What is viral marketing and how does it work?

Imagine that your product starts to be talked about everywhere, and you do almost nothing and do not pay for promotion. People themselves, unselfishly and with pleasure spread the word about you, even if they were not your customers before and did not know about the brand. It sounds fantastic, but that’s exactly how viral marketing works.

The most famous advertising slogans and campaigns of recent years – from “Holiday comes to us” to the hashtag #IceBucketChallenge – are vivid examples of virality. By creating catchy, creative content, you start a chain reaction and get an exponentially growing marketing campaign virtually for free. After all, you pay only for the production of content, and it is distributed independently.

But don’t think that creating a real “virus” is easy. It requires a deep understanding of the audience, non-standard ideas and high-quality execution. How it all happens you will learn from our article!

What is viral marketing?

Viral marketing is a promotional strategy in which information about a brand, product or service is spread by users themselves, and they do it both consciously and unconsciously. The idea is to create such interesting, useful or provocative content that people themselves want to share it with friends and acquaintances.

The term “viral marketing” originated from an analogy with biological viruses. Just as a virus spreads rapidly from person to person, an advertising message spreads from one person to another at an exponential rate. The term itself is believed to have been first used in 1996 by marketer Jeffrey Rayport, who noticed that ideas can spread like viruses.

The main difference between viral marketing and traditional marketing is that you only create and launch content, and then it spreads on its own, without additional investment.

People share posts, videos, articles not because they are paid for it, but because they find them interesting, useful, provocative or simply funny. This is how reach grows naturally, and it happens much faster and more effectively than with standard advertising tools.

How does viral marketing work?

The principle behind viral marketing is quite simple in theory. To start a chain reaction, your message needs to be more than just interesting—it needs to be compelling. It can evoke admiration, surprise, laughter, or sympathy—the main thing is that the emotions are strong enough. It is emotional engagement that leads to exponential growth in target audience reach.

However, viral marketing aims not only to evoke emotions, but also to spread the advertising message. It is not enough to create engaging content; you also need to make it easy to share. If the process is complicated and confusing, potential customers will simply pass by. Therefore, it is necessary to think through intuitive ways of distribution—for example, placing social media sharing buttons directly on the page with the message.

Additionally, consider the characteristics of the platform on which you plan to distribute your content. Short, vivid posts with attractive images or videos work well on social media, while longer, informative videos work better on YouTube, etc. Adapt the format to the specific platform.

And, of course, your “virus” should be simple and understandable to a wide audience. Not everyone will be ready to understand complex concepts or long arguments. The more accessible and clear you can make your idea, the more chances you have for successful dissemination.

Advantages of viral marketing

1. Low cost. The main costs here are only for content creation. Users themselves are responsible for distributing it, completely free of charge. This is especially beneficial for start-ups that cannot yet afford large advertising budgets. To launch such a campaign, it is enough to invest in high-quality creative content that will interest the target audience.
2. No associations with advertising. People do not perceive such content as advertising, which means that it does not cause rejection and is more readily consumed. A well-crafted post is perceived as interesting information that people want to share with their friends. Thanks to this, this type of marketing is more effective at cutting through the noise than traditional advertising formats.
3. High level of trust. People trust recommendations from friends and acquaintances more than direct advertising from brands. When a person receives viral content from their social circle, they automatically perceive it as something valuable and worthy of attention. In addition, active organic dissemination of information about a brand serves as social proof of its popularity and reliability, which further increases trust.
4. Long-term effect without ongoing investment. Unlike contextual or targeted advertising, which stops working as soon as the budget runs out, viral content can spread on its own for a long time. Some particularly successful campaigns remain relevant for several years, providing brands with a steady stream of customers at no additional cost.
5. Rapid growth in brand awareness. A successful campaign can quickly make a little-known brand recognizable and talked about. When people actively share brand content and engage with it, an emotional connection is formed between them. This ensures not only wide reach, but also a deep level of engagement. As a result, not only brand awareness but also brand loyalty increases significantly.

Are there any downsides to viral advertising?

