Photo by Emiliano Ricci
I am often asked what tricks people can use to get their video or product announcement to go “viral” (spread online quickly). In almost all cases, people are trying to make an entertaining message get passed around like a funny joke. If the message does get passed around, all too often the business part of the message is forgotten. People get traffic to their website, but no one is paying attention to the business – only the entertainment. It’s a lost opportunity.
The late Dr. Everett Rogers described in his book Diffusion of Innovations (first published in 1962!) the five key ways innovations spread (or in modern lingo, go viral):
- What benefit do the consumers notice: price, prestige, appearance, convenience, and/or satisfaction? The clearer the emotional benefit, the faster the innovation spreads.
- How easy is it to use your innovation (from what your consumers are already using)? Habits are hard to break. Bigger changes require bigger benefits. Smaller changes only require smaller benefits.
- How steep is the learning curve? The more education, the lower the likelihood for spreading the word.
- How easy is it to sample? A free experience reduces the fear of a bad choice.
- How easy is it to see the results? The more obvious the benefit, the higher the likelihood for spreading the word.
None of these are magical incantations to get your idea/product/service to spread like wildfire. However, if you do incorporate Dr. Roger’s messages into your next viral marketing campaign, you dramatically increase both the speed of the message and the retention of it.