Increasing brand awareness is a top priority for businesses aiming to expand their online presence, and viral marketing offers an effective strategy to achieve this goal. This approach enables marketers to quickly gain more traffic and spread their message faster than traditional marketing methods or paid advertising. Lorene Suzan Mather, a content editor at PRable, a full-service digital and content agency, provides insights into the definition of viral marketing and its benefits for businesses. Additionally, she shares five viral marketing techniques along with examples from established companies.
What Is Viral Marketing?
Viral marketing is a method that leverages word-of-mouth marketing and relies on the audience to generate buzz around a brand or product. It thrives on shareable content that encourages audience participation. By shifting much of the promotional work to the audience, viral campaigns can increase engagement and reduce marketing costs compared to traditional advertising methods. Successful viral campaigns often gain greater visibility as trending content on social media platforms. Channels for viral marketing campaigns include video-sharing sites, social media networks, and blogs.
Viral Marketing Strategies and Implementations
Emotional advertising can be highly effective in creating memorable content that resonates with audiences, leading to increased social shares and potentially higher sales. Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign is a prime example of this approach. The campaign featured a social experiment where women described their appearances to a sketch artist who couldn’t see them, highlighting insecurities and promoting self-acceptance. By tapping into the emotions of its target audience, Dove successfully conveyed its message and increased brand engagement.
The allure of “free” is a powerful motivator for consumers. Offering free products or services, whether through buy-one-get-one-free deals, free trials, or giveaways, can attract attention and drive engagement. Girlfriend Collective’s viral marketing campaign, which offered free sustainable leggings to customers who shared a social media post, exemplifies this strategy. The campaign generated significant buzz and resulted in a large number of orders, showcasing the effectiveness of providing valuable products for free.
Trendjacking involves capitalizing on current trends, such as popular memes, events, or hashtags, to create relevant and engaging content. Wendy’s, known for its humorous social media presence, successfully leveraged the “she’s/he’s a 10” meme to poke fun at its competitor, McDonald’s. By incorporating trending content into its marketing strategy, Wendy’s effectively engaged its audience and reinforced its brand identity.
Branded hashtag challenges encourage user participation and can significantly increase brand visibility on social media platforms. Pepsi’s #pepsicanbalance campaign challenged individuals to create TikTok videos featuring balanced arrangements of Pepsi cans. The campaign sparked widespread participation and generated user-generated content, driving engagement and brand awareness. Collaborating with influencers or celebrities can further amplify the reach of branded hashtag challenges.
Personalized marketing utilizes customer data to deliver tailored messages or product offerings to individual customers. Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign provides users with personalized insights into their listening habits, such as their top artists and songs of the year. By delivering personalized experiences, brands can enhance customer engagement and foster brand loyalty.
Conclusion
Viral marketing is a powerful strategy for increasing brand awareness and driving engagement. By leveraging emotional appeal, offering valuable products for free, trendjacking, creating branded hashtag challenges, and personalizing the brand experience, businesses can create viral campaigns that resonate with their target audience and achieve rapid growth in visibility. Incorporating these techniques into your marketing strategy can help you reach new audiences and enhance brand awareness effectively.
