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Getting content to go viral is the holy grail of any online business, but people tend to think of virality as a mysterious subject. If you haven’t done much research on it, you’re probably in the dark about how it really works.
Emerson Spartz is an exception. As the founder and CEO of Dose, a digital media company with 50 million unique visitors per month, Spartz has dedicated his career to understanding virality and is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the subject.
“For the longest time, I basically wanted to build...a system that would be able to create virality systematically. That’s been kind of my lifelong product ambition,” Spartz said.
In his quest to master virality, he’s done extensive research on the subject, as well as testing and analysis through the Dose properties Dose.com and OMGFacts.com. He’s learned all about viral content and how to create it, and he let me in on some of his secrets during a recent interview.
Below are his most valuable insights for why people share online, what kind of content goes viral, and best practices you can follow to create your own viral content.
Why People Share
Unfortunately, the common wisdom on why people share isn’t very useful for content producers. While it’s true people share to circulate emotional content and to make themselves look trendy, these explanations don’t get at the root of why they repost.
“[We share because] we want to project a certain image of ourselves out to the world,” Spartz said. That’s why we’re more likely to share positive content—like funny articles or cute animal videos—than negative content. Positive content projects an image of ourselves that we want people to see and latch onto.
But that doesn’t mean people only share cute, funny, or nostalgic content. They also share informative and topical content, as long as it reflects positively on the sharer within their social networks.
Why Content Goes Viral
The big secret about viral content is it doesn't always present unique information or new ideas. The most successful producers of viral content study trends to learn what kinds of articles and videos have received the most views and shares in the past, then capitalize on these trends so their own content has the best chance of also going viral.
“Almost everything you see that’s viral has already been on the internet before. The same things go viral over, and over, and over again,” Spartz said.
Virality is about the best ideas, not necessarily the newest ideas. Content that goes viral tomorrow will have much in common with content that went viral yesterday, although it will ideally be updated with fresh perspectives. The secret to creating the next viral video or article is to build on older content, maximizing the chance it will go viral again.
How To Create Viral Content
The best way to create viral content is actually very simple: post a lot of content and study its reception to find what works best. Experiment with different strategies, examine their impact, and continually refine your content by building on the strategies that perform best.
Spartz compares the process to a baseball player up to bat:
“We call them ‘at-bats.’ The more at-bats you get, the more likely you are to hit a homerun. But it’s not just about getting at-bats, because if you’re a terrible hitter, if you’re blind and facing the wrong way, then it doesn’t matter. You’re never going to hit a homerun," he said. "But if your batting average is high and you get enough at-bats, you maximize the probability of hitting a homerun."
The more content you post, the more data you’ll have to inform your iterations, which will help you improve more quickly. Remember: you’ll need both quality and quantity to strike gold, and people will be more likely to share your content if it will reflect well on them.
If your content builds on successful trends, and if you create enough of it, there’s a good chance that some of it will go viral. Keep refining your process, and keep in mind that virality isn’t about originality, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert on viral content.
