Everyone is trying to break the Internet. Whether you run a business, are a struggling musician, or a starving artist, you turn to the Internet to gain visibility. But, what does “going viral” actually mean? When there is a virus going around, your immune system could be affected by the spreading of germs. Well, in terms of the Internet, “going viral” is the spread of information, opinions, and content about a product, or service on the Internet. Going viral is a positive when you’re on the Internet, and allows your material to become popular, and circulate quickly person-to-person. Sounds pretty cool, right? So, how do you get your information to go viral? How do you get your product or service to break the Internet?
You’ve heard it once, you’ll hear it again: content is king! And to ensure that your content goes viral focus on making is POSITIVE! Although misery loves company, people prefer positivity to negativity. Let’s face is, you’re scrolling through your news feed on Facebook… you’re more likely to click the video of the cat swimming in the pool than the article about the 8 car pile up on the freeway.
Now, don’t get it twisted, you still need your content to contain emotion. Emotion can be both positive and negative, for example, sex games write content that will make people happy, angry, and relieved. Just make sure that your content allows your viewers to connect in some way. In addition, making sure that your content is useful in some way will give it a better chance of getting shared throughout the Internet.
This is where things might seem to get a little tricky. Now that you know what you need your content to consist of…how do you get produce it? How do you come up with interesting content that will make readers want to share what you create? Just Write! Write what you think is interesting. See what’s trending online, and put your own spin on it. Once you’re done writing and editing… you’re not done! So, don’t get too excited. It’s now time to go through the content that you’ve written and figure out what you want people to do with it. When you figure that out, add a section about those actions at the end of the content.
In an article written by socialtriggers.com, it is stated, “Psychologists have long known that people are bad at applying broad concepts to their own lives. It’s why people know the 80/20 rule, but rarely implement it in their lives and business.”
This is exactly why it is your responsibility as the writer to tell your readers how to apply your information to their everyday lives.
Now that we’ve figured out how to write your content, it’s time to address the idea of activating emotions within your content. How can you content emotionally to your readers to ensure that they are getting the most out of what you are writing? Think about what emotions are strong and can be captivated through your content. Everyone reacts differently to things, so what you write might not arouse everyone’s emotional state, but as long as you’re attempting to reach someone’s emotions, you are on the right track. The trick is, finding out what exactly triggers certain emotions and running with it.
There are 7 high arousal emotions that will get your content contagious:
- Awe
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Joy
- Lust
- Surprise
The emotion of awe usually stems from a real life story or event. If you want to get anger out of your reader, then write about something that pisses you off, or something that will piss them off. Be bias! It will make people talk about you and your content on social media, which will cause more people to be interested and in turn give your article more content. The best way to make someone angry is to challenge his or her beliefs. To make someone feel anxiety is mean, first of all, but it works. Write about losing. People hate losing something important to them. Fear motivates everyone. Make people worry about something that they’re doing in their life. It will make them question what they’re doing and take action in changing it. It’s easy to make people happy! Just write about happy things like puppies, kittens, babies, and other nostalgic bonds. Lust is a fun thing to make people feel. You can make people lust for anything, just make your readers want whatever you’re talking about. Most people think that surprises aren’t fun, but there’s nothing better than reading something and getting surprised within the text.
You’re almost ready to write amazing content that will flood the Internet and gain you the title of “going viral.” Now, it’s time to write. Don’t expect this to happen over night—remember practice makes perfect. Now, get to writing! Get contagious! It’s you’re time to take over the Internet the best way you can.