If Your Goal Is to Go Viral, Don’t Hire Me.

Let the light shine on your message. [Needles Highway, South Dakota]

If you have ever been diagnosed with influenza, you know the ramifications of a virus. Basically, you feel like you are going to die for seven days. I have somehow acquired the flu at least three times in my life, and each time has been a reminder to slow down and take care of myself. Life had been moving too quickly, and I wasn’t prioritizing personal health and wellness.

A virus is basically a poison, whether it infects your body to make you sick or infects your technology to infiltrate your data. In either case, it spreads, sometimes regardless of the efforts you take to stop it. Why we also use the word “viral” as an adjective for a rapidly “successful” social media campaign is obvious but also worth exploring.

“Going viral” seems to be a popular goal for social media campaigns these days. Essentially, it means you want millions of people to see your Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube video. I can understand why teenagers promoting a brand of lip balm or doing skateboard tricks want to produce a viral video. But if your organizational goals include a viral social media campaign, do not hire me.

The State of South Dakota recently revealed a new advertising campaign, and the topic made it to late night comedians’ monologues pretty quickly. The slogan used for the campaign caught many people off guard, so much so that some were immediately calling for it to be discontinued. Others touted it as a great success because of the attention it received and how many people had seen it.

I have been a part of many different marketing campaigns. Sure, you want a catchy tagline, but if your catchy tagline becomes a huge distraction, is anyone truly hearing your message? After all, the message should be the focus of the campaign.

The four basic steps to creating a great communications or marketing campaign are:

1. Goal: What is the organizational objective that this marketing or communications initiative can help achieve? Any marketing or communications effort should reinforce overarching organizational goals. Creating a viral social media campaign is not a good goal in and of itself. What is it you want people to learn or know or do?

2. Audience: Who are you attempting to reach? Where will your message have the most impact? The answer to those questions is very rarely going to be millions of people. I doubt a worldwide Twitter following is really the target audience of any advertising campaign. Just like a movable message board is the best way to reach affected commuters about an upcoming street construction project, sometimes a simpler approach is more cost-effective and will reach the people who need to hear your message.

3. Message: What is the important message worth spending advertising dollars on at all? How do you make sure it doesn’t get lost in the mire of all the other messages? If the focus of the campaign becomes a particular person, the company or organization, or the campaign itself, the real message is lost. Focusing your message on a few key words and a consistent tone will make a greater impact.

4. Tactics: How does the audience consume information? What tactics will have the greatest benefit with the least amount of effort? The answer just might be a social media campaign, but leave the viral part out and you are sure to find more success.

It’s a common mistake to skip steps one, two, and three and jump straight to tactics, but this money you are investing is far too precious, and your reputation far too valuable, to jump over three important steps. I have been saying it since day one: Message matters. Don’t jeopardize your worthy message by throwing out strategy and instead betting on a viral social media campaign.

We are again entering flu season. Viruses are out there waiting to invade our bodies. My public health friends tell us to prioritize our health by eating right, getting enough rest, washing our hands, and most importantly getting vaccinated.

If you are responsible for your organization’s advertising dollars, now is a good time to vaccinate yourself against this dream of “going viral,” too. If you have some big, crazy goals and are serious about spreading an important message to people who need to hear it, I would love to hear from you.