1. Unpredictability of results. Unlike traditional formats, the success of viral advertising largely depends on luck and the unpredictable reaction of the online audience. Even a carefully thought-out message may not “catch on” at a particular moment in time. To reduce the risks, you will need to study your audience thoroughly, choose the right time to launch, and create truly engaging text or other content. But it will still be impossible to completely eliminate the element of chance.
2. The need to maintain interest. It is not enough to launch a campaign; you also need to constantly monitor the response to it and, if necessary, keep interest alive. If you do not keep the discussion going, it can quickly fizzle out. Be prepared to respond quickly to comments, answer questions, and come up with new topics for discussion. This requires constant attention and time.
3. The complexity of controlling consequences. Viruses are difficult to control, and this also applies to marketing. It is virtually impossible to predict how people will react to your content and what the consequences will be. If the reaction is negative, it will be very difficult to stop it from spreading. An unsuccessful campaign can permanently damage a brand’s reputation. To minimize risks, entrust the development of viral advertising messages to experienced professionals who can calculate the possible consequences.
4. Inability to completely replace other promotion tools. This is a powerful but still auxiliary tool that cannot completely replace other promotion methods. When periodically launching viral campaigns, don’t forget about SEO, contextual advertising, SMM, and other channels. Only a comprehensive approach will give stable long-term results. The only exception is media personalities with an ambiguous reputation, who can afford to build their promotion exclusively on hype and shock value.
5. The difficulty of repeating success. Such campaigns attract attention with their novelty and unexpected creative solutions. But it is very difficult to constantly come up with something fundamentally new that can surprise a sophisticated audience. Therefore, even if you manage to create a hit, repeating its success next time will be much more difficult. Here, you need to always keep your finger on the pulse, follow trends and technologies to stay on top of the wave.
6. The need for a deep understanding of the target audience. For a campaign to work, you need to have a clear understanding of your target audience, their interests, values, and perceptions. Otherwise, there is a high risk that the message will not resonate with people or even cause rejection. A common mistake is to target young people without a real understanding of their trends and values. This often results in unnatural slang, forced jokes, and a general sense of insincerity.

The main types of viral marketing

All types of viral marketing have one thing in common: they encourage people to voluntarily share content, ensuring its organic distribution. But this effect is achieved in different ways.

Videos

Not only do they get a large number of views, but they also provoke active discussion, reposts, likes, and comments. It is the emotional reaction of the audience that leads to the rapid spread of the video.

To create a truly viral video, you need to come up with an idea that will excite or even provoke viewers. It can be something funny, touching, shocking, or raising an important social issue. The main thing is to evoke a surge of emotions.

At the same time, it is important not to get carried away with creativity and not to forget about the main goal—the commercial component. The video should not only entertain, but also subtly promote the brand, product, or service. Two formats are best suited for this task:

1. Parodies of recognizable plots, characters, and phenomena. The more famous the original, the more likely the audience is to pick up on and spread the parody.
2. Videos on pressing social issues that concern most of society. By including your brand logo or products in such a video, you will ensure its rapid dissemination and increase your company’s visibility.

Memes and humorous content

These can be funny pictures, collages, or GIFs that play on recognizable images or current events. This format is particularly effective for attracting young people who use memes to communicate on social media. A successful joke that pokes fun at a well-known situation or problem will quickly spread across the internet, gaining likes and reposts.

The secret to the success of memes lies in their simplicity and accessibility. They do not require lengthy reading or thoughtful analysis, but immediately elicit an emotional response—laughter, outrage, surprise. This encourages people to instantly share the content with those around them.

In addition, memes are memorable thanks to their vivid visual imagery and witty presentation. If you skillfully incorporate brand symbols or product references into them, they will work to increase brand recognition even long after direct advertising has been forgotten.

Flash mobs and challenges

These are themed videos in which people perform a task, film the process on camera, and pass the baton to their friends. Challenges are usually launched to draw attention to a socially significant issue or charitable project.

