The Secret Behind Going Viral
Blah blah blah blah Dinner. Waa waaa waaa gas prices. Blah Blah client blah blah. Sales waa blah waa waa. Eat.
With the flood of messages, advertisements and general in-incoming information, it’s no wonder that all that generally makes it into our overwhelmed minds is drivel like the paragraph I typed above. If you’re in business to sell something, this is what you’re up against. You and your message have to get through several layers of "Blah blah waa waaa" (like the sound of all the adults in Charlie Brown’s world). You can continue to suffer the frustration of not being heard, or you can understand what makes ideas stick and start using some of these tools to engineer marketing messages that will penetrate your customer’s mind.
Made to Stick Studies What Makes Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Have you ever wondered why seemingly silly mindless drivel goes viral while your obviously valuable marketing message falls flat? I mean what is it about gossip, urban legend and banal video that strikes enough cords to warrent 16 million page views (like a blog I heard about in today’s paper – that pokes fun at racial stereotypes) and really valuable blogs to grab a small but wildly intelligent, creative and successful audience?
Like most things it’s about S-U-C-C-E-S (it’s an achronym so it’s misspelled) The best part about this is that once you understand the attributes of an event or characteristic or story – you can spot a viral gold mine and develop a story with real legs. Here’s how.
- Simple. Let the following be your guide "It’s the economy, stupid." "Where’s the beef." and so on. What all these statements have in common is that they are easy to remember and get at the CORE of the desired message. This is rule #1 when thinking about what makes you unique and what the purpose of your business is. If you were to accomplish only one thing, what would it be? The single most important thing is ____. What’s the CORE of what you’re all about?
- Unexpected. In the urban legend where the guy wakes up in the bath tub to find that his kidneys were harvested – you’re treated to an enexpected surprise. You didn’t know what to expect – but when you first read this in your e-mail it certainly was a surprise. So, keep a lookout for the unexpected human quirks in your business and your daily life. Did you or someone in your company do something off-the-wall, funny, creative — unexpected?
- Concreteness. Back to the kidney legend – the sheer visceral, vivid and emotional concreteness of the story made it unforgetable and compelling. The lesson here is to be vivid and visceral. A story is much more likely to be retold if the critical elements are vivid and easy to remember and retell.
- Credibility. Just like in the 7-Triggers, you want to put your focus on building credibility; was there an eye-witness that you can trust? In what ways can your message be delivered by a messenger that is most LIKE the audience?
- Emotional. The best way to get people to care about your idea is to create a connection with them. Talking about a nebulous large organization is not as emotional as talking about a specific person. Just recently we’ve learned that over 4000 soldiers have died in Iraq. That’s hard to get your hands around. But when you hear the stories about each individual, their quirks, their families and their lives, you are instantly connected.
- Stories. Everything is about telling a good story. Stories can teach and inspire. Stories are fun and memorable. What stories reveolve around your business? What was the defining moment that started your business? Tell the story, tell us about the people and the problem. In what ways have you overcome a challenge, How were you creative?
How have you used these elements to create a program that went viral (good or bad)?
