Although it can be attractive, going viral can mean overlooking several goals of a long-term strategy
Within many organizations, the idea of going viral is one of the main goals for their communications department or is the main demand they usually make of the agency they work with. Having a campaign that reaches millions of people organically seems to meet all the requirements for success in public relations.
However, as Pepsi learned, with the ill-judged ad featuring Kendall Jenner that earned it harsh criticism from the Black Lives Matter movement, virality does not always bring lasting benefits to the brand. Likewise, relying on the Internet’s attention span, as well as on algorithms, is a risky move. That is why we share three reasons why relying on the Internet’s attention span as your main digital communication strategy might not be the best idea.
- It is easy to overlook the target audience. Each brand’s customers have specific tastes and interests; if they do not see themselves reflected in content, it will not be appealing to them. While it is true that working on this means opting for material with a much more limited reach, it is backed by a personalized strategy for a specific audience, in a language they use every day; and it is not about content launched just to achieve virality regardless of how our audience thinks.
- It doesn’t build relationships. Connecting with an audience on social media is the same as building relationships anywhere else. It takes time, persistence and consistency. Brands that focus all their attention on creating one particular piece may miss the subtle signals their community is giving them, both through its actions and its inactions. Likewise, having an expert team that evaluates these signals will be a great help in strengthening the strategy being used.
- It can be a poorly profitable investment. No one has a guaranteed formula for going viral. The pursuit can cost many hours of a trained team and bring no return. A more profitable investment may be creating valuable and entertaining content for the target audience. The most important thing is for brands to give their community a reason to keep coming back to the conversation and, eventually, to think of them at the time of purchase.
When creating content to promote themselves, brands must take personalization into account, something that cannot be fully achieved if all the efforts of the team or communications agency are focused on virality. Only then will they be able to understand what content strikes a chord with the types of people they would most like to reach. And, as might be expected, the reward for the time invested in this planning can be very gratifying.
