Owning a startup is a lot of work. You have a good idea and start to build upon it and grow by achieving funding from investors and developing your team. Once you have everything all set and you’re ready to launch, the next stop is to focus on growing your brand and investing in marketing, one of the biggest challenges many startups face. Even in the beginning stages, you likely have limited funds and a small following, and you may not even know what brand image you hope to achieve.

Digital marketing has become essential for businesses in this digital age for startups and large corporations. Viral marketing has been one of the go-to strategies that many companies try to accomplish to market their products or services. It has an incredible return on investment as it usually requires very little money to start, but it does require the right strategy.

Going viral isn’t something easily done, and while it can produce incredible results, it can be challenging to get traction on virality. There are a few tips and strategies your startup can benefit from if your goal is to get your startup to go viral. Read on for the benefits of viral marketing and tips and tricks to make your startup go viral.

What is Viral Marketing?

Viral marketing is a marketing strategy that businesses can implement to reach as many people as possible through word of mouth and social media at an exponential rate. There are many ways to achieve viral marketing, including videos, memes, Instagram content, Twitter posts, email campaigns, and more.

The main goal of viral marketing is to share content that is highly likely that your target audience can relate to and is likely to share, like, or forward the message. In turn, others begin to share the media, and your marketing campaign has successfully gone viral.

Benefits of Viral Marketing for Startups

Implementing viral marketing in your marketing strategy can substantially benefit your startup. With preparation, creativity, and a little luck, you can benefit from a viral startup in these ways.

Cost-Effective Marketing

– One of the most significant benefits is the return on investment. As an early-stage startup, funds are typically low, and you want to make the most of your finances through smart marketing strategies. Any funding usually goes into content creation, and the rest is left up to relying on people to spread the message. Viral marketing campaigns can reach a wide audience at an insignificant cost compared to traditional marketing efforts, where you would spend on clicks, ads, or marketing campaigns to reach your existing audience.

Gain Valuable Consumer Insights

– Viral marketing can provide valuable insights into what people think about your brand and what you have to offer. You can learn about behaviors and what they expect from your startup. These insights can help you develop marketing materials that stay in line with what insights you gained during your viral marketing campaign and continue to stay consistent as you grow your startup.

Expanded Audience Reach

– A viral marketing campaign can reach thousands, if not millions, of potential customers globally. It can happen quickly, within a matter of days, when your startup can reach your target audience and beyond. It can spread across multiple platforms and bring valuable exposure to your startup.

The Downside of Going Viral

Although the benefits are substantial, viral marketing can still be a gamble, and your marketing efforts can just as easily fall flat. There are a few downsides to giving viral marketing a fair shot.

Difficult to Predict

– Viral marketing can be unreliable and unpredictable. You can invest thousands into a marketing campaign with a goal to go viral, and if none of them work, your investment may have been a waste and could have been better spent elsewhere.

Viral marketing is best managed in partnership with a traditional marketing campaign. Grow your startup through conventional means such as blog posts, advertisements, and social media campaigns to reach your target audience. If any of your sources go viral, you can take that virality, build on the growth, and adjust your marketing strategies based on what is successful.

Challenging Without a Base Following

– Going viral with your startup is challenging without a good base following or community behind you. Viral marketing requires people to spread the word about your brand, idea, and product, and if you don’t have a lot of followers, it’s difficult to attain.

Before you begin a viral marketing campaign, start with building a following through simple social media campaigns, focusing on traditional ads, and creating excitement behind your project by posting and following other people in a similar niche or with similar interests on social media. Even simple, well-thought-out social media posts with great messages could go viral.

Tips to Make Your Startup Go Viral

While going viral may seem random, there is something behind a startup that does the research and puts in the work to make it happen. Some techniques and elements you can use in your social media and marketing campaigns can help your startup go viral.

Know Your Audience

– An engaged audience is more likely to share, so you want to be sure you understand your target audience before you create your marketing campaign. Your viral marketing campaign needs to consider your audience enough so that they share it with the people closest to them.

In the early stages of developing your overall marketing strategy, you should determine your target audience. You’ll want to think about whom your startup appeals to most. Think about their values and what they would be passionate about. You essentially will create an ideal customer profile for your startup to help you make important decisions regarding your marketing strategy.

Analyze Current Social Media Trends

– Content consumption is at an all-time high. More people now, more than ever, are creating content and hoping to go viral. Many content creators analyze current trends to relate to topics people are currently interested in. With trends, you’ll need to identify if your startup could create content that could hop on that trend while staying true to your brand message. You’ll want to balance out trending content along with original content.

Decide on a Clear Brand Message

– Your startup’s brand image should be one of the first major decisions in developing your marketing campaign. You want to stay relevant to your industry and send a message that resonates with your target audience. Anything abstract or random might not be received well and may end up failing altogether.

Try Multiple Platforms and Techniques

– Don’t limit yourself to one platform or a single type of marketing. There are quite a few social media platforms you can create content and reshape to fit each platform’s style. Be sure to continue to include SEO, text, and email campaigns in your marketing strategy to drive traffic to your website and your social media websites, giving you a higher chance of going viral.

Incorporate Humor

– Many people who scroll through content are looking for a good laugh. If you can connect humor to your content that can relate to your brand image, you can create content that will make your target audience laugh and share in hopes that the people closest to them will get a good laugh too.

Create Emotional Impacts

– Using an ad campaign that elicits an emotional response can be a compelling motivator to share. Touch on feel-good and sweet stories focused on the good in the world. People who connect and relate to the content on a deep emotional level are more likely to share it with their friends and family.

Know Your Limits

– Going viral can be a double edge sword. It can bring unprecedented growth, and if you aren’t prepared to manage that growth, it can reflect poorly on your startup’s image. Beyond preparing for rapid growth, you need to be prepared to deal with the negativity that will inevitably come with a viral campaign.

Getting your startup to go viral through creative marketing can be an incredible way to build brand awareness and grab the attention of your target audience to help it grow. There’s no clear-cut way to make your startup go viral; if one of your ads goes viral, take advantage of the growth potential and build on what’s working.

Viral marketing should never be your only marketing strategy. Let viral marketing flow naturally through a great social media strategy while implementing some common tips. You’ll have a higher chance of going viral and bringing much-deserved attention to your startup.