At the beginning of this month, in New York, a gathering of some of the most interesting people in the social media circuit took place. There were interviews with leaders of Foursquare, Gawker, Hulu, Yahoo, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, News Corp and more.
One of the presentations was by Jonah Peretti, the co-founder of The Huffington Post who serves today as the CEO of Buzzfeed. Peretti has been advising companies such as Procter & Gamble and Sony Pictures about their viral strategies.
If someone knows about going viral, it’s this guy, and what he said should be listened to;
– The biggest network you have at the moment are the bored people sitting in their offices, connected to high speed internet. This network is bigger that all the traditional existing networks combined. Create something that will draw their attention so they will pass it around. Make it easy to understand, easy to share and include in social media.
– Put the business in the front, but don’t forget the fun stuff. He calls it the “Mullet Strategy”. Keep your website serious and business-like in the front and all the crazy remarks in the back. Have a place on your site to start a conversation.
– If you are dealing with a brand, you should spend some money on advertising. Pushing a new brand through viral means is very difficult. You should spend money to seed it around the internet, or as he calls it: “Pay for the seeds and get the viral for free”.
– Target the maniacs. The web is ruled by people who gets worked up about a subject and do the work for you. “Content is more viral if it lets people express their personality disorders.” He says.
– Spread the word. Make sure some people are carrying on your word, and keeping it alive. He brings an example from religion – the Mormon Church, which actively spread the word and recruiting members, is growing in numbers at a higher rate than any other, older religions. It’s not just the quality of the idea that counts, it’s the effort you put into spreading it.
Now think how you can apply these 5 principles to your business.
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