You probably think you already know why things go viral. I thought I did, until I completed an online course on Viral Marketing & How to Craft Contagious Content, by the University of Pennsylvania. 

I realised that I had a pretty vague, abstract idea of why people share content. It’s funny or it’s interesting, or maybe it provides a fresh perspective on something. Those things might be true, but I’d never truly considered what’s behind sticky (memorable) content. 

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The psychology of contagious content, it turns out, is really interesting. And it’s absolutely necessary that we understand why people share things if we want to create anything that grows legs. In this article, you can find out how to stop writing repetitive stuff, and start creating memorable content instead. You might even get an idea about how to make your content go viral.

What makes ideas sticky?

Why does one idea fall flat and the next catches on? 

Um, because one idea is of a better quality than the other, you’re probably thinking.

Sometimes, yes. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes things are memorable when they’re not even true.

For example, “we only use 10% of our brains”, and “if you swallow chewing gum, it will wrap around your heart and you will die”. Both of these myths aren’t true, but you’ve probably heard them at some point. Psychology says we remember some things but not others because they capture us by surprise or they’re emotionally-charged.

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The book Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath goes into more detail. It discusses the 6 Principles of Stickiness, or why we remember things, and then potentially pass them onto others.

The 6 Principles of Stickiness can be remembered with the acronym SUCCES:

• S - Simple
• U - Unexpected
• C - Concrete
• C - Credible
• E - Emotional
• S - Stories
  

This is where we get into the good stuff; let’s take a look at what people really want when they see an ad or other marketing material.

S is for Simple

This runs on the idea that less is more. Try telling that to all those marketing gurus that keep doing studies on why long-form content performs better. According to so many: long-form content performs better. every. time. 

I’d challenge this (even without doing any studies) and say it depends on context. In our case, as we’re talking about memorable content, keeping it simple clearly wins. 

Think of it this way: If you tell someone 10 things, they’ll remember 0. If you tell someone 1 thing, they’ll remember what you said.

Simplicity creates a curiosity gap that leaves people wanting more, ideally convincing them to get in touch with you or sign up for your service. A fantastic example here is Apple. The tech and marketing geniuses there overshadow all of their competitors - who roll out lists of technical details in their ads - by keeping it simple.

Take a look at Apple’s 2008 ad for the first MacBook Air:

In contrast, here’s an ad from Dell in 2020:

The difference is that Dell fires lots of technical language that doesn’t mean much to the average user. “10th Gen Intel Core Processors” and “Up to NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 TI Graphics”. Okay, so what?

The point is, audiences are less likely to remember those complex lists and jargon thrown at us by Dell in a bid to impress us. We’re more likely to remember the simple image of the MacBook that fits into an envelope, and the words “The world’s thinnest notebook”. 

Actionable tip! Try to find the core of your product when building advertising materials, and focus on just 1-3 ideas. Basically, what matters most to your users?

U is for Unexpected

Breaking a mould or a pattern is one way to make sure no one forgets about your product in a hurry.

Most of us make inferences when we see something we recognise. For example, if you see a TV ad with long, winding roads, a happy family and maybe some bicycles, you might expect that the ad is about an SUV.

To really make an impression, try to steer away from the norm. One effective technique is to lure the audience along a familiar garden path. Set up your content to be like a pattern they recognise (like the SUV example above), and then break that pattern, to build on the element of surprise.

This humorous ad from Ricola (a cough sweet brand) works really well. While their competitors largely take the narrative of how disruptive a cold is to your life, Ricola took on a completely different angle that sticks.

“You can't look at the competition and say you're going to do it better. You have to look at the competition and say you're going to do it differently.”

• Steve Jobs

C is for Concrete

This is a major point that most brands don’t seem to have latched onto yet. It’s abstract vs. concrete.

Basically, concrete ideas stick, and abstract ideas don’t work so well. But what are they?

A concrete idea is heavily based on reality; it’s something that can be felt, manipulated or observed. Basically, your senses can perceive it.

An abstract idea is something you cannot touch or see, such as an emotion or an analogy. It exists only through thoughts or words, and cannot be connected to something in the physical world.

We see so many brands using abstract descriptions on their “About” pages, especially. How many times have you heard phrases such as “cost-based vision” or “collaborative strategies”? How many times have you remembered that brand? Probably not many.

Concrete ideas, on the other hand, are more memorable. 

Here’s an example of the ways a charity helps people. When you can picture the actual, physical impact that organisation has, you’re more likely to want to support that charity.

Instead of just discussing some vague, abstract way they’re making a change, Gavi makes an impact by telling us how many children they have vaccinated, and what they’re protecting against.

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Actionable tip! Have a look at your About Us page on your own website and see if you can find ways to switch up the abstract with the concrete.

C is for Credible

How can you make your users trust you? Simple: You throw cold, hard numbers at them to show how many other people have signed up for your service. The power of social proof knows no bounds!

That is a good start, but there’s more to it than that. Because people don’t tend to remember numbers, unless they’re in context.

Rework your stats so they make a bigger impression. We already know that people look to others for recommendations (we’re more likely to walk into a busy restaurant than an empty one), so do showcase the popularity of your brand, but do it in a way people can comprehend.

For example, saying Australia is approximately 7,741,220 sq km may be mind-blowing, but it isn’t memorable, and numbers like that are difficult to get our heads around. However, saying Australia is 32 times the size of the UK is going to stick more, because it’s placed into a context we understand.

On the same note, let’s consider how trustworthy your content is. In general, we don’t trust TV ads - especially when products are being advertised by A-list celebrities who almost definitely don’t use them.

When it comes to the online world, readers have heard the same thing too many times, so whatever you’re saying loses all credibility. Who else is sick of hearing the terms “industry leaders” and “America’s number one” ?

Every ad out there tells us they’re the best, not the 5th best or 17th best, which is probably closer to the truth. That is, except for a chicken shop in St. Kilda, Melbourne, that cleverly advertises themselves as having the “Second Best Chicken in St. Kilda”. It’s funny, it’s memorable, and it gives them more credibility.

Actionable tip! Get rid of anything on your website that you can’t back up with proof.

E & S are for Emotional Stories

Brands that have nailed their marketing have managed to weave emotional stories into it. If you’re trying to sell a conventionally boring product, this point is for you.

Basically, the more people care, the more they remember.

Emotional marketing makes your company stand out, by tapping into emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger or fear. HubSpot wrote an in-depth post on emotional marketing if you want to check it out in more detail.

Otherwise, stick around for an example of how Google turned the simple and largely non-emotional action of searching online into a beautifully memorable story.

So how can you find something meaningful in your product or service? You use the 3 whys. In this example, we’ll use Google:

• Why do people use my product? They want to find information
• Why do they want to find information? They want to accomplish something
• Why do they want to accomplish something? To improve their lives
  

Actionable tip! Keep asking yourself ‘why’ until you get right down to the essence of your brand.

Over to you...

There’s a lot to think about here when it comes to your ads and website copywriting. Get cracking with the actionable tips, or for a helping hand, send us a message.