How to Create Viral Content with Social Media Marketing

Viral content is content that spreads quickly and “infectiously” on the Internet. This usually happens thanks to users who actively share such content with their subscribers and friends. Most often, virality is achieved through unusual content delivery, bright creativity, or sincere, trustworthy messages that hook the audience.

At first glance, it may seem that there is nothing complicated - create a high-quality post and enjoy likes and reposts. But in practice, achieving organic virality on social networks is not easy.

Let's figure out how to create viral content on social networks.

Examples of popular viral content

A wide variety of content can go viral – from funny memes to news about resonant events. Many brands are actively using this trend, releasing and promoting original content on the Internet.

Another example is cute and funny photos of animals. Such pictures often become the subject of discussion and a source for creating new memes.

For example, a photo of a funny cat can instantly spread across social networks and become popular on the Internet for a long time. Understand first how to make a viral video.

The Psychology of Viral Content

As research by Creation Infoways has shown, viral content always evokes strong emotions.

People are particularly likely to share content that:

• Got them interested

• Surprised

• Touched

• Inspired

• Shocked

In other words, social media marketing content must evoke a strong emotional reaction so that a person wants to share it with friends and subscribers. Too strong emotions push people to express their opinions and discuss what they see.

Another significant feature is the relevance of the topic. People are more willing to share information on pressing topics that concern society for viral content ideas.

How to Create Viral Content on Instagram

To create viral content on Instagram truly, you are required to remember the following:

The content creation should be as relevant and topical as possible, or, conversely, “eternal”, that is, not tied to time.

The content must correspond to the interests of the target audience. For example, a quote in a thematic blog must necessarily reflect the opinion of subscribers.

The post should have an attention-grabbing title - with a question, numbers, and an intriguing negative connotation.

It is better to make the text of the post as concise and laconic as possible.

And of course, the content must evoke a strong emotional response from the audience. Check viral content examples online for further understanding.

This approach will help you create posts that will be actively distributed among subscribers and work to promote your account.

Viral content can be created, but it cannot be predicted. It is impossible to predict the reaction to your video, post, or meme. Moreover, very often content becomes viral without the participation or even desire of the author.

Therefore, it is not worth allocating a separate budget for creating such a "virus" or trying to artificially come up with something that could be shared a lot. The brand should think not only about distribution but also about whether this trend will be associated with it, and whether it will be remembered. Otherwise, what is the point? Viral content for viral video marketing should help tell about the brand and expand its audience.

The best thing you can do is to follow the news agenda and respond to it in your brand style, don’t be afraid to joke and experiment with content. Many brands set too strict boundaries for communications, which distances them from their audience and organic reach.

How to Create Viral Content: Viral Marketing Techniques

• Evoke strong emotions. Content that evokes strong feelings in viewers often has great potential to go viral. You are hooked by what evokes emotion, no matter what it is. Joy, sadness, disgust, anger, or surprise will work equally well.

• Interactivity: Creating interactive content that allows viewers to interact or participate in an action can encourage its widespread distribution. The simplest example is to create a dance that needs to be repeated.

• Humor and memes: This type of content often goes viral because people love to share funny things with their friends.

• Adaptation of news items. It is important to react quickly here. Every day it is necessary to monitor the information field for interesting news. The main thing is to react in an original way and the style of the brand.

• Unconventional ideas. To make your video go viral, start with an unusual idea. Forget about cliches and standard plots.

Benefits of Viral Content for Business

• • Increased audience engagement and reach: When viral content is shared on social media, it can reach a huge audience organically. This is especially important for large FMCG companies looking to reach the masses.

  • Effectiveness. Viral content can have a much greater impact on the target audience than conventional forms of advertising. Good viral content can lead to a rapid and powerful increase in brand awareness.

  • Relatively low costs. Many ideas that resonate with users do not require large expenses. One type of viral content that flies among friends like hotcakes is surveys of strangers on the street, for example, “How much do you earn?”, “Who would you give a luxurious bouquet to: your mother or your wife?”, “What do you regret in life?” and others.

And to ask some popular or tricky questions to passers-by, you don’t need big budgets.

• • Recognition and loyalty. You know — you trust. And you trust = you buy. The audience sees that the brand is keeping up with the times, and speaks the same language with them. This brings them closer and causes sympathy for the brand and its products.

It is the dream of any SMM specialist to find a formula for content marketing that naturally and effortlessly spreads across all social networks, increases brand awareness, and brings in new subscribers and even clients.

Last words

Viral content not only helps increase brand awareness but also serves as free advertising (unless, of course, the content is based on users complaining about the brand). Moreover, viral content can be more effective for social media trends than classic promotion tools – targeting, influencers, and contextual advertising.

Also read: Mastering the Latest Social Media Features for Brand Growth