One viral post can change your life.
Every single content creator on Earth wants to go viral. But almost every single content creator fails.
What most people don’t know is that there are principles and scientifically proven strategies you can use to make viral content. It is explored extensively in the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
In this article, we’ll show you how you can use ChatGPT to directly apply the principles and strategies in ‘Contagious’ to your product and service.
It’s your time to go viral.
The trick to going viral (that we learned the hard way)
The WGMI Media Instagram page was failing miserably. After one year of consistent posting, we were barely hitting one thousand views on our posts. We nearly gave up. Until we went viral.
This one post got millions of views, and it completely changed the directory of our page. We got 100k+ subscribers in the space of a few months. We’ve gone viral many times since that post.
How did we start going viral? We started following the principles and strategies in ‘Contagious’.
Four principles (and ChatGPT Prompts) to go viral
Rather than spending several days reading the book ‘Contagious’, and several more days wondering how to apply them to your business, you can use ChatGPT to do it for you.
Add the information about your product or service into the prompts below to generate content ideas that have massive potential to go viral.
A small request: If you do one thing today, just try these prompts in ChatGPT. I’m shocked by how good some of the results are… I know you will be too.
Prompt 1: Leveraging ‘Social Currency’ for Viral Content Creation
‘Social Currency’ is the phenomenon where individuals share things that make them appear better, smarter, or ‘in-the-know.’
Your goal is to create content that not only grabs attention but also gives viewers a sense of cool, edgy knowledge to share. Aim to create content that is out-of-the-ordinary, yet showcases the remarkable capabilities of your product or service.
Prompt: My product/service is [PRODUCT/SERVICE]. My target audience is [TARGET AUDIENCE].
I want you to help me identify what is remarkable about my product/service, and combine that with an unusual content type that will get people's attention. In the book 'Contagious', Blendtec's "Will It Blend?" campaign became a sensation because of its unique combination of impressive product demonstrations with blending unusual objects. In this campaign, Blendtec blended everyday objects like iphones.
How can I create content for my product/service that combines an impressive feature with an unusual angle. What features or aspects can I highlight in an out-of-the-ordinary yet captivating way that showcases the capabilities of my product/service, grabbing attention and giving viewers a sense of cool, edgy knowledge to share?
Provide 4 different campaign ideas.
Example prompt
Example ChatGPT result
Prompt 2: Harnessing ‘Triggers’ for Viral Content Creation
‘Triggers’, according to ‘Contagious’, are associations that prompt people to think about related things. When it comes to creating viral content, incorporating everyday triggers can help keep your product or idea at the top of people’s minds.
Kit Kat’s “have a break, have a Kit Kat” campaign was a classic example of using an everyday activity – having a break – as a trigger for their product. When people think about breaks, they think about Kit Kats.
Use the prompt below to figure out how to associate your product and service with an everyday action/trigger.
Prompt: My product/service is [PRODUCT/SERVICE]. My target audience is [TARGET AUDIENCE].
I want you to help me create viral content that incorporates 'triggers' that helps keep my product/service at the top of people's minds.
In the book 'Contagious', Triggers are about keeping your product or idea at the forefront of consumers' minds. If something is top-of-mind, it's more likely to be tip-of-tongue. The more often people are reminded of your product or service, the more they will talk about it. An everyday trigger related to your product can keep it relevant and frequently discussed.
One of the key aspects of effective triggers is their prevalence in daily life. The more often the trigger is encountered, the more often your product or service is thought of.
For example, Kit Kat's association with coffee as a successful example of using triggers. Kit Kat's marketers wanted to increase sales, so they associated Kit Kat with coffee, one of the most common breaks in people's daily routines. The idea was to make people think of having a Kit Kat whenever they had a coffee.
How can I link my product/service to everyday routines and activities? Provide 5 examples of triggers my product/service could tap into, and provide content ideas for each of these triggers.
Example prompt
Example ChatGPT result
Prompt 3: Igniting ‘Emotions’ for Viral Content Creation
When we care, we share.
Emotional content often goes viral because it connects with us and compels us to share with others. This principle is crucial for viral content creation as it involves sparking high-arousal feelings that inspire people to act.
Prompt: My product/service is [PRODUCT/SERVICE]. My target audience is [TARGET AUDIENCE].
I want you to help me create viral content by igniting people's emotions. Emotional content often goes viral because it connects with us and compels us to share with others.
The book 'Contagious' suggests that high arousal emotions like awe, excitement, amusement, anger or anxiety tend to drive people to share. Content that inspires a sense of awe is particularly powerful.
Please can you help me harness the 'Emotions' principle for creating viral content. Provide 5 content ideas that could go viral, aiming to evoke a high-arousal emotions that resonates with my audience.
Example prompt
Example ChatGPT result
Prompt 4: Crafting ‘Stories’ for Viral Content Creation
An engaging, compelling story can be a ‘trojan horse’ for your products and services.
Use stories to embed your message into a larger narrative that people are eager to share. You can use ChatGPT to help you find ways to do this.
Prompt: My product/service is a [PRODUCT/SERVICE]. My target audience is [TARGET AUDIENCE]
I want you to help me leverage the 'Stories' principle in the book Contagious. I want to use stories to embed my product/service into a larger narrative that people are eager to share. My product/service needs to be a crucial part of the narrative.
For example, Subway's weight loss spokesperson, Jared Fogle, became the center of a powerful narrative about health and weight loss.
Please help me create viral content that leverages the 'Stories' principle. Brainstorm 5 different potential ideas.
Example prompt
Example ChatGPT result
It’s time to take action
Don’t let this be like all the other content you consume and forget.
I am pleading with you to open up ChatGPT and try these prompts out for yourself. You’re going to be inspired by the results.
Going viral is possible… if you take the initiative.
Closing thoughts
The book ‘Contagious’ is a gold mine if you want to learn how to go viral.
The difficult bit is taking the ideas in the book and applying them to your own life.
Fortunately, we have powerful AI tools that can help us do that in seconds.
You used to need a marketing agency to think of ideas like this. Now you just need an internet connection.
serious about making money with AI and ChatGPT?
This pack has 150+ ChatGPT prompts that have been tried and tested to save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in building businesses online.
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