Virality

Make products that advertise themselves

Chris Labs

Every time people use the product or service they also transmit social proof or passive approval because usage is observable. Many companies apply this idea through prominent branding. Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, and Burberry all garnish their products with brand names or distinctive logos and patterns. But large logos aren’t the only way products can advertise themselves. Take Apple’s decision to make iPod headphones white. When Apple first introduced the iPod, there was lots of competition in the digital music player space. […] But because most devices came with black headphones, Apple’s white headphone cords stood out. -Contagious, p.142 Continue reading Make products that advertise themselves

Virality

Kindling the fire with High-arousal Emotions

Chris Labs

Those high-arousal emotions will dirve people to action. On the positive side, excite people or inspire them by showing them how they can make a difference. On the negative side, make people mad, not sad. Simply adding more arousal to a story or ad can have a big impact on people’s willingness to share it. More anger or more humor led to more sharing. -Contagious, p.116 Continue reading Kindling the fire with High-arousal Emotions

Virality

A good trigger based on frequency and strength of association

Chris Labs

What makes for an effective trigger? Triggers can help products and ideas catch on, but some stimuli are better triggers than others. As we discussed, one key factor is how frequently the stimulus occurs. Hot chocolate would also have fitted very well with Kitkat, and the sweet beverage might have complemented the chocolate bar’s favor better than coffee. But coffee is a more effective trigger because people think about and see it much more frequently. Frequency, however, must also be balanced with the strength of the link. The more things a given cue is associated with, the weaker any given … Continue reading A good trigger based on frequency and strength of association

Virality

Competitors can even be used as a trigger

Chris Labs

How can public health organizations compete against the marketing strength of better-funded rivals like cigarette companies? One way to combat this inequality is to transform a weakness into a strength: by making a rival’s message act as a trigger for your own. A famous antismoking campaign, for example, spoofed Marlboro’s iconic ads by captioning a picture of one Marlboro cowboy talking to another with the words: “Bob, I’ve got emphysema.” So whenever people see a Marlboro ad, it triggers them to think about the antismoking message. Researchers call this strategy the poison parasite because it slyly injects “poinson” (your message) … Continue reading Competitors can even be used as a trigger

Virality

Using trigger words to your advantage

Chris Labs

Most conversations can be described as small talk. These conversations are less about finding interesting things to say to make us look good than they are about filling conversation space. So what do we talk about? Whatever is top of mind if a good place to start. We talk about topics that are usually going on in the surrounding environment. We saw the bulldozers on our drive in, so construction is on our mind. Boring daily activities happen more often than a trip to Disney. These everyday activities make those products (ziplock, moisturizer, etc.) more top of mind and, as … Continue reading Using trigger words to your advantage

Virality

Should you pay people, or give them an incentive to share the word or refer a friend?

Chris Labs

People are happy to talk about companies and products they like, and millions of people do it for free every day, without prompting. BU as soon as you offer to pay people to refer other customers, any interest they had in doing it for free will disappear. Customers’ decisions to share or not will no longer be based on how much they like a product or service. Instead, the quality and quantity of buzz will be proportional to the money they receive. -Contagious, p.59 Continue reading Should you pay people, or give them an incentive to share the word or refer a friend?

Learnings

Scarcity and exclusivity boost word of mouth by making people feel like insiders

Chris Labs

If people get something not everyone else has, it makes them feel special, unique, high status. And because of that they’ll not only like a product or service more, but tell others about it. Why?Because telling others makes them look good. Having insider knowledge is social currency. *Note that making access difficult is different from making it impossible. Sure, getting a reservation at Please Don’t Tell is tough, but if people call enough they should be able to snag a reservation. -Contagious, p.55 Continue reading Scarcity and exclusivity boost word of mouth by making people feel like insiders

Virality

Deciding the winner by popular vote encourages word of mouth

Chris Labs

Word of mouth can also come from the voting process. It encourages contestants to drum up support. But in telling people to vote for them, contestants also spread awareness about the product, brand or initiative sponsoring the contest. So next time you are wondering between two options, make a public vote where contestants deeply root for one option or the other. -Contagious, p.51 Continue reading Deciding the winner by popular vote encourages word of mouth

Learnings

Effective status systems are easy to understand, even by people who aren’t familiar with the domain

Chris Labs

Credit card struggle with this issue. Gold cards used to be restricted to people who spent heavily and had a stellar credit history. Nowadays, is platinum better or worse than sapphire? This bewildering mix of colors, minerals, and exclusive words creates a chaos of consumer confusion such that people don’t know how well they are doing – much less how they compare with anyone else. Contrast that with medals given out at the Olympics or your local track meet. If entrants told you they won silver, you know exactly how well they did. Even someone who knows almost nothing about … Continue reading Effective status systems are easy to understand, even by people who aren’t familiar with the domain