creating viral content for social media: secrets to success

We've all been there – you just want to scroll through your feed for 10 minutes, but social media sucks you in, and those few minutes turn into a couple of hours. Brands use content marketing in SMM to attract audiences to their social media platforms by generating viral content that captures users' attention.

Popular content on social media spreads rapidly among users and goes viral. If new users start visiting your blog, it means they saw your content in the recommendations, which received a lot of views, likes, comments, and shares. A viral effect in an advertising campaign is achieved with a coefficient above one.

This means that each user who sees the content attracts more than one new user, ensuring its spread and increasing popularity. It's important to understand that this isn't a lucky coincidence – «maybe it'll go viral» – but rather the result of careful planning and understanding your audience, which is engaged through emotions. Let's explore how to create viral content on social media.

How to create viral content that evokes emotions?

Content that people like evokes emotions. This triggers the impulse to share it. So let's create the desired mood: content can be fun, touching, informative, or thought-provoking.

Here are steps to help make your content emotional:

— Formulate the audience's problem or question that you're going to address.

— Choose a topic that reflects your brand's values and resonates with your target audience.

— Use the «hero's journey» technique: embed a story with a climax and resolution in your video or text. You can read more about storytelling mechanics in the article: «Basic story plots in storytelling: the key to powerful marketing narratives».

— Incorporate specific emotions that will evoke the desired reaction from your audience.

— Negative content often receives fewer responses than positive content, so generate positive content.

— Share internal processes that are happening in the company: product development, winning an award, or participation in an exhibition.

— Showcase your charitable work, creating kind and emotional content about your contributions.

It’s worth noting that harsh, manipulative methods are no longer encouraged in marketing. Consumers want to feel cared for, not pressured or have their feelings exploited. Viral marketing strategies are now focused on creating unique and memorable content ideas for social media that evoke a strong emotional response, but also provide value to the consumer.

How to use trends to create relevant content?

Trends are an excellent tool that can help you generate a variety of content more quickly. But it's important to remember the «golden rule» of SMM marketing: adapt the idea to your audience and your brand's Tone of Voice. Uniqueness is a critical characteristic when creating a viral video. Copying a trend without infusing it with meaning and without connecting it to your brand's mission and values is a failed approach. Such content will look inorganic and create contradictions in the audience.

Here are some techniques that can help you create viral content using trends:

— Monitoring. Look for trending content on social media and brainstorm new concepts and interpretations that are relevant to your business and audience.

— Platforms. Increase the number of touchpoints with your audience by posting content on different platforms, adapting it to the format and presentation style of each platform.

— Visuals. Make your content visually clear so that your audience has no questions after watching. Create videos and photos that reflect a professional approach to content creation.

— UGC. This is a popular technique on social media where users create reviews and share feedback about a brand's products or services. These videos convey emotions and reactions from the experience of using a product.

— Aesthetics. A trend focused on conveying a particular mood and atmosphere of a brand. Such videos don't contain a deep message, but immerse the consumer in the company's aesthetics.

— Humor. Funny moments are worth sharing, so humor is timeless and always relevant for any generation.

— Music and Sounds. Content has become popular simply because of the music or sounds that become recognizable.

— Expert Content. Create materials that showcase your company's expertise in its field and provide value to your audience. It’s important to vary formats so as not to overwhelm the audience.

— Cinematography. Use scenes from popular movies and adapt them to your video script or post text. Consumers will pause on this content because they will see a familiar plot and their favorite characters.

— Video Effects. Think of yourselves as cameramen and directors. Create storyboards and incorporate various video effects that will make the video lively and dynamic.

Brands also create captivating videos, skillfully implement current events and storytelling, and use a «forbidden» trick – creating content with cute pets. The main thing is to interpret trends to create content for SMM that is tailored to your brand's characteristics. As an example of viral content, we can look at the Russian brand Gold Apple.

Using situational marketing, cosmetic brand created a Halloween video incorporating several trends.

— Mysterious music that is clearly associated with the holiday.

— The video featured company employees, and consumers are always curious about the inner workings of brands.

— One of the video's stars was a puppy dressed as a boss, which evoked amusement and emotion.

— Some of the employees showcased their costumes inspired by movies, cartoons, and TV series. The video included scenes inspired by Scooby-Doo and American Psycho.

This video, by using trending ideas, helped boost our metrics.

Creating viral content is well-developed in the restaurant business. For example, reviews of menus and interiors. Genuine impressions from tastings and the atmosphere of an establishment evoke emotions in the audience, leading to a desire to visit the restaurant and try the dishes.

It's important to remember the importance of a personalized approach and to focus on your audience. Mindlessly copying means not understanding the brand's uniqueness and failing to convey its value to consumers.

How to encourage the audience to share and discuss?

Branding agencies are not only involved in creating content for SMM, but also in developing methods that encourage audience feedback: views, shares, comments, and likes. These metrics are used to measure the virality of content.

Use engagement tools:

— Questions and Polls. Ask questions and conduct interactive activities, encouraging people to share their opinions.

— Contests and Giveaways. Offer valuable prizes for likes, shares, and comments to increase engagement.

— Chatbots. Use chatbots to interact with your audience, answer questions, run contests, and notify them about promotions launched by the brand.

— Live Streams. Conduct live streams with real-time dialogue, allowing people to see the brand «behind the scenes» and understand what matters to consumers.

Create a sense of community:

— Build a Community. Unite people around your brand and foster connections between them.

— Host Online Events. Organize webinars, contests, and online meetings to get closer to your audience.

— Respond to Comments and Messages. Show genuine interest in your audience's opinions by interacting with them in comments and private messages.

The «Share a Coke» viral campaign by Coca-Cola is a great example of content that focused on personalization and a call to share photos of the drink with friends on social media.

Viral content is not just about luck; it’s about the comprehensive development of strategies to solve business problems: attracting and developing a loyal audience, increasing brand awareness, and boosting sales. This involves a deep analysis of the audience, an understanding of their preferences and desires, formulating hypotheses and testing, and experimenting with content. Avoid copying other people's ideas. Create unique content and plan its SMM promotion, ensuring it reflects your brand identity and values.