Viral marketing is considered a powerful "trump card" in marketing campaigns, new product launches, or enhancing brand credibility. The power of this media is evident when a video, image, or slogan touches the hearts of viewers, spreading rapidly across platforms, reaching millions of potential customers, and delivering outstanding results in revenue and brand recognition for the business.
What is Viral Marketing?
Viral marketing is a familiar concept to businesses, sellers, and service providers in general. Simply put, it's a form of marketing and promotion that leverages the power of media, or in today's context, social media platforms. Creating successful "viral" content can quickly elevate a brand's ranking in a short period of time.
Viral marketing leverages the power of media to reach customers more effectively.
For those working in marketing, creating viral content is a coveted achievement. Therefore, many companies are willing to invest significant human and financial resources in creating high-quality images, videos, and slogans with the hope of reaching customers, building brand awareness, and ultimately generating long-term revenue.
Successful viral marketing campaigns can deliver the following three results:
- Strong potential for widespread dissemination: Viral content often taps into the psychology and emotions of viewers, whether it's humorous, touching, or even offensive. One viewer shares it with at least one person; ten viewers sharing it once will reach 20 people, and exponentially, it can reach hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. The communicative power of viral content is most clearly demonstrated through its ability to spread.
- Cost optimization: Instead of investing in running ads and hiring KOLs and celebrities for continuous promotional posts, you only need one trending piece of content, and customers will automatically find you. This natural spread truly helps you save a lot on advertising costs while still generating a stable, even very good, revenue stream if the accompanying products are of high quality.
- Increase brand awarenessOf course, if customers only glance at a product once, they won't immediately remember the brand, no matter how interesting or engaging the content is. However, through word-of-mouth and repeated exposure, familiarity will naturally develop in their minds, leading them to remember and learn more about the brand.
Typical examples of Viral Marketing
One of the classic examples of viral marketing that many people talk about is the advertising clips of Dien May Xanh (a Vietnamese electronics retailer). The images of people wearing the brand's signature green uniforms dancing, the lively music, and the humorous language and content quickly garnered tens of millions of views, millions of shares, and comments, helping Dien May Xanh make a strong impression on everyone. If you've ever watched these videos before.
The success of Dien May Xanh's marketing campaign has brought in a huge number of customers and revenue for the brand.
Of course, initially, the clips faced mixed reactions due to the somewhat "disturbing" imagery and bizarre dance moves. But over time, this haunting effect became deeply ingrained in people's subconscious, to the point that whenever an electronics brand is mentioned, people immediately think of 'Dien May Xanh' (a Vietnamese electronics retailer). On the other hand, it's undeniable that Dien May Xanh's content is quite interesting and entertaining, making viewers unwilling to skip over it even on their first viewing.
Another equally viral case is Vinamilk's milk commercial. The song "We Are Happy Cows" became a catchy tune for millions of Vietnamese children as soon as it aired on TV. At a time when social media wasn't as developed and like and share buttons weren't as important, this commercial created a huge sensation, evidenced by the fact that many people still hum along to this catchy tune today.
Besides using images and clips, creating slogans or campaigns is also employed in viral marketing. For example, in 2013, a campaign called the Ice Bucket Challenge was launched to raise awareness about the rare disease ALS – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (pouring ice water on someone can create similar effects because it causes motor nerve cells to temporarily become paralyzed). This campaign was unexpectedly successful, with the participation of numerous world-famous celebrities.
Viral Marketing – How to Succeed?
Nowadays, everyone, in every industry and field, wants their content to go viral. However, not everyone succeeds. A marketing campaign needs to be built over a long period, not just to make an impression, but also to gain the trust and emotions of customers; only then can it be considered successful. So, what are the elements that make up viral marketing?
The difference
Why is it that among thousands of people creating content about life in the Mekong Delta, TikToker Mong Kha achieves millions of views on her videos? Why, amidst the countless coffee shops popping up everywhere, has Phe La become a beloved bubble tea brand? It all comes down to...The difference is clearly demonstrated through marketing content that moves customers from curiosity to long-term loyalty.
Every industry will always have competitors, and what you need to do is showcase your uniqueness instead of just following trends and what's already available. Creativity and originality always impress and make people wonder what you'll do next. Therefore, to succeed in viral marketing, you need to incorporate your uniqueness, distinctiveness, and personal style to create a lasting impression that will make viewers remember you when they encounter similar things.
Take Be – a ride-hailing platform in Vietnam – as a prime example. Despite being a relatively new entrant compared to other companies in the same field, it has become incredibly popular thanks to its highly viral advertising content. For instance, Be Hair Washing, Be Boat Service, Be Wedding Pick-up, Be Horse Carriage... instead of focusing solely on BeBike and BeCar services as in traditional methods. As a result, the number of app downloads skyrocketed in a short period of time.
