Viral Marketing Examples to Learn From

August 27th, 2021

Did you know that a whopping 3.6 billion people use social media every single day? Yep, it’s true — whether it’s to connect with friends and family, find entertainment, or promote a brand, social media platforms are busy places! 

And ~good~ marketers are well aware of the incredible potential. Especially seeing as an unbelievable 71 percent of consumers say that they have been influenced by a brand’s social media presence when making a buying decision. That being said, when most businesses are looking for high engagement metrics to boost their budding brand, the first thing they often turn to is none other than a viral marketing campaign. 

Viral marketing seems like magic. It’s an organic, insanely rapid way to spread awareness. However, the chance of creating content that goes viral is slimmer than Slim Shady. And truth be told, viral marketing isn’t a sure science — it changes with the times. Still, if you can properly harness the power of a killer viral marketing campaign, then your brand will be playing in a whole new ballpark. 

Wanna play ball? 

Keep reading. 

First Things First. What Is Viral Marketing? 

Viral marketing isn’t just some type of marketing strategy — it’s pure genius. Think about it: Not only does it naturally generate curiosity and desire over a service or product, but viral marketing is a brilliant strategy where folks actually want to share the marketing content. No clickbait, no bullsh!t, and no tricks required—just word-of-mouth momentum.   

So, what exactly is viral marketing, you ask?

Simply put, it’s a technique that marketers use intentionally to spread their content quickly. Just like a biological virus, a viral marketing campaign spreads like wildfire from one person to another, resulting in a massive number of views, a substantial amount of social shares and retweets, as well as unbelievable brand awareness.  

Cool — What Are The Benefits? 

We’ll be totally honest with you, a viral marketing campaign isn’t the easiest to create or execute, but when you nail it, you’ll reap some serious benefits that can skyrocket your brand to unimaginable heights. 

Here are just a handful of the key benefits:

Benefit #1: Wallet Friendly

Viral marketing has an extremely low cost since a significant part of the message is carried out by viewers who choose to share your content. This reduces the cost of dispersion, particularly when compared to traditional advertising like TV commercials or PPC. 

Benefit #2: Instant Brand Boost

If your content becomes a huge hit and is shared widely, consumers will create a personal connection with you, ultimately helping your product or service grow with every retweet. 

Benefit #3: Crazy Reach

Viral content — whether that be in a text, video, or meme — has the potential to reach an insanely wide audience across the globe, all without investing a whole lot of effort or time. This means that whether you are a small budding brand or a massive conglomerate, your viral content can become insta famous. 

Benefit #4: Not In Your Face

Nothing is worse (or more annoying) than a marketing campaign that comes across as too forceful or pushy. With a viral marketing campaign, it’s the viewers who make the decision to participate in viewing and sharing your stuff. The circulation of content typically has less of an impact on the actual brand since it’s all by viewer choice. 

Benefit #5: Insane Rapid Growth

It’s very rare for a brand to become an overnight success. Successful businesses are generally the result of years and years of hard work. Viral marketing, however, is one of the very few tactics that could potentially create an explosion of brand attention in no time flat. 

Super desirable for business owners but undeniably hard to achieve, don’t spin your wheels trying to create a viral campaign and leave it to the pros. Our experienced team of experts can help you to dominate your space on social media so that your content commands attention, makes a strong impression, and of course, goes viral. 

Bad @$ Examples of Viral Marketing 

Ready to turn your brand into a household name? Check out these awesome viral marketing campaign examples — you just might learn a thing or two!

Oreo: Dunk in the Dark 

The Super Bowl is a competitive time for marketers, with 30-second spots costing over $5 million big ones. However, America’s favorite cookie completely bypassed the pricey spots with one glorious yet simple tweet. 

When the Mercedes Superdome had a power outage that lasted over 30 minutes, Oreo turned the not-so-favorable moment into a golden marketing opportunity that went viral almost instantly. 

They tweeted:

“Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.”

Oreo’s quick thinking helped them to momentarily steal the limelight from the game and focus it directly on their brand. The viral tweet had a major impact on the world of marketing and effectively changed how many advertisers viewed the function of social media.

Bottom line: You need to always be on your A-game and ready to take advantage of timing. The right content posted at the right time can make a huge difference in your brand’s success. 

ALS: Ice Bucket Challenge

Remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? While everyone was busy dumping ice-cold water over their heads and posting the hilarious videos to social media, the movement raised an incredible $115 million in just the summer alone. 

Celebs from around the globe began to participate, challenging their famous pals, donating, and raising awareness. There was an Ice Bucket Challenge hashtag that gained quite a bit of traction for the videos to spread easily and rapidly over multiple social media platforms. More importantly, the challenge is a lot of fun and makes participants feel good for supporting the cause — which is why it still remains relevant to this very day.  

A Final Word 

Remember, you can’t force a viral campaign. The only thing you can do is to make your marketing campaigns as share-worthy as possible. Not sure how? We can help!

Formulated to get stacks on stacks of attention, our marketing campaigns aren’t like anyone else’s. With our proprietary Social Scripting™ methodology, our services guarantee you’ll have plenty to brag about.

Kicking @$$ and taking names for our awesome clients since 2015, here at Nowadays, our signature is inducing action through emotion. Whether it’s a household name or an up-and-coming startup, our strategy is the same —we call it Social Scripting™, but you might call it f*#king magic.

Ready to dominate your space on social media? Give your brand some extra mojo, and drop us a line today. 

 

Sources:

ASL: Ice Bucket Challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS

Statista: • Number of social media users 2025

The Drum: 2013: Oreo wins the Super Bowl with ‘dunk in the dark’ tweet