Stop Trying to Go Viral! Do This Instead…
Going viral should never be a direct part of a brand's growth strategy.
Much like fame, going viral is something that supposedly promises to eliminate all of your day-to-day stressors. In fact, many experts out there sell this dream. Convincing you to ‘just keep trying’ because that one piece of content might just blow up and go crazy!
But despite what’s been said, going viral is unpredictable, impossible to track, and a totally ludicrous singular KPI target.
Here's 5 reasons why you should focus on building a unique content strategy rather than gunning for that one-hit-wonder.
5 Reasons to Strop Gunning for Going Viral
1. Competition is too high
Going viral is not the Olympics where you are competing against a specially selected team of the best athletes in the world. You are competing against 5 billion pieces of daily content, 500 million tweets, 500 million LinkedIn accounts and a whole lot more.
The reality is there is no ‘sweet spot’ time to post, no right volume of content, and no number of hashtags that can help you on the path to viral success. In fact, the chances of something going viral is nearer 1 in a million. So to be seen, you need to factor competition into account.
THE SOLUTION: Choose the right platform for the right material
Certain content performs better on certain platforms than others. Know your platform and choose the right kind of content for it. Twitter, for example, is better for PR than the likes of Facebook.
2. You’ll never reach the numbers you want
Brands broadcast information to reach a selected audience. But when something spreads to a viral scale, it is predominantly down to word of mouth- something marketers and the likes of can have very little control over. In addition, algorithms have changed. social media platforms have matured to such huge audience sizes that you have to pay to get the insanely large reach you could get organically 5 years ago.
In other words, if you are Kim Kardashian or Cristiano Ronaldo who have millions of followers on social media, you are bound to gain a decent level of exposure. Your broadcast model is one-to-millions, as opposed to one-to-hundreds.
But even sharing content through word of mouth isn’t guaranteed to be reciprocated indefinitely. You can share a cool newsletter with a friend and it won’t go viral. But you can also share a photo of four lads in jeans and watch it spread like wildfire.
THE SOLUTION: Market your brand to the right audience
Sourcing influencers to represent your brand that have a large following is one way to gain exposure. Other options include conducting insightful market research that ensures your brand reaches the most responsive audience.
3. People are unpredictable
Not everything that goes viral is for good reason. Typically things go viral because they invoke a strong emotional response, like a meme being hilarious or a video from the black web sparking outrage.
What is often found is that the content that turns viral does so because it gets blown out of context and begins a snowball effect. Take Rebecca Blacks ‘Friday’ for example. At the time, the music video was produced with intentions to manifest Rebecca Black as an artist. Little did the production team or Black know at the time the video would be picked up by the public and ultimately destroy the singer's career before it even hit go.
THE SOLUTION: Develop your brand identity and stick to it
Consistency is key. Eventually you will grow an audience that doesn't just follow you but supports you. It is important that as a brand you develop an identity so that when your content starts performing well, people can learn more about you from the get go.
4. Time is against you
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that can tell you when and how you will achieve viral success. Not only should going viral be treated as a rare phenomenon - it should be made fact that these moments are nearly always a matter of ‘right place right time’.
It’s also not uncommon that people pick up content which goes viral way later down the line. So irrespective of how much research is done into picking the right time to please the algorithm or the perfect posting time, it really is a total fluke when something might or might not get picked up.
THE SOLUTION: Track your insights
Learn what works and what doesn't and start to figure out what content is most receptive and when. As Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut once said- “If something works once, do it again!”
5. You can’t buy viral success
Investing money into ads etc. is, of course, a big help when it comes to increasing brand exposure. Money helps, but it can’t buy you viral success. You can invest all the money in the world and come fractionally close to getting the right influencer or the right designer that might make all the difference. A much better solution is knowing when and where to invest your money
THE SOLUTION: Invest in digital ad spend and lead generation
To guarantee the results you want, your money is better invested in the areas that can guarantee growth and awareness- like ad spend and lead gen! For more information, check out our services page that details exactly how paid spend can boost your success.
Summary
We often get brands come to us with hopes of going viral some day. While going viral isn’t totally unattainable, having a great social strategy behind you will always guarantee results. Investing money into your brand's growth strategy is the best way to see the growth you're after. And hey, If one day you do go viral- you’ll need a strategy behind it to guarantee long term success (post-viral).
Work with us
Noise is an award-winning social-first media agency that helps drive tangible growth for brands. For more information or to enquire about growing your brand through social media please email brands@noisemediagroup.co.uk
