Everyone wants their stuff to go viral. I’ve had clients request it. And I’ve seen it in creative briefs: “We’ll create a viral campaign.”
What these people mean when they say they want to create something viral is they want to spread a piece of content, a product, or an idea on a network (The Internet) of which they have absolutely no control. If you could actually pull that off, who wouldn’t like that?
A friend of mine, David Meerman Scott, who I’ve interviewed on video and on my Be the Voice podcast (“It’s OK to be a dork online”) has written a new book “World Wide Rave” that I believe clearly explains the difference between what constitutes a bad viral campaign (cheap tricks to drive traffic) and what is a good viral campaign (triggers that people want to share). David sent me an advanced copy to read, and here’s a summary:
A bad viral campaign: Classic bait-and-switch tactics purely designed to draw attention and draw traffic (e.g. Win a free iPod). Any marketing or advertising company that promises to create something viral are often hucksters using old “fool the audience” tricks that only drive traffic for that specific campaign. Often the reason created to drive traffic to your site (e.g. see nude pictures of Jessica Simpson) has nothing to do with your product and as a result it does nothing to build relationships. Inevitably, once the “viral campaign” is over, the traffic and interest to your business is over as well. The viral 
campaign built no good will with your audience.
A good viral campaign – When you create something that people want to share. And “want” is the operative verb. Since you can’t control your audience, the only way you’re going to be able to spread anything is if people “want” to share what you’ve created. In an effort to distance the good viral campaign from all the negative tricks associated with a bad viral campaign, Scott offers a new term, world wide rave, to indicate good viral marketing. What triggers and content are you creating that causes people to want to rave about it?
If you’re not clear what it takes to create content that people want to share, then pick up and read “World Wide Rave.” You’ll see 30+ examples of people who successfully pulled off World Wide Raves.
