How to Implement Viral Campaigns: 7 Tips and Best Practices for Designing and Executing Effective Viral Referral Marketing Campaigns

Viral campaigns are marketing campaigns that spread like wildfire, reaching thousands of new followers and fans for your brand. They leverage the power of word-of-mouth and social media to create a buzz around your product or service. But how do you create a viral campaign that works? And how do you partner with a viral marketing growth partner like Viralify to boost your chances of success?

In this blog post, we’ll share with you seven tips and best practices for designing and implementing effective viral referral marketing campaigns. We’ll also show you how Viralify can help you create and execute viral campaigns that drive traffic, leads, and sales for your business.

What is viral referral marketing?

Viral referral marketing is a type of marketing where you encourage your existing customers to share your brand, product, or service with their friends and contacts, typically in exchange for some kind of reward or incentive. For example, you can offer your customers a discount, a free trial, a gift card, or a chance to win a prize if they refer a certain number of people to your website or app.

The benefits of viral referral marketing are:

• It can help you acquire new customers at a low cost, since you only pay for referrals that result in conversions.
• It can increase your brand awareness and credibility, since people trust recommendations from their friends more than any other form of advertising2.
• It can create a loyal and engaged customer base, since referrals tend to have higher retention and lifetime value than other sources of traffic.

How to implement viral campaigns: 7 tips and best practices

To create a successful viral referral marketing campaign, you need to follow some best practices and tips that can help you optimize your strategy and maximize your results. Here are seven of them:

1. Know your target audience

The first step to creating a viral campaign is to know who you want to reach and what motivates them to share your brand with others. You need to understand their pain points, needs, desires, preferences, and behaviors. You also need to segment your audience into different groups based on their demographics, psychographics, location, interests, etc.

By knowing your target audience, you can tailor your campaign message, offer, and design to appeal to them and resonate with them. You can also choose the best channels and platforms to reach them and encourage them to share your campaign with their networks.

2. Leverage strong visuals

Visuals are essential for any viral campaign, as they can capture attention, convey emotions, and communicate your value proposition in an instant. According to HubSpot3, visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content.

To leverage strong visuals for your viral campaign, you need to:

• Use high-quality images and videos that showcase your product or service in action and highlight its benefits.
• Use colors, fonts, logos, and icons that match your brand identity and personality.
• Use catchy headlines, slogans, and captions that grab attention and spark curiosity.
• Use humor, storytelling, or social proof to make your visuals more engaging and memorable.

3. Champion creativity

Creativity is the key to standing out from the crowd and making your viral campaign unique and memorable. You need to think outside the box and come up with original ideas that surprise, delight, or challenge your audience. You also need to test different variations of your campaign elements to see what works best and what generates the most buzz.

Some examples of creative viral campaigns are:

• Dropbox’s referral program that offered extra storage space for both the referrer and the referee.
• Dollar Shave Club’s video ad that used humor and sarcasm to mock the traditional razor industry.
• Evernote’s referral program that offered premium features for both the referrer and the referee.
• Airbnb’s referral program that offered travel credits for both the referrer and the referee.

4. Make emotional appeals

Emotions are powerful drivers of human behavior and decision making. They can also influence how people perceive and share information. According to HubSpot, content that evokes positive emotions such as joy, awe, amusement, or admiration is more likely to go viral than content that evokes negative emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, or disgust.

To make emotional appeals for your viral campaign, you need to:

• Use emotional triggers that resonate with your target audience and align with your brand values.
• Use storytelling techniques that create empathy and connection with your audience.
• Use social proof elements such as testimonials, reviews, ratings, or endorsements that build trust and credibility with your audience.
• Use urgency or scarcity elements that create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) or exclusivity with your audience.

5. Ensure content is easily shareable

One of the most important factors for any viral campaign is how easy it is for people to share it with others. You need to make sure that your campaign content is accessible, compatible, and user-friendly across different devices, platforms, and channels. You also need to provide clear and simple calls-to-action that prompt people to share your campaign with their friends.

To ensure content is easily shareable for your viral campaign, you need to:

• Use responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes and resolutions.
• Use social media buttons or widgets that allow people to share your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or any other relevant platform.
• Use referral links or codes that track and reward both the referrer and the referee for each successful referral.
• Use email templates or SMS messages that allow people to invite their contacts to join your campaign with one click.

6. Share your content at the right time

Timing is crucial for any viral campaign, as it can affect how many people see and share your content. You need to consider when your target audience is most active and receptive to your message, and when your content is most relevant and timely for them.

To share your content at the right time for your viral campaign, you need to:

• Use analytics tools or surveys to understand your audience’s online behavior, habits, and preferences.
• Use scheduling tools or automation software to plan and publish your content at optimal times and frequencies.
• Use trending topics, events, or hashtags to align your content with what’s happening in the world or in your industry.

