Who posted a pet picture last week with the hope that a tree would be planted because of it? Go on, own it, we did!
This was such a simple, yet effective campaign that took off and went viral across social media.
After minutes, 10 to be precise, the original content was taken down from Instagram in a panic when the original poster realised just how many trees were going to need to be planted, something that as a small charity they just couldn’t cope with.
However, after taking the post down, the viral trend continued to sweep the internet, resulting in over 4 million shares….meaning, 4 million trees!
Viral campaigns always leave you questioning, why didn’t we think of that?! It’s usually the simplest campaigns that take off, but more than anything, it’s about timing, and a touch of luck.
There is no guaranteed way of making your campaign go viral, however, there are some steps you can take to give yourself the best chance of it happening…
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Appeal to a specific target audience
Consider who you want to reach and where they are most likely to be (ie. Which social media platform are they usually on)
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Appeal to a specific emotion
Think about the types of content they are likely to respond to, are they more likely to engage with something that makes them laugh, cry, shout, or question
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Make it easy to share and promote
Ensure there is a simple and quick way to spread the post so that it can quickly be done, this will encourage more shares and therefore more likelihood of it becoming viral
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Post it at the right time
Think about your audience and when they are most likely going to be online, for example, there’s no point in posting on a Saturday evening if you are trying to reach a demographic that are more likely to be in the pub
What and who will post the next trend? We’re waiting…