Viral Content Examples from Brands Who Got It Right

Let's take a look at some brands that got viral content right. Dollar Shave Club's hilarious video about the absurdity of traditional razors helped them raise $30 million in funding.

Their irreverent humor and willingness to poke fun at the industry resonated with viewers. The video's success can be attributed to its lighthearted tone and relatability.

Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign saw a 300% increase in sales after launching a series of humorous ads featuring Isaiah Mustafa. The ads' success was largely due to their clever writing and Mustafa's charming on-screen presence.

The campaign's impact was so significant that it even led to a 200% increase in Twitter followers.

On a similar theme: What Makes a Video Go Viral

Viral content is all about capturing attention and motivating audiences to share it with their network. It's not random, but rooted in concepts like emotional appeal, relatability, and punctuality.

Emotional appeal is key, and humans are wired to associate with storytelling and emotions. Content that evokes strong emotions like joy, surprise, nostalgia, empathy, or curiosity spreads steadily. According to social media experts, content that evokes high-arousal emotions like excitement or awe is more likely to be shared.

Budweiser's Super Bowl ad, "A Clydesdale's Journey", is a great example of emotionally resonant content. It sparked emotions of perseverance and hope, and viewers flooded the comments with personal stories. The ad racked up millions of views across platforms, proving the power of storytelling.

To create emotionally resonant content, pinpoint the key emotions you want to elicit based on your audience and brand message. Use compelling narratives with clear conflict and resolution to make your content relatable and memorable. Pair your message with visuals or music that amplify the emotional tone of your content.

Here are some tips to create emotionally resonant content:

Optimizing content for each platform is also crucial for going viral. Every platform serves distinct audience behaviors and presumptions, so it's essential to modify your content to match the required features and algorithms of different social media channels. For example, TikTok users anticipate short, snappy videos, while LinkedIn approves professional, thought-provoking posts.

MoonPie's "MoonPieToTheMoon2024 campaign" is a great example of optimizing content for each platform. They leveraged Twitter to share witty, engaging content, humorous updates on Facebook, and carousels on Instagram that resonated with their audience. This platform-specific proven strategy ushered notable increases in visibility and engagement.

Here are some tips to optimize content for each platform:

Creating resonant content is key to making your audience feel connected to your brand. This type of content evokes strong emotions like joy, surprise, nostalgia, empathy, or curiosity, which triggers engagement and sharing.

To create emotionally resonant content, identify the emotion you want to elicit based on your audience and brand message. Joy, nostalgia, or empathy often work well with family-oriented content, while curiosity suits innovative products.

Compelling narratives with clear conflict and resolution can make your content relatable and memorable. Pair your message with impactful visuals or music that amplify the emotional tone of your content.

Authenticity is crucial in creating resonant content. Share genuine stories or behind-the-scenes moments to strengthen trust with your audience. Highlight testimonials or personal experiences from your community to build deeper emotional ties.

Here are some tips to create relatable and shareable content:

Relatable and shareable content focuses on universal themes, emotions, or circumstances that resonate strongly with audiences. This type of content is easy to digest and impels viewers to share it within their networks, amplifying reach and visibility.

By creating content that feels personal yet universal, you can foster a sense of community and deepen audience trust. This can lead to a surge in engagement and sharing, as seen in the example of Spotify Wrapped, which encouraged widespread sharing across platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

To create viral content, it's essential to leverage current trends and platforms. Ryanair's social media account is a great example of this, as they used funny trends to promote their brand and achieved a spike in engagement on Instagram.

By monitoring trend platforms in real-time, you can spot emerging trends and adapt them to your brand's message. For instance, MoonPie's "MoonPieToTheMoon2024 campaign" leveraged the buzz around NASA's SpaceX launch by proposing to send a MoonPie to the moon. They customized their content to fit each platform, using witty and humorous updates on Facebook and carousels on Instagram.

To maximize impact and relevance, be quick to act on trends before they fade. Use relevant hashtags, like MoonPie did on Twitter, and focus on 1-2 niche-specific hashtags to boost engagement. Here are some key takeaways to keep in mind:

Tailor content to each platform by understanding the unique audience behaviors and presumptions of each social media channel. For instance, TikTok users expect short, snappy videos, while LinkedIn users appreciate professional, thought-provoking posts.

To create effective content, understand the platform's purpose. For example, users come to TikTok for entertainment, so use vertical videos and meme-driven formats to align with their expectations.

Customize your content format to match each platform's strengths. Use carousel posts on Instagram, in-depth articles on LinkedIn, and short videos on TikTok. This will help you reach your audience more effectively.

Leverage platform features to enhance your content. For example, use Stories, Threads, Live videos, or polls on different platforms to keep your audience engaged. Don't forget to follow posting guidelines, such as optimal video length, text character limits, and aspect ratios, to avoid any issues.

To refine your content strategy, analyze performance metrics from each platform. This will help you understand what works and what doesn't, so you can make data-driven decisions to improve your content.

Here are some key takeaways to keep in mind:

Leveraging current trends is a great way to boost your online presence and engagement. By recognizing and engaging with popular topics, challenges, or hashtags, you can elevate your observability and engagement.

Ryanair's use of funny trends to promote its brand is a great example of this. They've transformed their social media account into a relatable and engaging hub, with 1.6 million followers on Instagram and a spike in engagement rate over time.

To leverage trends effectively, it's essential to monitor trend platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter in real-time. This will help you spot emerging trends and stay ahead of the curve.

