The most successful online marketing campaign you can hope for is a viral campaign. A solid viral campaign can impact your branding, online traffic, reputation and most importantly your sales. (Significantly) Done right, your brand can go from a blip on the radar to an overnight sensation worthy of a late night talk show appearance.

A viral marketing campaign is an online campaign that is so popular, so remarkable, and so easily sharable that it spreads across the Internet just like a virus. These campaigns seem to touch everyone across the web, and spark chatter from office water cooler to the dinner table.

Social Media is typically associated with viral campaigns, as social websites are where most conversations take place online. Before you know it, everybody’s talking.

Here are a few tips for creating an effective viral marketing campaign:

The fastest way to spread news on a certain topic is if it sparks emotion from the consumer. Make them feel excitement, anger, joy, sadness, or our favorite, hysteria! High levels of emotion means your audience will want to share the news…

Make your content outstanding. We can’t stress this enough to our clients. Don’t write another Top 10 list and think you’ll get 200,000 visits. Do something unique that hasn’t been done before. Market your product and your business in a way that people can’t help but share it.

Even the greatest content or campaign needs a little push. Once you launch, make sure to share it with your personal network first. See what they think and ask them to spread it around. Ah, the beauty of social media.

As more people see your content, they hopefully share their comments + thoughts. Always monitor comments and respond promptly. Answer questions wherever possible. Consistency builds trust.

The results are in, and you’re fantastic. Now kick back and relax, right? Wrong. This is the time to build on your success. Start another version of your now-familiar campaign immediately, and strike while the iron is hot! This additional recognition stands to build even more appreciation towards your brand.

When your campaign takes off, be ready. Make sure your website can handle a huge rush of traffic, such as 1000’s of visits in minutes. Make sure you have enough resources to provide the stuff you offer to your new customers. If not, the benefits of the campaign can be negated by the inability to fulfill the promises of greatness.