One of the most notable examples is the Ice Bucket Challenge, where participants poured buckets of ice water over themselves to raise money for a foundation researching amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

This campaign instantly took the US by storm, and soon the whole world. Many celebrities took part in it, including Eminem, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Stephen King, and others. As a result, in just three weeks, the ALS Foundation raised more than $41 million in donations.

By engaging people in active participation, challenges elicit deeper emotional involvement than passive viewing of content. People feel part of a larger movement and strive to share their values with others. This provokes a chain reaction of dissemination.

Infographic

A vivid image with diagrams, graphs, useful instructions, or interesting statistics has every chance of going viral on social media and blogs. Clarity and practicality are key here.

Infographics allow you to quickly and easily explain complex concepts, share valuable data, or give practical advice. If people find something useful in an infographic, they are happy to share it with their friends and colleagues.

Of course, to make infographics go viral, it is not enough to simply draw a beautiful picture. It must contain truly valuable, relevant information that is difficult to find in such a convenient format. Visual appeal is also important—professional design, a competent combination of text and graphics, and a pleasant color scheme.

Applications

We are talking about programs such as Prisma, which processes photos in the style of famous paintings, and MSQRD, which allows you to add funny masks, mustaches, and beards to your face in real time.

The distinctive feature of such applications is that they not only entertain users but also encourage them to create their own content. People edit their photos, try on amusing looks, and then rush to share the results on social media. This provides the application with free advertising and rapidly increases its popularity.

The main secret to success here is to give people a tool for creativity and self-expression. Something simple, but unusual and exciting enough that people want to show off the results. And the app’s built-in features for instantly sharing content will make distribution even faster and more widespread.

What techniques will work in viral marketing?

1. Word-of-mouth marketing. This involves users recommending a product or service to their acquaintances, friends, and relatives. The advantage of this method is that it keeps customer acquisition costs low. However, to launch it, you need to ensure that your product is of truly high quality, otherwise word-of-mouth marketing can backfire on the company.
2. Creating buzz and discussion around a product. This technique is used to attract interest in a product, service, or brand. Rumors are a powerful tool that can bring in many new customers. However, it is important to manage rumors wisely, as they often contain distorted information and can negatively affect reputation. An example of the successful use of rumors is the discussion of future Apple products (design, specifications, etc.).
3. Monitoring and managing audience opinion. Unlike rumors, which are difficult to control, monitoring opinions allows you to control impressions of the product and adjust them in the right direction. With the help of special tools, you can track reviews and mentions, respond quickly to negativity, and reinforce positive opinions. This helps to shape the brand image.
4. Provocations and controlled scandals. A well-crafted conflict that affects the interests of the target audience can provoke a strong reaction and draw attention to a product or brand. Here, it is important to correctly calculate the strength of the provocation and ultimately steer the situation in a positive direction for the company. Typical techniques include provocative statements by opinion leaders, “leaks” about conflicts within the company, etc. The main thing is to attract attention and strike a chord with the audience.
5. Running promotions and contests. This technique involves organizing various activities in which users can get something for free or even win valuable prizes. Posting information about promotions on websites, social media, and in newsletters can trigger dissemination when people share this information with their friends.
6. Collaboration with opinion leaders. Engaging well-known personalities, bloggers, and experts to promote a product can have a powerful viral effect. For example, when a popular blogger sincerely recommends a product, their audience is likely to become interested in it and tell their friends about it.
7. Motivating users to share content. Companies can “recruit” their customers by offering them rewards for promoting a message about a product or brand. This technique is called word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing. Even the largest corporations use it. For example, Procter & Gamble recruited 10,000 mothers across America to tell other mothers about the benefits of the company’s products. This led to a significant increase in sales.
8. Creating intrigue and artificial restrictions (Undercover). This technique exploits our natural curiosity about everything forbidden and secret. Before launching a viral project, marketers need to create content and generate excitement around it, hinting at something exclusive. Restrictions can also be introduced, such as sending out personal invitations, limiting the number of participants at first, etc. All of this provokes interest and a desire to spread the information further.

What should content be like in order to go viral?

