It’s almost impossible to predict what content will go viral on social media– something that the modern-day marketers have tried hard to crack but haven’t really figured out a way to do it consistently and at scale. The recent ‘wink video episode’ had all the media pundits and veteran advertisers rack their brains on what it takes to go viral. While they were busy creating high budget ad campaigns that fizzled out in just a few days, a girl simply winked her way to the epitome of social media popularity.
Well, here are 5 possible hacks that can increase the possibility of your content going viral:
#1 Emotional Connect – For something to go viral, you must connect with your audience at a deep emotional level. While your product could be as basic as a toothbrush, if you’re able to carve out a story that arouses emotions such as love, kindness, envy, longing, laughter etc. in your audience you are most likely to go viral. Audiences love stories that are relatable and have a deep message attached. Creating content that is picked from the everyday lives of individuals is one way of connecting with them at an emotional level
#2 Value to the End Consumer – What will someone gain by sharing your content with their friends and families? This is a question that you must ask before creating any social media content. Simply providing information on your products and services will not lead you anywhere. You must ensure that by sharing your content the audience will be perceived as a thought leaders or experts in their areas of interest. You can do so by making your content unique and value-centric. Practical and insightful listicles are a sure shot way to get attention.
#3 Repackaging old Content – Creating new content is often very difficult and demands a lot of effort and resources. Using content that has already worked in the past and repackaging it to give it a new lease of life is the easiest way to churn out good quality content that has the potential to go viral. Infographics, videos, blogs are great ways of repurposing old content and giving it new form and shape to reach your desired audience.
#4 Influencer Marketing – Figure out the key people in your community that have a huge fan following. Make sure that these people engage with your content to expand its reach and add credibility. Dark tweets, DMs, hashtags are few social media tactics that can get your content the eyeballs. Do thorough research on the identified influencers and see what kind of content do they normally share or engage with. Align your content strategy accordingly.
#5 Be part of the conversations – Often marketers tend to loosen the grip once the post is out. They tend to ignore the engagement happening around their content which is the biggest mistake one can make. You must constantly encourage engagement from your target audience by remaining responsive to every comment and every like you receive on your post. That will encourage your audience to continue interacting with your content.
Profile:
Apurva Chamaria is the Vice President and Head of global brand, digital, content marketing and marketing communications for HCL Technologies (HCL), a 7 Billion US$ global IT major. Under his leadership HCL became the fastest growing brand in the Interbrand top Indian brands league table for two years in a row (No. 18 in 2015) and debuted in the Brand Finance Global 500 2015 league table at No. 497 with a brand value of 3.1 Billion US$. In the last two years the HCL campaigns have won 70 prestigious global and regional brand and marketing awards. He’s also a regular speaker at international and national conferences and finds time to teach too. Following the success of his earlier book titled “You are the key – unlocking doors through Social Selling”, his next book “Master Growth Hacking” will hit the market this April.
