When we blog, we all want our content to go viral and these days, viral marketing is synonymous with success in our industry. But the question remains, how do we create content with that super-powered shareable buzz? Here’s a new technique you probably haven’t tried yet.
Viral marketing all begins with a survey
One of the many reasons blogs are so popular is the ability they have to generate a discussion. Readers can add their input and participate in the content being posted. You can leverage this same desire to create a viral buzz around your own brand if you know how to do it right.
Choosing a topic
As with most good things, it takes preparation to pull off viral marketing using a survey. You need to make sure it addresses a topic that will interest not only your readers, but the readers of other similar blogs as well. You’ll want to collect valuable information from them – information that can improve your content, conversion rates and help develop products. The key to success online is to provide a solution to a problem many people have. Use the survey to find out what those problems are in your industry and learn what solutions there might be.
Finding your viral marketing audience
The next step in creating a viral survey involves reaching out to other blogs who share the same interests. Ask them if they would like to participate by promoting the survey to their audience or e-mail list. In exchange, offer to share the results of the survey with them. Include a link on your blog back to theirs as a participant to sweeten the deal.
Interpreting the Results
It's in the interpretation of your results that your viral marketing campaign can really shine. By now there will be a lot of people looking forward to the results of your survey. When you’re ready to publish them, make them easy to share. I’ve found the best way to do this is to create an easy to follow infographic. Add your blog’s logo and URL to the bottom and BAM- instant shareable content. You can give the participating blogs a more detailed rundown of the survey results at the same time, but the infographic is like social media gold among your followers.
Danny Inny is a great example to follow
Danny Iny of Mirasee has done a great job at putting this viral marketing strategy into practice. He’s created a survey to collect information about those involved with or looking to switch to a semi-local business model (someone who does business both locally and online). It is obviously a topic that many bloggers would have interest in as many of us already do this (graphic/web designers, writers, teachers, etc.).
You can see the survey here (since the survey is over, you can see the results of the survey here). Be sure to fill it out yourself and share it with your friends! Take note of the participating blogs that he reached out to. Not a bad day’s work huh? Now we can all look forward to the results from this survey and hopefully know more about our industry. And you can bet those will be shared.
Final Thoughts
So are you ready to make a viral marketing strategy for your blog? Give your fans something worth sharing! For some great examples of infographics worth sharing, check out DailyInfographic.com. With some careful planning, you can create a buzz that spreads across the internet far and wide!
But enough from me. Have you had any experiences using surveys or their results to generate traffic to your blogs? How did it work for you?