For content to go viral and start spreading independently among users, it must have a number of characteristics:

1. High speed of dissemination. This is a key sign of virality. Content must spread across the Internet in a matter of days. To achieve this, you need to ensure maximum visibility at the start of the campaign—negotiate placement with bloggers, opinion leaders, and popular communities. Their audience will become the catalyst.
2. Easy access. Users should not be hindered by various barriers such as registration or captchas. The ideal option is to visit a website or go outside (for offline campaigns) and immediately see the content without any unnecessary effort. The easier the access, the faster the distribution.
3. Originality of the idea. Repeating other people’s campaigns is a lost cause. Just as a virus cannot infect the same organism twice, users will not fall for identical campaigns. There are rare exceptions related to special occasions such as holidays, but in general, copying does not work. You need a fresh, original idea.
4. Flawless execution. Viral content must be of the highest quality. No corny jokes, clumsy design, or obvious mistakes. Everything must be done conscientiously, professionally, and interestingly. Otherwise, the content will be ignored at best, and at worst, ridiculed and used against the brand. So, under no circumstances should you skimp on quality.

Well-known examples of viral advertising

Many brands have successfully used this technique, launching campaigns that literally blew up the internet and left a lasting impression on users. To understand how viral marketing works in practice, let’s look at a few striking examples.

Old Spice

Let’s take the 2010 Old Spice campaign as our first example. The brand decided to rejuvenate its image and launched a series of commercials targeting young people. Just 36 hours after the campaign launched, the video had racked up over 23 million views on YouTube, and sales of grooming products jumped 107% compared to the previous month.

The success was ensured by vivid images (a charismatic macho man on horseback), memorable phrases, and unexpected plot twists. All this touched people’s emotions, made them want to rewatch the video and share it with their friends. Plus, there was a clear target audience (women choosing gifts for their men). As a result, Old Spice instantly became a viral hit and one of the most striking cases in advertising history.

Duolingo

Let’s fast forward to February 2025. That’s when the educational platform decided on an unexpected move — to “kill” its mascot, the green owl Duo, in all countries except Japan (where it would have been considered inappropriate due to cultural differences).

This unexpected and provocative approach worked perfectly. It sparked a heated reaction and generated a wave of discussions and jokes on social media. As a result, the campaign attracted a lot of attention to Duolingo and significantly increased audience engagement on the platform.

This case study demonstrates the importance of considering cultural context and adapting appropriately to different markets. It also highlights the value of being willing to experiment and surprise the audience, within reason and without going too far. If the idea is sufficiently bold and creative, it is almost certain to be successful and achieve the desired reach.

Burger King

Burger King also distinguished itself with a non-trivial campaign, albeit in 2020. The brand showed in an advertisement how their burger becomes covered in mold in 34 days. In this shocking way, they wanted to emphasize the absence of preservatives in their products.

The campaign caused quite a stir, sparking heated discussions on social media and in the media. Some praised Burger King for its honesty and unconventional approach, while others criticized it for excessive realism. But no one remained indifferent. And that is the main goal of viral marketing.

Rosette

Here in Ukraine, Rozetka stood out with a flash mob in 2022. The company placed its logo on a photo of a famous Crimean landmark, the Swallow’s Nest, and invited other Ukrainian brands to do the same.

The campaign had a huge response. Rozetka’s post received over 18,000 likes and 2,000 retweets. Many companies supported the initiative and posted their logos on the same photo.

The flash mob helped unite the business community and strengthen patriotic spirit during a difficult time for the country. It clearly demonstrated how viral marketing can work not only for narrow business goals, but also for the benefit of society as a whole.

Coca-Cola

“Share a Coke” is another successful viral campaign of recent years. The idea was simple but ingenious: popular names were printed on bottles so that buyers could find a drink with their name or the name of their loved ones.

This personalization worked perfectly. People eagerly searched for “their” bottles, bought them for friends and family, and shared photos on social media. The campaign caused a sensation around the world and significantly increased sales.

The reason for its success was its focus on emotions and audience engagement. Thanks to personalization, everyone felt a personal connection to the brand, a desire to participate in the campaign, and to tell their friends about it. The viral effect arose naturally, without any additional effort on Coca-Cola’s part.