You can go viral by accident, or you can even strategically plan to go for it. A brand can reach every customer and area it wants to within a small amount of time, and this can be achieved if you plan your marketing activities well ahead.

As a small business marketer, you can boost the reach of your business by adopting the techniques of viral marketing. This can be an important step for your business. Viral marketing can be achieved and is said to be important for your business as it is a free type of advertising.

So how can you, as a brand, go viral….?

It is not typically possible for most of the brands to go viral. Still, the industry experts say that there are certain techniques that can be adopted by businesses to make your business go viral in the market. Some of the techniques to go viral include:

• Buzz marketing technique
• Create content that people would want to share with their friends
• Conduct brand promotion that is different from the rest of the competitors.
• Consider people’s emotions in mind while advertising

Buzz marketing is a marketing strategy that consumes viral content to conduct word of mouth marketing. Content shared with this technique spreads like wildfire. The idea behind buzz marketing is to make the consumers circular content for your company. This can be through articles, social media, or blogs.

The second tactic is to create content that the people relate them easily and would like to share with other people immediately. This can also be the content that people would want to share with their friends and family members. This content can be funny, clever, or highly emotional. The more it is engaging and relatable, the more chances it holds to get shared by people.

Uniqueness is the quality that your content must always have. Be creative and use techniques and marketing content that is different from your competitors. Do something new that is highly refreshing for your audience when you share your ads, the platforms that you use to publish your content. If your marketing content is unique and something that the audience has never seen before, it is more likely that it will go viral.

Example 1: Dove Real Beauty Sketches

The Dove Real Beauty Sketch campaign uses the skills of a forensic sketch artist who was asked to draw two different sketches. The first one was how a person would describe themselves. The second sketch is drawn when an acquaintance would describe the other person.

Comparing both the images was highly emotional as the first one depicted how harshly people would describe themselves. On the other hand, the second image shows how strangers view each other. The campaign video has more than 69 million views on YouTube. At the same time, the campaign received more than 4 billion media presence.

The probable reason for its success was, it played with people’s emotions and was worthy of sharing with family and friends. This campaign is one of the reasons why people associate the Dove brand with self-love and a positive approach towards one’s body.

Example 2: Always “Like a Girl” Campaign

The video presents the different ways the older generations, boys, and men perceives the concept of doing something “like a girl”. It shows younger generation girls, around ten years doing things like a girl but in a different way than was expected by the viewers.

These girls are shown running quickly and being fierce, while the older generation is not shown in the same way. The video has more than 69 million views and was successful in representing a brand that empowers women. The campaign went viral successfully as they looked at creating an advertisement that different from its market competitors.

Example 3: Dollar Shave Club

This was a relatively inexpensive ad that can be an inspiration for small and medium businesses to help launch their brand. The video is hilarious that explains what makes Dollar Shave Club different and better than its competitors.

The video was shared on YouTube that earned 27 million views. The impact was so immense that the brand’s website crashed a number of times after the ad was published. The business also gained 12 000 new subscriptions in 48 hours. The reason that made it a viral video is, it was a combination of cleverness, creativity, and humour.

Example 4: Budweiser “Someone Waits for You at Home” Video

Budweiser posted an advertising video that generated an emotional response among people. The commercial shared by them showed a young man being the friend of a small puppy. The video then shares both of them are growing old together. The video ended with a notation that the man might not return home safely after he spent his evening drinking heavily.

The company very well understands that many people think of dogs as an integral part of their family. They used this belief to trigger a strong emotional response and share the dangers of drinking and driving. The campaign went successfully viral as it used a topic that is emotionally close to people.

Example 5: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge was popular on social media channels in the year 2014. This was a viral fundraising video that grabbed the attention of many people and raised awareness for the ALS Association. Here the participants had to dump a bucket of ice and cold water over the head of another person, make donations to the cause, and nominate three people to do the same in less than 24 hours.

The ad created a sense of urgency, obligation to nominate three people and add a video component to the challenge. All these things made the campaign viral. Here the participants shared funny videos of the pained reactions to the ice-cold water poured on people. Even celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Cristiano Ronaldo. The challenge became a viral success and raised a whopping amount of 11 million dollars for the ALS Association.

Going viral for a brand might not be an easy task. You need to be creative, innovative and think about the things that will grab the immediate attention of the people. The techniques mentioned above increase the likelihood of your brand going viral. So use your creative ideas to create viral posts and help boost your promotion.