Going viral: we’d all like to do it – but how?

A viral campaign is the holy grail of digital advertising; however, it is notoriously difficult to achieve. How can you ensure that your efforts have the best chance of achieving that critical – or viral – mass?

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Studies of the so-called viral lifecycle suggest that the most successful campaigns can be clicked, played and shared, and usually all three elements must be in place for success.

There are several ways to make your content shareable, and these are the sorts of strategies that a Dublin SEO agency will employ.

Choosing the right attributes

An agency such as Ryco marketing will craft a concept that resonates with the personal attributes and demographics of the player.

Considering tribes

Tribes reinforce that vital sense of belonging and can be based on both geography and interest. Players or different tribes can also play against each other, offering broad appeal while recognising niche groups.

Insights will give the player information about themselves, usually presented in a flattering way and enabling humblebragging to occur. This is the act of sharing something that makes the sharer look good.

The player then needs to be hooked in and made to want to share the content. The best games are not necessarily viral, however, and sharing can ultimately be lessened if too many features and levels are added in. This puts off non-gamers in particular.

Topical content

Players are more likely to engage with content that is typical and current. This shows that you are linked in with what’s new and gives players the chance to show that they are ahead of the curve. Some agencies will even launch games throughout the day in response to changing news. Agile development facilitates this process.

Delighting the player is key – delighting the senses with an array of features such as animations, music, animation or graphics. A competition is also a great idea, as it encourages engagement and allows comparison, which encourages players to pitch against each other.

Another valuable approach is to allow collaboration so that players feel that they are part of something, whether this is a number clicker, map or global counter.

Ultimately, the most important element is for the viral content to be high quality. The next time you develop viral-possible content, ask yourself whether it satisfies the elements above.