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Aiming to Make Content Go Viral

Creating content that goes viral is a marketer’s dream. It means more exposure and is proof that they are being heard. While there’s no guarantee that what a marketer puts out there will get picked up, certain elements can help good content stand out.

For any chance of content going viral, it must be original and authentic, and the creator must share his or her own voice, according to {grow}‘s Srinivas Roo. Choosing a safe and already popular topic or just writing a clickable headline will not increase the chances of something going viral.

Roo suggests not producing content simply for the sake of trying to be popular. “When you write a post in the hopes of getting tweets, traffic, and likes, you filter your voice through that lens,” he writes. Instead, he says people should ditch the formulas and speak what’s on their mind.

When producing content, the writer should not be afraid to be different and state his or her opinion. “If you want to write something that makes an impact, it’s unlikely it will appeal to everybody,” Roo says. “As you’ve probably heard before, if you try to appeal to everybody you’ll appeal to nobody.”

People tend to share content that is funny, unbelievable, dramatic, provocative, and not covered by the mainstream media, according to ProBlogger’s “Understanding Viral Content Marketing” infographic. If a marketer wants his or her content to be shared, there needs to be share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other social media sites.

If content can’t be spread with one click, chances are, people won’t make the effort.

Image courtesy of Dr.OGA/shutterstock

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