How to create viral content

 How to create viral content

First of all, let's find out what is the benefit for you or me to know about viral content. There are definitely benefits. As I said earlier, for any type of business, being able to make any content go viral means guaranteed profit! And if your business model revolves around the Internet, then no problem! Suppose you have an ecommerce shop where you sell boys' t-shirts. A viral video not only introduces your brand to potential customers, but also helps keep your company's name fresh in the minds of old customers. The more contagious your content, the more 'word of mouth' marketing. That is, being able to create a viral content means that the profit margin is heavy. Can you explain?

What is WOM (Word of Mouth) Marketing?

Word of mouth refers to the non-commercial process of passing information from one person to another on any subject. For example, an initiative taken by the Ministry of Religion of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh was widely discussed on social media. The initiative was disseminated to the general public through a video. Many of you may have seen the video. There was no shortage of people urinating here and there despite the wall-to-wall ban in the mosque city of Dhaka! In general, many people did not give importance to the matter because it was written in Bengali. However, it is illegal to do such work on the wall adjacent to the mosque. The Ministry of Religion took a different initiative. The same words were written in Arabic script instead of Bengali. The results were unexpected. There has been a lot of discussion on social media for and against this video. But if the Ministry of Religion had advertised the matter on television, would we have seen the same result? It is said that commercial marketing, such as radio ads, billboards or TVC campaigns, is more effective than non-commercial marketing of products from customer to customer. But behind the massive success of Tamil movie 3 is the song Cola Very De. Not only online, but also offline, word of mouth marketing is more effective than any other medium. As soon as you hear the news that Omuk Restaurant is offering free iftar in Ramadan, you yourself might tell at least one person about the offer. Would your friend take your words more seriously than he would if he saw the same ad? Nowhere! Today online W&M usage is only 7%. The remaining 97% of usage is observed offline. The biggest reason behind this success of word of mouth marketing is that we always trust someone we know, like friends or relatives, more than traditional advertising. Moreover, one buyer can encourage ten more people to buy.

Now come to the topic of virality!

Is content virality just a game of luck, or something else?
No! Virality is not a gamble. There are definitely some factors behind this. Professor Jonah Berger puts these factors together in what he calls STEPPS, a list of six characteristics. The more a piece of content meets these six characteristics, the more viral the content will be. And as mentioned earlier, viral content will generate buzz about your brand or product. Profit is yours at the end of the day. The conditions of STEPPS are as follows:

1) Social Currency – What we share is what gives us a certain image

Each of us is constantly trying to project our own persona. As there are some who like to think of themselves as science minds, some who like to think of themselves as a bit tough, some like to think of themselves as huge fans of music! We share content if it helps embody that particular image or persona. Like Rafid, my friend always uses latest model phone. He is quite proud of this. He was the first to share this news link with us when the news of the popular mobile phone brand One Plus 2 first hit the market. He keeps these news and it's evident just by looking at the content he shares. Personally, I am a bit of a laggard and my current phone is a model from about six years ago. It is natural that Rafi will have more tendency to share this news than me. That is, it appears that people share exactly what helps them present themselves in a certain way. Humans have loved to move in groups since the beginning of creation. Everyone wants to belong to a group. So whenever sharing something makes him feel like an insider of a certain group, he will share it. Before the Windows 10 version was officially released, Microsoft conducted beta tests for a few days. Many people had the urge to use Windows Ten on their friends list and share their screenshots on social media! Tell me what was the reason? People love to pretend that they have exclusive information that not many people have. That is, the matter of creating that persona or image comes again. Remember, the more good or desirable the content is to this image of the person, the more that content will be shared.

2) Triggers – The tendency to overshare certain content at certain times or environments

Think of a time during a cricket match between Bangladesh and another country. Posts about cricket, cricketers and matches are often seen across newsfeeds. These words come back and forth in the chat of friends. Again, thousands of funny songs or pictures about cows are shared during Eid al-Adha! Do you know why this happens? We share according to time and situation. Students share more exam-related content during exams, professionals share more fun posts about office during working days. Thus, if you can create the right content at the right time, its virality will be high.

3) Emotion : We share what we care about

Emotions can be many. For example, some feelings are positive – happiness, pride, fun, motivation, etc. Some emotions are negative – depression, anger, fear etc. We tend to share more or talk more about content with which we have an emotional connection. Emotions can be of two types: intense and mild. It has been found that videos, pictures, songs or articles that can stir our strong emotions are shared more. They usually go viral. For example, positive pictures or videos of Bangladeshi cricketers make us proud, so we share them. Some events in the country or related news disappoint us, so we express our anger by sharing that too. Again, we share it as a warning to everyone because the incident of kidnapping in a novel way scares us. So it appears that what kind of emotion the content evoked has a correlation with people sharing it.

4) Public – We do what others have done or are doing

Another characteristic of humans since the beginning of creation is to follow others. We do, or dare to do, what we see others doing. We want social proof in everything. This is why when many people share a piece of content together, many more share it when they see it. This condition also largely determines the virality of the content.

5) Practical Value – We share content that has relevance in daily life

Sometimes a piece of content gets shared a lot without evoking any emotion or even triggering a trigger. They actually have some value, which is perceived by the shareholders. Such videos like 'How to easily and quickly fully charge the phone' become quite viral. If a user feels that the content is relevant to their daily life, they will share it. Those among his friends who realize its importance will also share it. And this is how such videos spread from Friendslist to Friendslist!

6) Story – We love to hear and tell stories

In childhood we love to listen to stories. Even as adults, we are attracted to stories. Maybe the story line changes a bit. If your content can tell a story, its chances of going viral increase. Every day the posts we see going viral on social media come up with some story! It may be the story of the rise of a celebrity, may be the story of a company, may be the story of the people of a country or society, may be the story of an entrepreneur. If the story is good, people will share it! This is how you can present a story to your audience through your content.

Last word:
When you create any content, keep the factors discussed above in mind. But one content wins them all