When I started blogging more than 10 years ago, I was obsessed with one thing. I hoped that every article I published would go viral. At the time, we had fewer options to achieve this because there was no Twitter and Facebook was not what it is today. I won’t even mention other social networks. viral contentPhoto rights by Fotolia The post-viral topic is still of great interest. I recently made a poll through the comments of the post, to choose the topic of the next webinar that I was going to teach. Despite having to compete with the monetization topic , the webinar on the generation of viral posts came out on top. If you have just landed here, I will have already taught it. You can download the recording by subscribing here . In this post I will briefly summarize the highlights of the online seminar. Content as the basis of the viral We start from the basis of any viral content: the content. This has to meet certain conditions to achieve the effect in terms of diffusion that we are looking for. Not all criteria necessarily have to be met at the same time, but at least one of them is usually found in content that can be classified as viral. Quality content : “Quality” allows for a relatively broad interpretation. Is humorous content quality? Is it synonymous with well-crafted and well-done? There are “cheap” viral contents, so it is not a mandatory factor. In the world of blogs, “mega-entry” type posts have that potential. Obviously, writing more than 10,000 words in text format is no guarantee, but there is a certain tendency that more elaborate articles are shared more frequently than shorter ones. Target a specific niche : Just look at the latest viral videos and this factor is not essential either, as it does not apply in all cases. However, it can help to focus on a specific type of audience (athletes, mothers, dentists, vegetarians, etc.) to achieve greater exposure in less time. People who share viral content need to be able to identify with it and want to involve others who may feel the same. They facilitate interaction between users : channels such as Twitter and Facebook are often channels for spreading viral content because they simplify interaction between users. It is easy to share and react to content. Conversation acts as an amplifier that helps reach more people. The fact that content allows users to easily create their own versions can act as gasoline that is added to the fire. Just think of the Harlem Shake phenomenon to understand this dynamic. Live in-person events : content created at in-person events with online dissemination can have viral potential, fulfilling at least one of the factors previously mentioned. This action by Red Bull probably comes to mind for some . Factors beyond content to achieve virality Content is a key piece of the puzzle, but by no means the only one. According to scientific studies combined with my own experience, it could be complemented in the following way. Powerful spreaders : We talked about quality content earlier. A good example of a “cheap” viral video that has managed to spread without the author really intending to is the one you can see below. The explosive point was a tweet from Jimmy Kimmel, a Prime Time moderator from the United States who, thanks to his millions of followers on Twitter, lit the fire. A strong push from a powerful spreader is usually a great help in achieving a viral (especially if the content already has that potential). Active communities: When you create content that is suitable for a very specific target audience, it helps enormously to have an active community at your disposal. Ideally, this consists of your blog readers. Communities can also be commercial in nature. Just think of Nike Plus , which has a community of several million runners. Another example of a very active community can be seen in the video below. Advertising platforms: Obviously, not just any type of advertising will do. It has to offer the possibility of hyper-precise targeting at a very low cost. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and sometimes Twitter can give you that necessary push by investing some money. Many pieces of content that have the potential to achieve a lot of exposure simply don’t make it because they lack the initial momentum that a well-targeted campaign can provide. Whenever I start this type of post I always realize that I fall short with what I write. It is not surprising that there are books written on the subject. Other key factors that require attention are the generation of emotions and current events (Zeitgeist). If you register for the webinar, you can find more detailed information on these aspects in the recording of the seminar.
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