Why do you have to love viral marketing? Because you are going around right now and sharing content that has been shared by many, many connections before it got to you.
There are always going to be hubs to find great videos or hilarious pictures such as forums, Reddit or blogs but the majority of us will find content from our own social networks.
How else do you explain the inter-stellar hit Gangnam Style? Whilst it didn’t start out to be a viral marketing hit, the mix of an incredibly catchy song (HEYYYYYYYYYYY SEXY LADY!) and a video that is so addictive to watch ensured that those in contact couldn’t help but pass-it-on.
This pass-it-on value is best explained by peoples reaction to content. If you experience a stronge emotion such as laughter, fear or the very best (thank you Rionne Williams) curiousity, you are very likely to want to share this with someone you get on with.
I learned of Gangnam Style through one of my favourite forums and within a minute of watching it, I had to share it with my sister. There is one simple reason, I knew she would love it. Her reaction was as expected. A mixture of OMG and “This is the best thing ever”
Before I knew it, I could see others sharing the video. The comments along with it ranged from “You HAVE to watch this!” “What the hell is this?” “I don’t even know what to say” and my personal favourite “HEYYYYYY SEXY LADY!”.
In a not so typical fashion, Gangnam Style got reported in the news yesterday. I had to look into why this had happened and I was blown away to see that PSY was the first Korean to ever have a number 1 single in the UK. A song mostly in Korean had gone from a novelty video being shared on social media to a worldwide smash hit single.
It all happened because of the power of people sharing… but more importantly because of the emotions that inspire us to share.
