What is Viral Marketing? A Comprehensive Guide with Examples

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Varun Bhardwaj

Jan 3, 2025 — 3 min read

What is Viral Marketing? Complete Guide with Examples

This article has been contributed by Sri Hari Cuddapah, Chief Business Officer, GenY Medium

Viral marketing is the powerful form of advertising that uses social networks to quickly propagate messages about the brand. It is about producing a particular type of content which is so appealing that it invites sharing among the target audience in their respective networks. The key to any successful viral marketing is the creation of content that will grab people’s attention and encourage them to share it, turning these people into brand supporters.

Why is Viral Marketing Important?

When compared to traditional promotion, viral marketing can reach a large audience at a minimal expense, which makes it important. If the strategy is viral, brand popularity rises, consumer contact levels rise, and brand loyalty is cultivated. This occurs when two individuals purchase the product and, as a result of sharing without any advertising, exchange information. Given the consumer behavioral paradigms of the present as well as the anticipated future trends, global brands have already taken to viral marketing for reaching prospective customers.

Leading Practices in Viral Marketing

The scope of viral marketing defined, several leading practices have come out that resonate well with the target audience and lead to brand advocacy. Finding an emotional appeal is always one of the essential components from which the brand advocates earn. But it is also important to realise that viral campaigns do not happen at will.

Examples of Successful Viral Campaigns

Mama Earth's Tree Plantation Campaign

In the recent past, Mama Earth celebrated its accomplishment of planting over 3 lakh trees by focusing on two distinct groups of people: those who complain about change and those who bring about change. A man planted a sapling during this campaign, but when he woke up, he saw the pot had fallen by the side of the road. A young girl waters the plant and replaces it while he gripes that no one who crossed it cared to do so. The man sees this and decides that rather than whining, he might have done the same.

#Gymshark66 Campaign

Another apparent case is the #Gymshark66 campaign, where the brand encouraged all gym-goers to make new year resolutions and post their transformation for the next 66 days. Not only did this campaign reach out to the audience but it also recorded 45 million views on Tikok in just 3 months, revealing the power of collaboration in terms of marketing the brand.

Mountain Dew's 3D Hologram Campaign

In India, Mountain Dew focused on 3D holograms of everyday heroes made with real-time technology as part of a promotional campaign. This innovative concept did not only emphasize courage, but it also enabled the brand to differentiate itself from other market players by not using superstars.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

In 2014, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was one of the most successful viral campaigns, which brought the problem of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to the public eye. Everybody who participated in the campaign recorded videos in which ice water was poured over them. They then dared other participants either to do the same or to donate to ALS studies. How this technique was able to galvanise people around the world for a charitable cause was unprecedented and incredible.

Conclusion

Viral marketing is a unique combination of the creative side of marketing with a strategic approach in the online environment. Learning its core concepts, examining effective campaigns, a brand can attract the interest of the audience and tell the desired story in different forms across social media platforms and times. To make something go “Viral” is not easy. In hindsight, we can attribute certain patterns that have made a campaign go viral but every campaign with those attributes has not gone viral. So to summarize, there are some fundamentals that may increase the probability of a campaign going viral but no one can guarantee a viral marketing campaign.