you will under-perform most of the time. But you will improve your odds with the above-said strategies pinned to your brain cells.
