What makes content go viral? Why do people share things? How does word of mouth work?
Jonah Berger, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, has spent his career researching these questions. In his book Contagious, he explores why certain idea, products, videos, and behaviours go viral. He outlines 6 strategies to go viral in his STEPPS mnemonic:
Social Currency – How does sharing the product make a person look?
Triggers – How are you reminded of the product, idea, etc.?
Emotion – What emotions does it make a person feel?
Public – How do others view it?
Practical Value – How useful is it?
Stories – How do you package it all in a sharable way?
Social Currency
People want to look good. Status and perception drive a lot of human behaviour. In the eyes of others, we want to be seen as smarter, richer, and better. Physical products like clothes, cars, homes, etc. all say something about a person. The man in a Ferrari is different than the one in a 1995 Toyota Corolla. Job titles, awards, and invites to exclusive events communicate status. Like any of these things, what we talk about impacts how others perceive us.
Social currency is anything people talk about that makes them look good. Sharing an interesting fact about a psychology bias makes us look smart. Details on how to get into an exclusive restaurant makes a person look special. Listening to someone's funny story makes us think they are funny. While, sharing valuable insider info creates the perception of an industry expert. What a person talks about tells you something about them.
Overall, people talk about things that raise their status. Products, ideas, or experiences that make people feel special, knowledgeable or part of an exclusive group are more likely to be shared. Social currency can be built into your products, brand, and content. Luxury brands like Channel, Rolex, and Gucci have built their products to communicate status. Thought leaders who freely share their secret insights understand their role is to make their customers look better. Content that makes the sharer look good goes viral. Therefore, leveraging social currency can: elevate your brand, amplify your influence, and foster meaningful connections.
Triggers
Triggers are any stimuli that prompt people to think about a related thing. Ideally, the related thing is your product, brand, or services. For example, a hot day, makes us think of the sun or ice cream. In turn, we think of Sun Bum sunscreen or Haagen-dazs ice cream. When I say “family movies” you may think of Disney. Activities like basketball or running prompt thoughts of Nike. While, tissue and Kleenex are almost synonymous.
People talk about what comes to mind. Environmental cues trigger people to think about associated products, ideas, and services. The challenge lies in associating environmental stimuli with your brand. Where triggers lead to your brand being top-of-mind.
Strategically building a personal brand with triggers is a smart move. If I say, name a famous chef or think of people related to great meals, who comes to mind? Gordan Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, maybe Anthony Bourdain? Imagine if you were an elevator consultant and every time your clients walked into an elevator it triggered thoughts of you. How valuable would that be? How much more likely is that client to work with you?
Emotion
We share, when we care. Content that spreads evokes emotion. Cute cat videos, Andrew Tate, Kony 2012 all made us feel different things. Both positive and negative emotions can lead to virility. Controversial headlines get clicks. While, fact-based titles get ignored. Debatable topics that polarize people are set to trend. While, a meme about the sky being blue is unlikely to spread.
Not all emotions result in more sharing. Low activation emotions smother our need to act and share. Low activation emotions include sadness, contentment, relaxation, or depression.
Emotions like excitement, awe, anger, fear, anxiety are high arousal. We take action when we are physiologically aroused. We jump up when we are excited. We run or fight when we feel fear. We yell when we are angry. High arousal emotions are octane fuel for action and sharing.
So, building an emotionally arousing message with your content is a key to virality. Andrew Tate’s content angered some people and motivated others. His ability to create controversy roused both sides to talk about and share his content.
Public
Observable things that are easy to imitate are more likely to go viral. Think about Tiktok dances or tag-and-share challenges; both of these are easy to do and post about. Products and ideas that advertise themselves are more likely to become popular. Creating behavioural residue that incepts into the culture is a formula for virality.
Social proof is also a core part of being public. When we lack information or feel uncertain, we look around to see what others are doing. In today’s digital age, people read reviews and do research before making a purchase decision.
In fact, personal branding research, indicates there are 5 factors in deciding to hire someone.
Testimonials are the strongest factor to convince clients to work with you.
The second is being paid to speak or consult on your topic.
Followed by making appearances in news media as an expert.
Tied for 4th place were: having a course or a nice website.
The fifth most influential factor was number of social media followers.
Notice, that the majority of these factors are extensions of social proof. They all depend on others validating a person’s expertise and reliability.
Practical Value
Is it useful? How does your content or product help someone? Does it improve their health, saves them time, or make them money? People share useful information. A secret way to save 25% on shoes is talked about. A recipe for a dish that only takes 10 minutes to prepare is useful. A video on changing your tires, unclogging your sink, building a deck are practical. Messages that highlight the value we offer need to stand out.
Packaging expertise in a way that people can share it promotes our businesses. Great content delivers value. Often, I tell clients to give their best stuff away for free. The internet democratized information. People no longer pay for information. They pay for implementation and application.
I hire an accountant to file my taxes and advise on best practices. His video on, 'what everyone should know when filing their taxes?' builds trust in his expertise. A lawyer informing me on legal considerations before marriage leads to hiring him. While, a realtor telling me stories of poor investments communicates his experience.
Practical advice is sharable advice. Being a trusted source of knowledge is more valuable than gatekeeping google-able information.
Stories
Stories, are how humans have passed on information for generations. We don’t share information, we tell stories. Stories act as vessels for dense information. They convey lessons, emotions, beliefs, and behaviours in way that other mediums cannot. A broader narrative helps an idea spread.
The key to telling good stories with your products/services is to ensure that the benefits of your brand are integral to the story. Meaning the story can’t be told withoutmentioning your business.
For example, Panda Cheese is an Italian cheese company that does a tremendous job of making their brand integral to the story of their ads:
A nurse delivers food to a patient and says, “I got you Panda Cheese for breakfast”. “No thanks.” The patient replies. Suddenly a panda appears. Or a person dressed in a panda costume and a Buddy Holly song begins to play. Its surreal and absurdly funny as the panda, nurse, and patient stare at one another. Then the music stops and the pandemonium ensues. The panda smashes the patients TV and pulls the the plug on his IV. The nurse steps back with her hand to her mouth. Cut to the panda’s hand presenting the cheese and a stern voice saying “Never say no to Panda.”. See on YouTube here.
A brilliant story that cannot be told without mentioning the panda. Many business can create an ad that catches attention and is memorable. But the challenge is to make your brand integral to the story. Certifying that it cannot be told without mentioning your brand. When this is done right we see brands and stories go viral.
Conclusion
These 6 proven strategies can help your content go viral. By incorporating social currency, triggers, emotions, social proof, practical value, and stories into your business you can increase visibility, credibility, and reach. Implementing a combination of the 6 will yield better results. For more info I would recommend reading Jonah Berger's book, Contagious, Why things catch on.