7 Social Media Marketing

Virality
The three holy grails of social media

User
Engagement Virality Generated
Content

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Why?

Trust Targeting

“83% of consumers trust If you don’t like spicy food

recommendations from their nobody is going to talk to you
peers over advertising.” (Nielsen) about a spicy food restaurant

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What is word of mouth?

Source: Social Media Marketing (HBR) p. 9-10 3 5

Can we control virality?

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Virality – a definition

“Marketing designed to disseminate information

(as about a new product) very rapidly by making it
likely to be passed from person to person
especially via electronic means”

--Miriam Webster Dictionary

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The ripple effect

Tuten & Solomon (2018)

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Success factors for virality

Message User Network

characteristics characteristics characteristics
• Content • Personality • Structure
• Creativity • Demographics • Tie strength
• Usage • Position

Adapted from Liu-Thompson (2012)

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Virality – a definition

“Marketing designed to disseminate information

(as about a new product) very rapidly by making it
likely to be passed from person to person
especially via electronic means”

--Miriam Webster Dictionary

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Word-of-mouth

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Word-of-mouth

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Word-of-mouth

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Success factors for virality

Message User Network

characteristics characteristics characteristics
• Content • Personality • Structure
• Creativity • Demographics • Tie strength
• Usage • Position

Dr. Tim M. Boettger | Social Media Adapted from Liu-Thompson (2012)

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Contagion / 1
Simple (or viral) – spread through a single activated contact (e.g., covid-19 or news)

Complex – such as the adoption of new behaviors require multiple sources of exposure.
There are four psychological mechanisms to explain why complex contagion requires multiple
sources of reinforcement
• Strategic complementarity – the more people who adopt a behavior, the more its value
increases
• Credibility – The more people who adopt a behavior, the more believable it is that the
behavior is worth the cost/risk of adoption
• Legitimacy – The more people who adopt a behavior, the greater the expectation that
others will approve
• Emotional contagion - The more people who adopt a behavior, the more excited other
people get about adopting it

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Contagion / 2
Social Ties: weak versus strong Bridges: narrow versus wide

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Once again, can we
control virality?

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 CATS MAKE
VIDEOS VIRAL

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The science behind virality

Jonah Berger

Consumer psychologist
Marketing professor
Wharton School
@ University of Pennsylvania
15 years research

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STEPPS: How to make a product / brand popular

S "People don't need to be paid to be motivated."

Social Currency
• People share things that
make them look "good,
smart, or cool" – they
VS
want to be perceived as
trend-setters, insiders, or
experts.
• Does the
"content" make people
feel like insiders?

Jonah Berger: Contagious (2013)

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2 millions de vues, achat
médias, peu de partage

Humour et décalage
ont généré des taux
de visionnage positifs

Le caractère
"choquant" de la
nudité pour le
public US a nuit à la
viralité

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12 millions de vues,
générées par la
viralité (peu d’achat
médias)

Curiosité, suspense,
surprise ont généré
des taux de
visionnage positifs

La chute, surprenante,
positive ont favorisé le
partage et la
viralisation 28
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Why videos go viral

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Facebook – generating hype by opening one
school at a time

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STEPPS: How to make a product / brand popular

S T "Top of mind, tip of tongue."

Triggers
• Product need a
triggers–a
mental
association
• ”Triggers” are
(environ-mental)
stimuli that
prompt people
to think about a
specific product
or brand
Jonah Berger: Contagious (2013)
Dr. Tim M. Boettger | Social Media
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Who gets more spontaneous word of mouth

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 Friday is an
environmental
reminder (i.e.,
trigger)

CONFIDENTIEL 23
• In some Anglophone countries, Wednesdays are referred
to as Hump Day
• It is the middle of the week, where one has to get
“over the hump” before looking forward to the
weekend
• This ad has Caleb the camel walking around the office,
celebrating the arrival of hump day
• By associating the humorous camel with Hump Day,
people will naturally remember this video whenever
Hump Day arrives
• True enough, the original video received more than
6 million views, and they spiked every Wednesday!
• The best part about the choice of Hump Day is that it
occurs every 7 days 36
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2013/07/24/geico-hump-day-
commercial-dominates-social-video-at-least-on-wednesdays/
Autumn – Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte

• Pumpkins are especially

popular in USA and Canada
during Autumn seasons
• Starbucks rode on the trend by
selling the Pumpkin Spice Latte
(PSL)
• Since their first cup in 2003,
PSL has become a popular
drink during fall
• The drink even has its own
Twitter account:

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STEPPS: How to make a product / brand popular

S T E “When we care, we
share."
Emotion
• We share
content that
moves us
• Emotional
content is
more
“contagious"
than
functional
content and,
therefore,
more likely to
Jonah Berger: Contagious (2013) go viral.
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STEPPS: How to make a product / brand popular
S T E P P
Dr. Tim M. Boettger | Social Media
Practical Value
• Useful information, "News you can use."
tips, and tricks (e.g.,
"How to make
poached eggs")
• Create content that
helps others (e.g., to
save time or money,
improve health) and
package it so that
people can easily pass
it on
Jonah Berger: Contagious (2013)
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Buzzfeed Tasty: “One Pot Chicken Alfredo”

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STEPPS: How to make a product / brand
popular
S T E P P S “Tell a story."
Stories
• People don’t just
share information
(e.g., the technical
specs of a
blender), they like
to tell stories (e.g.,
how a blender
pulverized an
iPhone)
• Make a product an
integral part of this
story Jonah Berger: Contagious (2013)
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