7. Partner with Viralify

Viralify is a viral marketing growth partner that helps you create and execute viral campaigns that drive traffic, leads, and sales for your business. Viralify offers various tools and services to help you design, implement, and optimize your viral referral marketing campaigns,

such as:

• A referral marketing platform that allows you to create customized referral programs with gamified rewards, social sharing features, and analytics dashboards.
• A landing page builder that allows you to create stunning landing pages with drag-and-drop functionality, pre-made templates, and integrations with popular tools.
• A video marketing platform that allows you to create engaging video ads with professional templates, stock footage, and voiceovers.
• A content marketing platform that allows you to create high-quality blog posts, ebooks, infographics, or podcasts with AI-powered tools, expert writers, and editors.

With Viralify, you can take advantage of their expertise, experience, and resources to create viral campaigns that boost your brand awareness, customer loyalty, and revenue growth.

Conclusion

Viral campaigns are one of the most effective ways to grow your business online. They can help you reach thousands of new customers at a low cost, increase your brand recognition and reputation, and create a loyal fan base.

However, creating a viral campaign is not easy. It requires a lot of planning, creativity, and optimization.

That’s why partnering with Viralify can be a smart move for your business. Viralify can help you design and execute viral campaigns that suit your goals, budget, and industry.

If you want to learn more about how Viralify can help you implement viral campaigns for your business, schedule a consultation call now.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions about viral campaigns:

Q: What are some examples of successful viral campaigns?

A: Some examples of successful viral campaigns are:

• The Ice Bucket Challenge: A social media challenge that raised awareness and funds for ALS research by asking people to dump a bucket of ice water over their heads or donate money.
• The Old Spice Guy: A series of video ads featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa as “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” who promoted Old Spice products in humorous ways.
• The Squatty Potty: A video ad featuring a unicorn pooping rainbow-colored ice cream while explaining the benefits of using a Squatty Potty device.

Q: How do I measure the success of my viral campaign?

A: To measure the success of your viral campaign, you need to define your goals, metrics, and KPIs (key performance indicators) that reflect your desired outcomes, such as:

• Traffic: The number of visitors to your website or app from your campaign sources.
• Leads: The number of people who sign up for your email list, download your ebook, or request a demo from your campaign sources.
• Sales: The number of customers who make a purchase or subscribe to your service from your campaign sources.
• Referrals: The number of people who join your campaign and share it with others from your existing customers.
• Virality: The ratio of referrals to customers, or how many people each customer refers on average.

Q: How do I choose the best reward for my referral program?

A: The best reward for your referral program depends on your business model, your target audience, and your campaign goals. You need to choose a reward that is valuable, relevant, and attractive to your customers and their referrals. You also need to consider the cost and feasibility of delivering the reward.

Some common types of rewards are:

• Cash or credit: You can offer cash or credit that can be used to purchase your products or services. This can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the referral’s purchase.
• Discounts or coupons: You can offer discounts or coupons that can be applied to future purchases. This can encourage repeat purchases and loyalty.
• Free products or services: You can offer free products or services that complement your core offerings. This can increase customer satisfaction and retention.
• Gift cards or vouchers: You can offer gift cards or vouchers that can be redeemed at other stores or platforms. This can appeal to a wider range of customers and referrals.
• Prizes or sweepstakes: You can offer prizes or sweepstakes that give customers and referrals a chance to win something big or exclusive. This can create excitement and urgency.

Q: How do I promote my viral campaign?

A: To promote your viral campaign, you need to use a mix of channels and strategies to reach your target audience and encourage them to share your campaign with others. Some ways to promote your viral campaign are:

• Email marketing: You can send emails to your existing customers and subscribers, inviting them to join your campaign and share it with their friends. You can also use email signatures, newsletters, and follow-up emails to remind them of your campaign.
• Social media marketing: You can post your campaign content on your social media profiles, pages, and groups, asking your followers to like, comment, and share it with their networks. You can also use hashtags, mentions, tags, and stories to increase your reach and engagement.
• Influencer marketing: You can partner with influencers who have a large and loyal following in your niche or industry, asking them to endorse your campaign and share it with their audience. You can also offer them incentives or commissions for each referral they generate.
• Content marketing: You can create blog posts, ebooks, infographics, podcasts, or videos that provide valuable information or entertainment related to your campaign topic. You can also include your campaign link or code in your content and distribute it on various platforms and channels.
• Paid advertising: You can use paid ads on search engines, social media platforms, websites, or apps to target potential customers and referrals based on their keywords, interests, demographics, location, etc. You can also use retargeting ads to remind people who have visited your website or app of your campaign.