Anatomy of a Viral Hit How To Create A Successful Content Strategy Presented by: Ryan McGonagill, Operations Manager at Fractl Jordan Koene, Former Head of SEO & Content Development at eBay
Jul 14, 2015
Anatomy of a Viral HitHow To Create A Successful Content Strategy
Presented by:
Ryan McGonagill, Operations Manager at Fractl
Jordan Koene, Former Head of SEO & Content Development at eBay
eBay and Fractl embarked on a long-term viral marketing
engagement in order to grow organic search traffic to the
Deals section of their website.
The results?
Why Viral Marketing?
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Why Viral Marketing?
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Technically, to go “viral” means that more than one new
viewer is brought about (on average) through the sharing of a
previous viewer.
K > 1
What is Viral Marketing?
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Today, viral marketing is now often understood to mean that
the viewership of a piece of content rapidly ballooned as a
result of sharing.
Most importantly, viral marketing is a long-term strategy that
can have a substantial impact on your marketing efforts and
your business as a whole.
What is Viral Marketing?
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Where do I start?
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
With our research partners at Vanderbilt
University, we showed a collection of viral and
non-viral images from Imgur to more than 800
men and women between the ages of 18 and 54.
Using Robert Plutchik’s comprehensive Wheel of
Emotions, participants reported their emotional
reactions.
The Importance of Emotion
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Most common
emotions:
1. Amusement
2. Interest
3. Surprise
4. Happiness
5. Delight
6. Pleasure
7. Joy
8. Hope
9. Affection
10. Excitement
The Importance of Emotion
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
● Young Millennials reported feeling fewer joy, trust, and
surprise-based emotions than other ages groups.
● Men reported more joyful emotions, and a slightly smaller
overall range of emotions, than women.
● Women reported statistically more trust emotions, as well as
more negative emotions and emotional complexity.
Generational & Gender Differences
The Importance of Emotion
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
“What Makes Me Feel Beautiful”
● Joy, admiration, curiosity, and surprise were
the main emotions that fueled this campaign.
● Similar to Humans of New York, a similar
high-visibility project.
● Top-tier coverage included features on
Mashable, Buzzfeed, Mirror, Mic.com, and
Bustle.
eBay Campaign
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
“Visual Car Evolution”
● Elicited curiosity, surprise, and
nostalgia for both car enthusiasts
and non-car enthusiasts alike.
● 170+ digital publishers covered this
campaign, including Yahoo,
Business Insider, Car and Driver,
Motor Authority, IB Times, and more.
eBay Campaign
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
We know about content creation.
But…
…how do we connect content with publishers?
Digital PR
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
We conducted a survey of
500+ leading digital
publishers to discover
what they look for in both
pitches and the content
being pitched.
What did they say?
Digital PR
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Digital PR
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Digital PR
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Writers at some top-tier publications receive more than 100 pitches a day – yet 45% of writers only
publish one story per day.
In a week, this adds up to 500 pitches for only 5 story spots!
How do you break through the noise?
Digital PR
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
• Breaking news
• Exclusive research
• Emotional stories
• Timeliness
• Relevance
• Data
• New hook
• A story
• Interview opportunities
• Data visualizations
• Useful information
• Innovative
What Do Publishers Want?
• Well-researched
• Meets editorial mission
• Original content
• Solutions to problems
• Engaging
• Amusing
• Useful insights
• Humor
• Unique angles
• High-quality graphics
• Interesting analysis
• Storytelling
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
• Do your research.
• Know the publication.
• Be relevant.
• Make it newsworthy.
• Know their beat.
• Don’t use all caps.
• Be personal.
• Be concise.
• Don’t cold call.
How Do I Partner With Publishers?
• No giant attachments.
• Don’t pitch on social media.
• Know their audience.
• Avoid phony friendliness.
• Get their name right.
• Avoid the fluff.
• Tailor your subject lines.
• Use spellcheck.
• Give them a story.
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
“Tech Devices: What Do You Call It?”
● Exclusive research, identifiable, clean
layout, and relevant.
● 120+ stories, including Time Magazine,
Yahoo, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, Newsday,
Boston.com, Daily Mail, and more.
● Approached by several writers asking if
they could republish, rather than vice
versa.
eBay Campaign
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
“The #Selfie Revolution”
● Original data, unique visualization, an
emerging trend, and timing.
● 115+ stories, including Huffington Post,
Mashable, Fast Company, Today.com,
Celebuzz, and more.
● Appealed to multiple publisher verticals,
like tech, social media, pop culture,
lifestyle, and others.
eBay Campaign
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
“Trading Time”
● 140+ stories including MSN, Yahoo,
Business Insider, SF Chronicle, Daily
Finance, Credit.com, and others.
● Exclusive research, unique visual format,
useful information, interesting analysis, and
broad appeal.
● Included interactive tool for
personalization.
eBay Campaign
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Tenets of a Viral Campaign
Simple presentation
Exclusive research
Mass appeal
Comprehensive amount of data
Timeliness
Emotion
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com
Learn more about this research and other
case studies at
http://frac.tl/case-studies/
Happy Marketing!
Anatomy of a Viral Hit | SFIMA Nov. 2014www.frac.tl www.ebay.com