What makes things go Viral?
Getting the word out and maintaining it for long is so challenging. Hmm so, it must be Quality, Price and Advertising that make the winning game; But not always the case as people tend to think, more spend on advertising will get people to buy products.
We have seen brands execute amazing campaigns and the reach scores tremendous numbers. Everyone gets happy from marketing and sales to higher management, but as soon as the media and campaigning burst ramps down we see steep drop in reach and the buzz. For this, it is fair to ask, how the buzz is generated and sustained.
Being the cool person who tells stories about adventures on his way from work, or the delicious burger sandwich he tried from an underground restaurant, is a lovable aspect to have. Again, the trick is how to be part of this cool person’s talk and interesting stories he shares with friends during their chill out time. Such topics and more detailed narratives on our day-to-day activities we always see interesting and fun to share. With the growth of WOM importance and marketers turning their heads into influencers and hype building following different myths of virality generators, still there are some factors that seem to be applicable to many successfully widely spread stories on brands and people globally.
Jonah Berger the author of Contagious Why Things Catch On has described and detailed cases and stories on topics that have caught
on in different industries from Blendtec the famous blenders that can blend the Iphone to small Hotdog restaurants. He introduced the six factors that spark contagiousness in stories.
1- Social Currency, WOM is at least ten times more effective than advertising. Only 7% of WOM happen online. So how can you influence the offline conversations?
3- Emotion, when we care we share. It is true we get excited about new things and cannot help but to share it with others, it is fine you are not alone people feel happy to do it every day. You had an unbelievable bargain on newly bought smartphone Lumia on Dubizzle.com and same for other exciting news and classified experiences get shared everywhere.
2- Triggers, what triggers people to share secrets even though they have been warned to tell!
5- Practical value was sharing a story helpful and adds value to the storyteller or the listeners! He opens a soft drink bottle and finds an interesting scientific fact that says “ glass ball bounces high than the rubber one”
4- Public, big trends spread out because they were designed to do so; we see this with new restaurants and other things. SHAKE SHACK opened in Jeddah two or three months back and still has crowds waiting in lines to try it, others can’t get enough. People passing by get anxious what is so special about it, can we try it !Such ideas they just advertise themselves.
6- Stories, hot topics become social stories that everyone talks about, that is why even people who have not been to the restaurant speak about it.
Not all viral products services or campaigns are going to be contagious but these factors if well integrated in the plan they will make wonders.