Viral content spelt backward is collective attention

The web is a very busy place. And in an attention economy, there is a myriad of information going around. In such an oversaturated ecosystem it becomes even harder to get noticed.

That’s why most clients have a huge pull towards the idea of virality. For most online campaigns, a key success metric is if the content created was trending on twitter.

The phrase “this is trending” is so prevalent amongst content creators and also users. Nearly every media strategist has used this phrase to justify the attention paid to a particular issue, event, idea or topic of interest.

When you observe most forms of digital rhetoric, you will notice that having “this is trending” attached to a digital artifact is, in and of itself, the desired end goal for producing those artifacts — millions, and possibly, billions of visits, views, likes, or shares. This phrase quantifies attention and repackages it as a statement of value.

For brands, generating high levels of awareness and driving conversions are key digital goals. Viral content has the capacity to achieve awareness and drive conversions at supersonic speed. The more attention a brand’s digital objects acquire the more they are poised to acquire value. Making virality an economics of attention.

In an attention economy. The question then becomes, how does one ensure that a brand’s digital artifacts hyper-circulate at a viral level? Collective attention or mass attention is key. Humans online are still as unique and peculiar a species. The most effective way to garner collective attention from a varied species is through targeting a common thread amongst all human beings i.e universal emotions like happiness, love, excitement and competition.

Research shows that there is a close interlinkage between virality and contents’ ability to trigger specific emotional responses. In a recent study by International World Wide Web Conference Committee, researchers examined how certain emotions encourage massive shares. They found that content goes viral when it elicits an emotional response that meets certain levels of arousal - this could vary from awe, excitement to relaxation.

The more positive emotions your content conjures, the more your users feel in control of how they feel when they interact with your content. The more your content will be shared. But that’s the icing on the cake.

When great strategy, timing, trust, creative, PR, emotional and execution all come together to meet in one magical moment, viral greatness is destined to happen.