Customize trends for your brand by adapting the trend to align with your product or message while keeping it authentic. This will help you stand out from the crowd and resonate with your target audience.

Using relevant hashtags is also crucial when leveraging trends. Instead of stuffing too many hashtags, focus on 1-2 niche-specific hashtags to boost engagement. For instance, a study found that posts with fewer, targeted hashtags lead to more interactions.

Here are some key tips to keep in mind when leveraging trends:

By following these tips, you can increase your brand's visibility, engagement, and audience growth.

Some posts go viral within hours, while others might take days or weeks as algorithms test and share the content.

Focus on consistent quality to increase your chances.

Virality is unpredictable and varies by platform.

Viral content can take many forms, but some common characteristics include massive participation, branding, cultural recognition, memes, and remixing.

The "Wednesday Addams Dance Trend" on YouTube Shorts is a great example of this, with millions recreating the dance on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.

Branding played a significant role in the trend's success, with fashion, music, and entertainment brands creating their own versions to boost engagement.

Cultural recognition was also a key factor, with the trend becoming so viral that Netflix had to officially launch BTS footage to encourage the hype.

Memes and remixing were also crucial, with viewers remaking the clip with music and edits to keep the trend alive for weeks.

Case studies like the "Wednesday Addams Dance Trend" provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn't in creating viral content.

Some notable examples of viral marketing include the collaboration between Pete Davidson and Reformation, which brought an element of fun and relatability to sustainable fashion.

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The campaign included interactive elements like TikTok challenges and playful calls to "apply" to find your official boyfriend from Reformation.

Squatty Potty's unicorn video is another example of viral marketing, generating a 400% increase in retail sales and garnering over a million Facebook shares within the first quarter of launching.

The video's success can be attributed to its use of humor and creativity, turning a potentially awkward topic into a marketing goldmine.

Other notable examples of viral marketing include Dollar Shave Club's "Our Blades Are F**king Great" video, which reportedly only cost $4500 to make and garnered over 28 million views.

The video's success can be attributed to its authenticity and disruption of the traditional marketing approach, calling out pain points that competitors weren't addressing.

Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign is another example of viral marketing, creating a sense of relationship and connection with viewers through its use of a single shot and relatable language.

The campaign was so successful that Old Spice aired more ads, including "Questions", "Boat" and "Scent vacation".

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Creating viral content on social media is a delicate art, but one thing's for sure: it all starts with emotions. Emotionally resonant content summons strong human emotions like joy, surprise, nostalgia, empathy, or even curiosity, making it more likely to be shared.

To create emotionally resonant content, you need to pinpoint key emotions based on your audience and brand message. For example, Budweiser's Super Bowl ad "A Clydesdale's Journey" sparked emotions of perseverance and hope, racking up millions of views across platforms.

Emotions like excitement or awe are more likely to be shared, especially when combined with storytelling. For instance, Spotify Wrapped's personalized, shareable synopses of users' listening habits encouraged widespread sharing across platforms, guaranteeing maximum reach and engagement.

To make your audience actively share your content, inspire sharing by creating content that resonates emotionally or reflects universal experiences. This can be done by using phrases like "Tag a friend who can relate!" or "Share if you agree!" to nudge audiences to share your posts organically.

Here are some key takeaways to create viral content on social media:

Trending challenges and campaigns can be a powerful way to create viral content. By leveraging current trends and popular topics, you can increase engagement and brand visibility.

Ryanair's use of funny trends to promote its brand is a great example of this. They transformed their social media account into a relatable and engaging hub by creatively embracing trending audio and humorous takes on airline experiences.

Monitoring trend platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter is key to spotting emerging trends in real time. Customize trends to align with your product or message while keeping it authentic.

Using relevant hashtags can also boost engagement. The Instagram Trends Report 2025 found that posts with fewer, targeted hashtags lead to more interactions. For example, Wendy's Twitter account used a single tweet to challenge users to retweet a certain number of times for a free year's supply of chicken nuggets, which became the most retweeted tweet.

Suggestion: Instagram Hashtags to Go Viral

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is another example of a trending campaign that went viral. It raised over $115 million in donations for the ALS Association in 2014, compared to its previous year of $2.1 million. The challenge involved people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads, sharing a video of them doing it, and nominating friends and family to participate.

Here are some key takeaways from trending challenges and campaigns:

To increase the chances of your content going viral, it's essential to think unconventionally and imaginatively. This can be achieved by brainstorming or getting inspiration from great examples of viral marketing.

To create viral content, your target audience must be able to relate to your marketing campaign. This means surprising them, evoking strong feelings, or making them perceive the information as beneficial or humorous.

Using social media platforms to your advantage is crucial. By disseminating the content on multiple social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and maximizing its visibility through hashtags and other strategies, you can raise the probability that it will be seen and go viral.

Partnering with influencers can also help spread the word about your content. Getting well-known people with sizable social media followings to share your content can help you reach a wider audience and increase the possibility that it will go viral.

Here are some key strategies to keep in mind:

Knowing your target audience is marketing 101, but for a piece of content to spread, you have to get it in front of the right people. It’s all about creating content that speaks to your audience and connects with them on an emotional level.

To make sharing easy, you shouldn’t create content and just pray someone will share it. Instead, you should be proactive and build the sharing of your content into your campaign. It can be something as simple as a referral program or adding share buttons to your blog post.

Keeping your message clear is a crucial element for any marketing campaign. The content you create should get to the point quickly before you lose your audience’s attention.