What is Viral Marketing?
Viral marketing is content designed to be shared exponentially through social networks. Jonah Berger's STEPPS framework (2013) identified six traits that make content shareable: Social currency (sharing makes the sharer look good), Triggers (cues that bring the brand to mind), Emotion (high-arousal emotions like awe, anger, amusement), Public (visible behavior), Practical value (useful information), Stories (narrative wrapper). Most marketing labeled "viral" is not — true viral spread (where each share generates more shares) is rare and usually engineered, not accidental.
How Viral Marketing actually works
The framework breaks down into the following moving parts. Knowing what each piece is — and what it is not — is what separates a B-grade answer from an A-grade answer in a written assignment.
- Social currency — does sharing make me look good?
- Triggers — cues that bring brand to mind
- Emotion — high arousal (awe, anger, amusement)
- Public — visible adoption (e.g., Apple's white earbuds)
- Practical value — useful information
- Stories — narrative that carries the message
A worked example: Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"
Old Spice's 2010 "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign passed every STEPPS test. Social currency (clever to share). Triggers (every shower is a brand cue). Emotion (humor with rapid arousal). Public (a campaign people talked about face-to-face). Practical value (not really). Stories (the absurd narrative format). The campaign's response-video phase — Isaiah Mustafa replying personally to celebrities and fans on YouTube within hours — extended the virality. Sales doubled in three months, and the case became one of the most cited viral marketing examples.
Don't lose marks for these
- Calling content "viral" without exponential sharing
- Ignoring most viral success is engineered, not lucky
- Optimizing for views rather than sharing
How to use this on the exam
Score-maximizing moves
- Cite Berger's STEPPS
- Distinguish viral spread from broadcast reach
- Identify multiple STEPPS in the same content
When to use Viral Marketing (and when not to)
Use Viral Marketing when your assignment asks you to analyze, structure, or recommend — and when you have at least two data points to populate every cell of the framework. Skip it when the question is asking for a numerical answer or a single recommendation, since Viral Marketing is a structuring tool, not a calculator.