YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are the birthplace of buzz – which makes viral marketing more important than ever. Viral marketing can reach a massive audience in a relatively short amount of time, in a cost-effective way. That’s why Inc.com spoke with Wharton professor Jonah Berger to get a list of the 6 techniques he recommends to make a story go viral.
Berger’s list started with Social Currency; “People love to talk about things that make them look good,” said Berger. Talking about how well you’ve done with the latest game would certainly fit right in, or showing off that cool Minecraft build you created. Triggers are the next thing Berger mentioned, connect your game to things that are already popular topics, like breaking news events.
Next on Berger’s list is Emotion; making sure that people have a strong emotion connected to your game. The next item, Public Availability, is where game design meets marketing. Viral appeal is much more likely if it’s something people can easily share or see.
Finally, Berger mentions Practical Value and Stories. Practical Value is a tough hurdle for games; Berger notes that people like to help others with information like discounts or useful tips. Of course, tips only work if you’re already playing a game, and discounts on a game have a similar problem. If there’s a way your game can be useful even to non-players (like, for instance, helping you learn the way around a city) that will help virality.
Stories are of course a common part of games, as players love to tell about how they conquered in that last round of Call of Duty. It’s even more effective if a game provides ways to share your videos or images; this is why that capability is being built into next-gen consoles.
Source: Inc.com
