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“Viral” used to be a bad word. The adjectival form of “virus,” having a high “viral load” is something you certainly don’t want, and “viral meningitis” is something you want to avoid at all costs.
Now, of course, “viral” isn’t just a commonplace buzzword — it’s something that marketers, advertisers and social influencers the world over chase as fiercely as Tom Cruise on a motorcycle or Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious. Not quite as elusive as a unicorn, but a challenging target to hit nonetheless, coming up with a viral post or a viral public relations campaign has become the ultimate aim in the PR space (where I reside).
And I’ve got to admit, sometimes it is just a hit-or-miss situation. You can consult with the most talented pros in the business, you can brainstorm for days on end, and you can market test your brilliant idea on all your friends at your next get-together to a round of hearty applause. Still, there’s no proven algorithm that will ensure that your campaign skyrockets like the famous ice bucket challenge or Dove’s “real beauty” messaging. There are, however, strategies you can adopt on the flight upward.
I cannot guarantee that you’ll “go viral” — no one can. (Well, unless you know someone who knows someone who knows Taylor Swift.) But I can promise that if you follow these three steps, your chances of attracting widespread interest in your PR efforts will significantly improve.
Step #1: Research and reinvent
I know, I know: You have to do work? Well, yes, unfortunately; if you’re after viral status, the first step is to do a deep dive into what’s already gone viral in your field and then — guess what? — NOT do it. Do not steal ideas. Do not copy. Do not become your own knockoff brand.
Rather, analyze what aspects or features of the campaign hit the bull’s-eye and then approach those angles from a similar but different angle. Questions to ask:
- Did the campaign use humor?
- Did it use emotion to tug at the heart or, conversely, to rouse anger or inspire action?
- Did it use shock value or subtlety?
- Did it feature people or things?
- Was it mostly visual, auditory, or written?
- Was the goal to entertain or to inform?
When you break down a wildly successful PR effort into its components, you can likely pinpoint what was most effective with the intended audience and attempt to reproduce the effect without mimicking the content.
One last two-part tip here. Because it’s true that so many “best thing since sliced bread” ideas have already been done before, don’t limit your research to campaigns on the same theme as your own. Instead, (a) look closely at verticals (same industry as yours, but different topics) and (b) look beyond your own industry to campaigns you want to emulate. Just because your product has nothing at all to do with Budweiser beer, that doesn’t mean you can’t try to evoke the same feeling their Clysedale horses do at holiday time.
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Step #2: Create and conquer
Putting a novel spin on an already-used technique that you want to employ is fine — in other words, inspiration instead of imitation. But you know what’s even better? Landing on an original idea specific to your brand. In the field of public relations, creativity is the key that unlocks every door. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve sat around brainstorming with my team in an effort to birth something new and exciting for one of my fabulous clients. In doing so, here’s what I’ve learned:
- Creativity in PR is where science meets art. After all that research, once you assemble some facts and observations about what works in viral campaigns and what doesn’t work in dud campaigns, it’s time to integrate the craft with the stats.
- To do so, it’s okay to start with AI. I mean, it’s a permanent fixture on the landscape now, so why not take advantage of its views? But — and this is a critical “but” — you can only use it as a launching pad to spark offshoot ideas; if you try to spur a viral campaign with ChatGPT at the wheel, you’ll get a flat tire fast because the driver is a robot.
- And the human brain can still outdo the robot. I’m not sure how long this will last, but for the time being, relying on the creative minds in your camp is still your best bet for devising impactful, influential content. For example, you can use AI to come up with a list of keywords or hashtags that are trending big in your industry. Stop there. Hand-pick a word or two to form the pillar of your campaign, but then build the rest all by yourself.
- It’s essential to choose the right platform to showcase your creativity. Once again, research will inform whether Insta, TikTok, TV, Google Ads, or any number of other outlets are the most strategic choices for marketing what you’ve built for your particular market.
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Step #3: Be exceptional with thought-provoking content
What gives your creative efforts the “hook” you’re seeking to lure in scads of viewers or followers? Well, it can be many things: authenticity (this is a big one that’s really resonating right now), an empathetic pull (drawing people in with a message that genuinely hits home), or getting a popular influencer on board to promote your brand (self-explanatory).
Personally, I’m a big advocate of both a savvy visual strategy — leveraging the potency of captivating imagery — and the power of clever wordplay. Really catchy campaign slogans can be surprisingly succinct (“Got milk?” and “Just do it” were both truly transformative), but they prove the point that language is power and always will be. My proofreader initially bristled at Simply Orange’s “100% unfooled around with” tagline … but she’ll never, ever forget it.
So, yes, a viral hook can be conceptualized. But far more often, hitting upon one is completely accidental. Like, entirely and utterly accidental. The marketplace is just too vast and people are just too diverse to accurately predict precisely what they’ll respond to in a certain way on a certain day.
Given this, what should your aim be? You want someone to stop and think. You want to generate public interest with attention-worthy content. At the very least, you want to grab the spotlight for as long as you can hold it by capitalizing on a trend or taking advantage of something ingrained in, familiar to, our cultural milieu.
Here’s an example: A while back, I represented a builder/designer who was recreating a cottage that appeared in a holiday cult classic movie. We decided to run with the idea of using that cottage as our campaign’s foundation, and it just hit a nerve. What can I say? I got lucky by having a well-known element in this client’s toolbox, and boy, was it fun seeing our work for him blow up and spin outward farther and farther, making new connections along the way.
“Going viral” is a game with no hard-and-fast rules, only guidelines. The above tactics may not be glamorous. They’re not industry secrets, they’re not error-proof, and they’re certainly not effortless. But in more than 15 years of running my own PR firm, I’ve learned that they’re a surefire way to at least approach sure success. And if you jump from 150 followers to 1,500 with one at-bat? That’s pretty viral success in my book!
