Viral Marketing For Images - 8 quick tips

Viral Marketing is really the buzz word. This form was always prevalent since the early 2000’s but the Psy video in 2012 took viral marketing to a completely new level. Since, then we have seen some amazing work of ad agencies and companies going viral. From Pepsi’s like machine to the dancing Korean baby. Professional ad campaigns or home videos have gone viral.

Research has shown a similarity between all these viral videos. They find a common trend these videos follow, for eg: They found a clear connection between the strength of emotions or feeling and the virality of the video. In fact a similar research also proved the same for written content.

So what happens to images when it comes to virality? What should you keep in mind while planning a image viral marketing campaign? Marco Guerini at Trento RISE in Italy have attempted to dig deeper into the subject. They have done research on images posted on Google+ and tried to establish their relation with virality. They basically studied characteristics of images that spread virally on Google+

They have discovered common characters about these images that appeal to people in different ways. You may read the article on their research here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.3908 Information is also available on the following website: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/519611/how-images-become-viral-on-google/

Based on their research, we have chalked down a list of factors that are absolutely necessary for marketers and designers to know. These 8 tips should keep in mind while planning a viral marketing campaign which has images as the focus. So set your goals and make sure you have all the below 8 things added to your viral plan basket.

1. SIZE

As they Size matters. When it comes to images on the web it definitely does. Make sure the images that you want to use, are clear and crisp. Blur or shaken images really don’t get enough attention and are incapable of luring the audiences.

2. TRENDING TOPICS

Always research on what’s trending before you put out your images. If something is trending you have a better chance of getting your content viewed as compared to something that’s not. Try and create images with a strong sense of emotions, based on the trending topics, be it a meme or an infographic. Trending topics are already up there, so why reinvent the wheel when you can hop on with some creative images that appeal. Keep an eye on the Google News section and check out Google Trends.

3. #HashTags

When the images are first plugged into the network stream, be it redditt or facebook, try and use the trending topic #hastags. This will get more people to reach that image directly using the #hashtag.

4. The Layout

In the research done by Guerini, they discovered that vertical images tend to be more viral than horizontal ones. They also found that vertical images are more likely to be portraits and such images seem to be more viral than the rest.

5. Animated Images

If you can get your content animated, that works better than static. Guerini & Co also did a comparison between the animated and static images on Google+. They found out, that animated images are the ones which are shared and viewed more. These images are likely to get more viral than static ones.

6. Emotions

This is an extension of point no.2. It is important to attach an emotion with the trending topic. For example: if an election campaign in America is a trending topic, then dig deep to find out what people think about it… Is it weird, funny, silly etc…. Try and get the emotions to reflect in the images. Usually humour or funny images work better than others. Everyone loves to laugh and even more, share something that is outrageously funny and it will shared within minutes.

7. Colour

Colour plays a mjor role in the attracting views to the image. There are plenty articles online which share some insightful information on Science of colors in marketing. When it comes to social media, there are specific colors that women and men are attracted to differently.
For CTA buttons its proven that red works 21% better than green or blue. To decide which colour to use or highlight in your image, check out this article by Leo Widrich. He is the Co-Founder and CMO at Buffer. He well explains the science behind colours on social media. http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-colors-in-marketing-why-is-facebook-blue

8. Controversial or The Surprise element

People share images that they find funny, surprising, shocking or many a times controversial. Controversy sells, be it a comment or an article. So when it comes to images it sells even more. So if you don’t mind people not liking you, go ahead and share a controversial image.