What is the difference between Viral and Effective Campaigns. The difference between a Viral Video and Effective Marketing Campaigns are quite different. I've seen it claimed many times by businesses and organisations their video went viral. But did it really?
To me 'Viral', is something that takes off organically on Social Media, not when a business or organisation pays for social media advertising. And when it comes to the secret of creating a peice of Viral Content, well that's in the hands of the internet and social media gods, their isn't really a formula, but babies, animals, humour and shocking events can be a great place to start.
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Viral Content
You first need to get your content out there, and that is a mixture of effective social media engagement at an organic level combined with great/amusing content! And even then you are still not guaranteed to ensure your content will go Viral. But here are a few tips that can essentially help you to start and promote your content.
Engage on social media with other users, using @ mentions
Ask Like Minded people to share your content
Ask bloggers to blog about your content
Post on as many of different social channels as you can
Ask your family, friends and colleagues to like, share, comment on your content
And most important of all don't spend a single dollar or pound on social media advertising. Of course your content essentially needs to be good in the first place to attract attention and go Viral, but these five steps will at least help you promote your content to a wider audience.
Definitions of Viral Content
According to our friends Wikipedia
"A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email." Urban Dictionary say
"Viral Videos are online videos which gain mass popularity through Internet Sharing, such as entertainment websites, e-mail messages or suggesting a friend watch it."
and AboutTech said
"By definition, viral comes from the word “virus,” which is a medial term used to describe a small infections agent that can infect all types of organisms. In terms of the Internet, a piece of content can spread just like a virus if people become “infected” when they see it. The infection usually comes from evoked emotions that spur the viewer to share it, so they can relate with other people and discuss how they feel."
Effective Marketing Campaigns
Social media is the perfect place for a business to achive high engagement, epecially if you can throw some cash behind the content. But don't confuse the two! An effective marketing campaign can cost tens of thousands to be successful and is essentially targeted at a defined audience through social media advertising as well as effective use of organic social media reach. This takes planning, time and strategy to get right.
Please don't claim your content went viral, when you've actually paid a substanial amount of money to ensure it ends up infront of the right target audience. That's not Viral content, that is just an excellent social media strategy!