Plot
The storyline is also one of the key elements contributing to the success of viral marketing. Taking yourself as an example, what would make you like, share, or comment on a post or video you happened to stumble upon? Would it be something interesting, funny, touching, or even incredibly annoying? Building a storyline that resonates with viewers' emotions will easily motivate them to take action to spread the story.
Of course, the storyline here can be structured to generate negative or positive reactions. However, for long-term brand building, you should prioritize creating valuable content with a clear, meaningful, and useful message. This will also indirectly increase brand goodwill among customers.
Furthermore, the storyline should be as concise as possible, ensuring it's short, focused, and relevant to the topic. A plot twist might be added, but it shouldn't be overly lengthy. For TV commercials, the first three seconds are crucial in determining whether viewers will continue watching. Similarly, for written content, the first three lines are key to capturing the reader's attention. Therefore, the content needs to be truly concise yet still evoke emotion.
Right time
A recent prime example is the "review war" surrounding Thai Cong lychee tea. Immediately after a TikToker's video expressing dislike for Thai Cong lychee tea went viral, the brand quickly capitalized on the hype by offering attractive promotions. As a result, even though a glass of lychee tea here costs 160,000 VND, 5-6 times the normal price, and has even been criticized for being bad, the number of people who know about the brand and try it has increased dramatically in a short period.
This TV commercial, featuring Sony headphones and speakers, was produced by Right Media.
In addition, businesses should quickly grasp trending topics and content with high discussion rates to integrate them and help their content go viral quickly. For example, during Tet (Lunar New Year), food brands like Coca-Cola or electronics brands always have TV commercials focusing on family and reunion, and they always receive very positive and appreciative responses from customers. Even though... TV commercial However, these clips are just as viral as music videos, with tens of millions of views on social media platforms.
Some issues to consider.
It's important to understand that every issue has two sides. Viral marketing can offer benefits such as reaching customers, increasing brand awareness, and generating revenue, but if not done well, it can also have many disadvantages. This can directly harm the business, even leading to customers turning away because it fails to meet expectations.
For example, if you over-praise your product in advertising videos, and customers receive a product that doesn't match what they saw, it will certainly cause negative reactions. Similarly, if a piece of content goes viral, and the number of orders skyrockets, overwhelming the business and leading to rushed production and compromised product quality, it will inevitably disappoint customers.
Viral content that is inaccurate is easily viewed negatively and can have detrimental consequences for businesses.
For businesses operating on platforms like TikTok or Shopee, providing items that don't match the description can easily lead to 1-star or 2-star reviews. If the number of negative reviews is too high, the business may face sales restrictions or even shop closure, resulting in losses in both revenue and brand reputation.
On the other hand, many businesses choose to go viral by creating controversial or "dirty" content. Of course, this can increase discussion in posts, but it also leads to a loss of brand goodwill. Furthermore, if you only create negative content, customers will gradually get bored, or they will only be interested in what you will post next without caring about the product you offer. This means that even though it goes viral, it won't generate revenue.
Conclude
In any industry or field, focusing solely on viral marketing while neglecting product quality will not generate sustainable revenue. Ultimately, no matter how engaging the content or how high-quality the visuals, if the product delivered doesn't meet expectations, it will fail to retain customers. This means you'll only generate short-term revenue while the video is trending; after that, revenue will gradually slow down and customers will forget about it.
Each product is made by our team. Right Media pays meticulous attention to detail to deliver perfect products that bring value to businesses.
Therefore, even though there are numerous companies on the market, corporate filmsWhether it's a large or small TV commercial, clients still choose Right Media to entrust their thoughts and feelings to. With each project, Right Media always aims to deliver the highest quality videos, creating value in terms of brand building, revenue, and customer trust for businesses. Our products are meticulously crafted, from filming equipment and editing to settings, camera angles, color, sound, lighting, and even props, to deliver the most perfect and impressive footage possible.
On the other hand, Right Media is also proud to be one of the units contributing to the success of viral marketing for our partner businesses. Right Media always takes the time to discuss and share details with businesses to deliver visually stunning yet authentic, emotionally rich, and natural videos. The meticulous attention to visuals, storyline, and content always makes viewers feel more positive, especially with TV commercials that are widely broadcast on TV and social media platforms.
In general, viral marketing is an effective promotional strategy that leverages the power of media. However, businesses shouldn't forget to invest in maintaining product quality, creating a unique brand identity, and providing useful content for customers. This is the core of retaining customers and generating sustainable revenue and value.
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