Even though viral marketing is more popular than ever, it’s not always easy to create a viral ad. It can take companies around four months to create a viral video. Here are some tips on how you can come up with more viral marketing ideas:
Target just one demographic.
Don’t try to please everyone, because it’s nearly impossible. No matter what you do, there will always be people that don’t like your marketing idea.
If you target too many groups or demographics, then viral marketing might not work for your business. For viral marketing to be successful, you need to create something that the majority of people like and/or relate to.
Considering the present state of the economy, being clear on your target market is more essential than ever. No one can afford to target everyone. Small companies may compete effectively with large businesses by focusing on a niche market.
Some companies claim that they want to attract “anyone interested in our services.” Some claim to be looking for small-business owners, homeowners, or even stay-at-home parents. All of these options are too broad.
The term “targeting” is sometimes incorrectly used to imply that you are excluding people who do not meet your specifications.
Instead, target marketing allows you to concentrate your marketing efforts and brand message on a specific market. The people interested in this marketplace are more likely to purchase from you. This is an extremely cost-effective, efficient, and successful approach of contacting potential clients and generating sales.
Keep the goal simple
It’s also important to keep viral marketing goals simple and achievable. Videos that are popular now are often clips that show something funny or shocking to engage viewers. This is much easier than trying to start a campaign around a large social issue or cause, which was what viral video’s used to be about.
The simpler the content is, the more likely it will go viral on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It should also be short and to the point so that viewers read or watch the content without getting bored too quickly.
Use Humour or Shock Value.
Humour can go a long way with viral advertising campaigns because it helps make the content memorable and gets people talking about it. However, shock value can also go viral if done properly because it gets people to share the content to warn others.
5 Ways to Use Humour in Your Viral Marketing Strategy
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Humour is highly subjective. What one group of individuals finds amusing may not be appealing to others. As a result, establishing a humour-based marketing strategy requires knowledge of your target audience.
Research your buyer persona thoroughly and look for the type of humour they enjoy. You may use a number of strategies to help you with this, such as their favourite shows, hobbies and interests, or even comments on social networks. Consider how you might adapt that sort of humour to your marketing after evaluating these factors.
Another way to figure out exactly what makes your audience laugh is to let them demonstrate it for you. The most viral campaigns, sometimes the best ones, are those that share user-generated content, such as Tik Tok challenges. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be certain to come up with a lot of fresh ideas for future efforts.
2. Don’t Wander Too Far from Your Brand
Humour should be tailored to your company, not the other way around. The content must be relevant to your goods and services in order for it to aid you achieve your marketing objectives.
Of course, your humorous material does not have to be 100% commercial. However, it should be linked organically to your brand so that the message is effective.
3. Don’t Make Things More Difficult than They Need to Be
Jokes that are too complicated or obscure to comprehend might lose the audience. As a result, humour-based marketing efforts should not be overly complex or lengthy, but rather simple and brief.
The objective is to make your audience laugh without spending a significant amount of money, time, or attention on each campaign. If the concept succeeds, you may always expand on it.
4. Try Something Different
Humour can be like a catchy song in that when people get weary of it, they begin to resist it. To avoid this, make sure your jokes are current and try new methods to elicit laughter.
This means that marketers must pay extra attention to ad fatigue in humorous campaigns. When you notice that your ad metrics are no longer generating reactions, refresh the campaign and try something new.
5. Create Memes
Memes are a form of internet lingo that is popular among users. This is a big advantage for businesses since they’re simple to use and inexpensive. What’s more, people love to share them.
Memes are especially beneficial if your company focuses on a young demographic, but they may also appeal to older consumers.
There are several free meme-making tools available, so getting started is simple. Keep in mind that you should never utilise a meme that you don’t understand.
Shock Marketing
Shock advertising or Shockvertising is a type of advertising that “deliberately, rather than inadvertently, startles and offends its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals”. It is the employment in advertising or public relations of “graphic imagery and blunt slogans to highlight a public policy issue, goods, or services. Shock advertising is designed principally to break through the advertising “clutter” to capture attention and create buzz
Example of Shock Advertising:
To see various examples of how brands use shock advertising, I recommend you check out this article.
Involve the viewer.
Viral marketing is all about getting viewers involved and making them feel as though they’re a part of something big and exclusive. You can get viewers involved by having contests, asking for votes or even getting people’s opinions on social media sites.
When viral marketing gains enough momentum, it starts to work as an “electronic word of mouth” which can be a powerful tool for advertising
Be careful with viral marketing
Just because the content you’re using is viral doesn’t mean that it’s going to work out how you want it to. You have to make sure that the content isn’t offensive or inappropriate for your company and that you have acquired all the necessary rights from the artists who originally created the piece.
There are many different ways your business can use viral marketing to interest potential customers and create buzz about your brand. As long as you keep these things in mind when designing your marketing campaign, success should follow soon after.
It’s important to make viral marketing relatable so even those who don’t own the product will feel inspired to share.
Don’t be afraid of controversy.
Controversy can go viral if your campaign sparks an intense conversation. This can happen either through discussion forums or people sharing thoughts on social media platforms.
To come up with viral marketing ideas that involve controversy, look at the headlines on news websites and trending topics. You could also conduct some research online to see what people are talking about most. It’s important to note viral marketing can be misused
Viral marketing isn’t always the answer, particularly if your product is controversial or involves serious topics. Stick to marketing targets that are promotional in nature and avoid anything that will go viral because people hate it.
Be different
After you’ve found viral marketing ideas that involve humour, shock value and/or controversy it’s time to be original. You can do this by putting a twist on an old idea or trying something completely new.
Content doesn’t have to include vulgar language or content in order for it to go viral. It needs to be creative and interesting.
Viral content is difficult to create, but it’s even more challenging when every video looks virtually the same as another one. You want to stand out from other campaigns so you need to come up with something unique to get viewers interested in your company.
Viral advertising is made for sharing so if you’re looking for great viral marketing ideas then just remember these few simple rules: keep things simple, use humour but also shock value when necessary, involve the viewer and don’t be afraid of controversy. It’s also important to be different from other viral marketing campaigns by coming up with something original and creative.
Getting creative can be quite challenging so it may take some time for these ideas to come together, but they are worth it because they help companies grow their brand awareness and increase sales.
With just a little thought, you should be able to come up with viral marketing ideas that will help build your client base and get more people talking about your business.
