In today’s world, there is always something going viral online. From memes featuring trending hashtags to viral makeup tutorials or fashion trends, the internet is constantly feeding our social media feeds with new content to process and enjoy.
If you’re looking to increase your web traffic and grow your social media following, you’ve probably considered trying some of these viral marketing strategies.
Viral Marketing: The Basics
This type of marketing is all about making something viral. You’re typically looking to drive traffic to your website or social media channels from people who are already interested in your niche or industry. To make this happen, you need to stand out from the crowd. To do this, you need to look at the basics:
- Content that is interesting and provides value
- Viral marketing involves creating content that is shareable
- And finally, you need to make sure that this content is relevant to your target audience
These are the basics of getting any type of marketing plan to work. If you can incorporate these elements into your strategy, you’re well on your way to successfully using viral marketing.
Why Should You Try Online Marketing?
The main reason why you should try online marketing is because of the enormous number of people who use the internet to research and find products. According to market research firm Statista, in 2020, there were about 4.9 billion internet users worldwide. In the U.S., it’s estimated that about 73% of the population used the internet in 2020.
With so much internet traffic and so many potential customers, you can bet that there are lots of people out there who are searching for your products. You can use this fact to your advantage and launch a viral marketing campaign. The important thing to keep in mind is that you’re not looking to sell a product directly to a consumer. Instead, you want to engage with this audience and make them interested in your niche or industry. The key to a viral marketing campaign is to create a buzz around your brand. This might mean sharing sneak peeks of upcoming products or blog posts, or it could mean providing valuable information about your niche or industry. Whatever it may be, make sure that this content is relevant and interesting to your target audience. When choosing which platforms to use for your meme or social media campaign, keep in mind that some demographics will likely be more receptive to your message than others.
The Biggest Mistake Newbies Make
When it comes to viral marketing, it’s important to recognize that not every topic can be made into a meme. Some topics or issues are just too complicated or contentious for this type of content. For example, if you’re a vegan business owner, you probably don’t want to associate your brand with animal cruelty. You also don’t want to alienate your customers who are interested in your products. This is why you should only pick topics that are relatable to your target audience. If you can incorporate this type of nuance into your strategy, you’ll be able to effectively use viral marketing to grow your audience and drive business.
How To Design An Effective Viral Marketing Campaign
Now that you have the basics down, you can start to put together an effective viral marketing campaign. The first step is to choose the right platforms. As you determined in the previous section, your niche and industry will dictate which platforms are relevant to you. Once you have these, take a few days to look at the various demographics on each platform and consider what will make the most sense for your campaign.
For example, if you’re targeting women between the ages of 20 to 24, you might decide Twitter is the best place to start your campaign.
This is because this demographic is usually on the lookout for information and tips on fashion, style, and beauty. If you can harness this interest, you’re well on your way to successful viral marketing. On the other hand, if you’re targeting millennials, you might decide to try TikTok.
As you can guess, this is a platform that is predominantly used by this demographic. If you’re looking to get your products or services into the hands of Gen-Z, you might want to consider using TikTok as well. This is because the video platform allows users to add rich media (e.g., GIFs, music, and videos) and share content quickly.
Use Memes To Get The Most Out Of Your Campaign
If you’re using social media to spread the word about your brand, you’ve undoubtedly seen the impact that memes can have. This is especially true if you have a sizable audience on any of the platforms mentioned above. Memes are everywhere on social media, and as a brand, you can use this to your advantage. Create memes around your brand and watch them spread like wildfire across your various social media platforms.
The key to effective viral marketing is to make sure that you’re incorporating these shareable images into your campaign. If you have a team of meme creators, this is definitely a skill that you can leverage to make your campaign even more impactful. When you have a strong brand image and a large audience, you can bet that people will be bringing you memes to share. Incorporating memes into your campaign can help you cut through the clutter on social media and gain exposure to your target audience. Plus, if you have an SEO expert on your team, incorporating memes into your content can potentially increase your SEO.
How To Optimize Your Viral Marketing Campaign For The Mobile Age
With more people accessing the internet via mobile devices, you need to ensure that your content is compatible with these devices. If your content does not appear well on mobile devices, your audience will simply skip over it in favor of content that is displayed beautifully on their phones.
To achieve the best possible visual experience on mobile devices, you need to ensure that your content is mobile-friendly. Luckily for you, we’re internet marketers. We’re accustomed to helping businesses and websites ensure that their content will display well on any device.
To make your content mobile-friendly, perform a simple audit. Look at how your website performs on different devices and check for any elements that make this content hard to view on a phone. Consider the following:
- Is the text large enough that people on smaller screens can still read it?
- Does the text have enough white space around it so that it does not look like garbage on a small screen?
- Do the colors look good enough?
- Does everything function smoothly when pressed?
- Does everything load quickly?
Once you have answered all of these questions, you can determine the overall performance of your website and content on different devices. With a little bit of effort, you can make sure that your content looks good on any type of device. And remember: people on mobile devices can access your website and content from anywhere, anytime, so ensure that your content is accessible from all points in the globe.
Final Takeaway
With so much competition and so many people chasing online marketing dollars, it’s important to stand out from the crowd. If you can utilize viral marketing effectively, you’re well on your way to taking your business to the next level.