Should We All Be Trying To Go Viral?*

Viral content gets spread online like wildfire. So, when it comes to marketing, wanting to go viral makes sense. There’s likely no easier way to take someone from social zero to viral hero. And all it takes is a hit video, post, or picture. 

Is it a good marketing strategy, though? Can we all shed the tediousness of link building and SEO to instead opt for a little viral post every now and then? 

Image by mark glancy via Pexels

The Only Time You Want To Be Viral

To talk properly about going viral as a marketing strategy, we need to define what viral means. What is viral content? Essentially, its content spread rapidly from one user to another. You want the content to be shared by people who represent the target market. 

Anything from hot news, tutorials, videos, recipes, and even just a well-timed photo can act as viral content. So the world’s your oyster. But there’s no specific tried and tested way to make something go viral. In most instances, people are just in the right place, at the right time. Or the content scratches a proverbial itch that the social conscience currently has. 

Viral VS SEO

The dawn of the internet presented companies with a new bow to add to their marketing quivers. To get anywhere in the world of business in 2022, you’ll have to have a solid internet marketing campaign. And those internet marketing campaigns consist of reliable link building and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). But is it possible for going viral to be a better marketing strategy than anything else?

In many ways, it makes sense. A successful online marketing campaign isn’t just links and SEO. Half of your success is determined by producing high-quality, entertaining, creative content that attracts users. Which, in turn, increases traffic. And that’s the golden ticket we’re all looking to collect. Increases in traffic mean increases in sales. 

Why is creating entertaining content so important? Well, people need to enjoy what they see. The more they enjoy the content, the more likely they will share it with friends on social media. Interesting and fun content is more likely to gain links and clicks from random users. And this is why going viral is so powerful. Stumble across something that appeals to the masses, and your content will reach literally millions of people in, sometimes, a matter of hours. That’s way more reach than even the best SEO will be able to garner for you. 

You only have to look at the success budding TikTok users have been able to create from a single viral video. It’s a success that leads to your content becoming part of the collective social conscience. How many TikTok or, if we can still remember it, Vine videos do we all quote daily? The power of a viral hit is astounding for online presence. So much so that it penetrates into the real world. 

The Journey To Creating Viral Content

But creating viral content isn’t as simple as it seems. There’s no universal recipe. Everything that’s gone viral is a little bit different. Yet, there are a few things to think about that might just push you in the right direction. 

1. Find A Trend

First things first, you’ve got to identify a trend. Unsurprisingly, the current top position is occupied by Covid 19. There’s just no getting away from it. And this includes fake news. So often, viral content isn’t based on fact. It’s just taking advantage of current trends. Find something relevant to your audience and capitalise on it. 

2. The Right Format

Choosing the right format for your viral content is essential. Choose a format that goes viral quickly, like videos, infographics, memes, statistics, and quotes. If you decide to go for an article, life hacks, shock content, and cute or funny media work best. 

3. The Right Title

You’ve probably heard of the term clickbait. It’s used widely on YouTube to entice users to click on content. And it can be a little ambiguous. Make a few versions of your title and see which works best. 

4. Catchy Content

We’re visual creatures. So your content still needs to be visually appealing, no matter how snappy your title is. Don’t go too extreme. Keep it simple and easy to digest.

Then you post and wait. Hopefully, your creation is catchy and interesting enough to go viral. And if you do, you can look forward to quality leads heading your way. 

Should We Do Away With Traditional Marketing?

If going viral works so well, do we need traditional marketing methods? Well, simply, yes, we do. Viral content is brilliant to send new leads your way. And to reach consumers, you wouldn’t usually be able to come anywhere close to. But it only works so well. Posting something viral every single day is impossible. And if you want people to navigate onto your content, well after the initial buzz, then you’ll still need to use techniques like SEO.

So make sure to put time and effort into traditional marketing methods. Because, in the long run, they will pay off. Some SEO can be done easily on your own. But for more in-depth work, it’s worth hiring a search engine optimisation agency. It’s not always much fun, but they’re universally used because they work. So make the most of them.