the emotional drivers of highly successful viral content
Post on 18-Oct-2014
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Harvard Business Review contributor and VP of Creative at Fractl, Kristin Tynski discusses the internal research into the emotional activators that are at the heart of viral content. She shares specific examples of how to apply these emotions and dive into the insights learned from the success of other emotional content innovators from across the web. She describes actionable tips for creating content that can gain major sharing traction, mainstream pickups, and viral success.TRANSCRIPT
The Emotional Drivers of Highly Successful Viral Content
By Kristin Tynski
Join us on Twitter at #MozinarQuestions or problems? Email [email protected]
Viral Marketing – Don’t Try to Do it All
Sales Funnel Usefulness Relative Ease Successful?Awareness Extremely High Easy AllInterest High Difficult FewEvaluation High Extremely Difficult Very FewCommitment High Extremely Difficult Almost no oneReferral High Extremely Difficult Some
*Know your goals, and know what viral can realistically accomplish*
Viral Marketing – Best Fit
*From SmartInsights.com
What About The Bottom of the Funnel?Branding
Brand Impressions
Brand Followers
Brand Advocates
Captive Audience
Move Down the Funnel
Search
High Visibility
Social Sharing & Links
Improved Search Ranking
Move Down the Funnel
K = Ratio of the number of new viewers brought in due to the sharing of each viewer.
• Almost nothing called “viral” actually is.
How Do We Define Viral?
Defining Viral Factors
Defining Variables
Shared Audience (p)
Conversion Rate (c)
Shares Per Viewer (i)
Total Organic Views
Organic Growth Type
Viral Cycle Time
k = i*p*c
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Increasing Shared Audience
Shared Audience (p)Average number of people
who are exposed to the content for each share.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Increasing Conversion Rate
Conversion Rate (c) Percent of shared audience (p) that are exposed to the content and then actually
click on it.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Increasing Shares Per Viewer
Shares Per Viewer (i)Percent of people who see the
content that share it.
Do we Need Truly Viral to Find Success?
NO!
Success Even When K<1
Nearly all content considered
“Viral”
Doesn’t actually meet the true definition of viral growth of having a viral coefficient (k)
greater than 1.
When the Magic Happens
When you are able to get i, p, and c high enough, their product will bring k>1, and
you will see a truly viral effect.
Notice the exponential nature of the curve.
Play with the tool featured here:
http://frc.tl/viral-equation
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences 6 Types of Sharers – Differing Primary Motivations
AltruistsCareeristsHipsters
BoomerangsConnectorsSelectives
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences Bored at Work and Bored in Line – A Key Audience
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences Niche vs. Broad – Both Have Value
Broad Audiences• Lower sharing limitations
• Content must be broadly appealing• Typically lower values for p, c, I
• Big seeds can be more easily leveraged
Niche Audiences• Content MUST appeal to the niche audience.
• Niche audiences typically have higher
values for p,c, i , because they are moretightly interconnected, and shared content
Is more likely to resonate due to sharedideals, values, and interests.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences Understanding the relationship between
audience types, accountability and sharing
General Audience Types:
Anonymous Audiences
Accountable Audiences
Casual Audiences
Professional Audiences
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences Broad (or large cohesive niche) and accountable is a good target
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Audiences Facebook is most important for several reasons
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Evoking emotions is essential in viral content. Why? Because
emotions themselves spread virally as an inherent part of the wayour brains work, a function of mirror neurons.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Not all emotions are created equal. Some are better than others at
improving Shares per Viewer (i). Increasing shares per viewer is the keyTo creating a viral effect. High arousal emotions are essential.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Surprise and Interest are the chief emotional
drivers in the New York Times Study.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions The emotions of the top 50 viral images on Imgur.com last year.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Emotional arousal is created and enhanced through empathy.
Empathy is created through human narratives and stories
Most Common Empathy Narrative Themes:LoveLoyaltyPerseverance and overcoming obstaclesRaw human momentsMaking the most out of what you have Rights of passageHeroes and selfless actsVengeance and villains get what they deserveInjustices made rightChanges of heartHuman-animal bondEvolving morality Nostalgia and ReminiscingConnection to and importance of nature
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Leveraging Emotions - Upworthy
Topical Focus:CommunityDiversityEconomyEntertainmentGenderGuns & CrimeHealthImmigration
InspirationalLGBTQQMilitaryParentingPoliticsScience and TechSpanishWorkonomics
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Leveraging Emotions - Buzzfeed
Emotional CategoriesLol
WinOmgCute
Trashy Win Fail
WTF
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Leveraging Emotions – ViralNova
This site is run by a single individual, posting emotionally resonant content each day.
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotions Leveraging Emotions – Gawker
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Titles Single biggest factor in improving Conversion Rate (c)
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Thumbnails Second biggest factor in improving Conversion Rate (c)
Improving the Viral Coefficient – Emotion Stacking
Aligning With Other Motivations for Sharing
New York Times – 5 Primary Motivations for Sharing
Email: [email protected]: KristinTynskiWebsite: Frac.tl
Find this recorded #Mozinar and slide deck at http://moz.com/webinars very soon!