Make Your Content Go Viral

It's every marketer's worst nightmare:

Hope this isn't contagious. Flickr user eviltomthai.

Your next assignment from the C-Suite? "Make it Go Viral!"

That's right - they want you to guarantee that your next piece of content sails around the Internet like wildfire, faster than a Kate Middleton pregnancy rumor.

Usually, this command from on high comes about content like whitepapers, a new product, or a single Facebook post - content that's simply unlikely to go viral. Uh-oh, right?

But don't despair.

Here are some things you can do to raise the chances of getting viral marketing to work for you.

• Video, video, video. Videos are more likely to go viral than most other types of content. Check out this article and video about a men's razor blade subscription service called Dollar Shave.The product itself didn't go viral - the video introducing  the product did. Make sure that all of your videos are shareable. If you haven't already, consider starting your own YouTube channel and integrating it with your marketing efforts.
• If video isn't an option for you, consider other visually-oriented content, like slideshows, interactives, and infographics.
• Be funny. People need to laugh, and they like to make each other laugh. So if your content is funny, it's more likely to be shared.
• Be timely. If you can capture the zeitgeist of what many people are thinking about right now, then your content is more likely to be shared widely because it's newsworthy. You can check Google Trends or Twitter to see what's trending right now.
• Be useful. Entertainment is great, but is there other value you can add? The Dollar Shave video isn't just entertaining, it provides relevant information about this new company and the problem they can solve, which is how men can get convenient, cheap, quality razor blades.

How are you solving the viral problem? Please share in the comments.