Digital Sales & Marketing Mastery
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By: Jonah Berger
Reviewed By: Ramona Sukhraj
As a marketer, you’re likely interested in what makes some ideas or products more popular than others; why they seem to be contagious like a case of chickenpox in a second-grade class.
Unfortunately, there is a certain degree of luck involved in virality, but there are also specific characteristics that are commonly found in all products and ideas that are contagious.
A number of people have tried to shed light on the subject including Nir Eyal and Chip and Dan Heath, but in this summary we'll give into Jonah Berger's Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
The Wharton marketing professor is highly regarded for his knowledge of what makes information go viral and in this book, he answers questions like:
Plenty of marketers are quick to respond to those questions by saying advertising is what makes a product, idea, or brand contagious.
Berger, however, challenges that notion by showing that people don’t pay as much attention to advertisements as they do to what their peers say about something.
“Contagious products and ideas are like forest fires. They can’t happen without hundreds, if not thousands, of regular Joes and Janes passing the product or message along.”
- Jonah Berger
Word of mouth marketing is more powerful than traditional advertising for two primary reasons:
Ads are not trustworthy.
We expect an ad to sell us on how great the product is, but out friends have got our back. They will tell us what they honestly think about a product as they have no ulterior motive.
Companies create traditional advertisements for a wide audience.
An ad on the evening news, for example, will be put in front of the millions watching (though only a portion of the viewers will actually see it.)
Word of mouth, on the other hand, is more targeted; being spread organically on a smaller scale, to people who are already interested.
According to Berger, any product, idea, or behavior can be contagious – as long as you build in the following principles.
There are three ways to leverage social currency:
What triggers people to think about your product or idea; to use your service? How can you connect it with something that makes it come to mind more often?
For example, the candy company Mars noticed an unexpected increase in sales of its Mars bar in 1997 when NASA had a well-publicized mission to Mars.
What similar news events can you align your brand with? This is the idea behind newsjacking.
Focus on feelings. What emotions result from your brand or idea? What emotions will resonate with your audience and prompt action?
Can people see when others are using your product? How can you leverage social media to make it more public? Find a way to promote social sharing.
Does spreading the word about your product or idea help others?
Position your product or service in a way that highlights value or provides knowledge that people feel obliged to share with others.
Your content needs to educate, entertain, inform, or offer financial value that makes people feel inclined to pass it on to another.
Is your product or idea embedded in a narrative that people care about and can easily understand? By wrapping your message in a memorable brand story, you make it more "shareable."
A good brand story incorporates all of the five elements above and creates a package that people want to spread.
Berger conducted a study where his goal was to encourage students on campus to eat more fruits and vegetables.
The premise was that students already know they should eat more fruits and vegetables (and many would actually do so if they were reminded), but in most cases they chose to eat a burger and fries instead.
After measuring the actual consumption of fruits and vegetables, Berger exposed two groups to different marketing messages.
The first group saw “Live the healthy way, eat five fruits and vegetables a day;" the second, “Each and every dining hall tray needs five fruits and vegetables a day.”
The two messages were similar, but the second referred to the dining hall tray. Oddly enough, the students rated that message as “corny” and when asked if they thought the slogans would impact their behavior the majority said “no.”
As I’m sure you can guess, despite the feedback, the second message that included the reference to the food tray actually changed the students’ behavior, while the other one didn’t.
The reason is simple – the trays triggered them to remember the message.
Do you remember Rebecca Black’s song “Friday?”
When you look at the search history for “Rebecca Black” on YouTube, you will notice that searches peaked every Friday for months after the song was released because the day triggered a reminder for people. If a trigger can make that song successful, what can it do for your product or idea?
You have to figure out which triggers you can associate with the behavior you are trying to influence.