Viral Marketing – The Message Actually Matters

Here’s a case study in message content and how it influences viral marketing. Yesterday I posted on my blog about writing and entitled it No Excuses. I asked people (via the blog, Twitter, and Facebook) to comment/respond as to their experiences surrounding the difficulty of writing, the plethora of excuses we can come up with, and the clarion call to “Just do it!” Two people responded.

Later, I put up a new Facebook status that said, “I admit it: I love watching So You Think You Can Dance.” Though hardly legion, the number of responses was markedly more significant.

In neither of these instances am I generating the kind of activity that I heard about this morning on radio news: comedian Dave Chapelle, decided to do an impromptu show at 1:00 a.m. in Portland and via Twitter and Facebook alone, with NO external marketing or promotion, he had over 4000 people show up the same night. Incredible! I’ve heard numerous stories like this: viral marketing gone wild!

So, here’s what I’m thinking about today: viral marketing is alive and well, but it only works if you’re talking about/offering something to which people will respond. So You Think You Can Dance is clearly more interesting (at least in the short term) than the excuses we make to not write. (Frankly, I could argue either way on this one. I’m all about good writing, but that show is fantastic.)

How does one clarify their own message? And once known, how will it be spread? And even if you have a great message, but no one hears it, does it matter? Maybe the best question is, “How do I create a message that matters, that is definitely mine and that will be heard?” Ah…if only I had the answer.

I hope to find it, at least in part, in just two days when I attend a Firestarter Session in Portland with Danielle LaPorte. (I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!) And I keep getting glimpses of it in conversation with friends, in writing, in Twitter followers, in activity on my blog and web sites, and yes…on Facebook status updates.

Perhaps I could create a viral epidemic by considering the intertextuality between theology, feminism, and So You Think You Can Dance…

Hmmm. I might be on to something there!

If you’d like to be a part of the viral marketing of me (no pressure, really…really. No, don’t feel at all obligated, really.) feel free to send out numerous, multitudinous links to my website: www.RenegadeConversations.com, my blogsite: Truth-Telling, and ask people to follow me on Twitter (@renegaderonna) or Facebook! I’d love to be a viral force to be reckoned with!!! Truth-be-told, iIf I do figure out how to talk about theology, feminism and a reality TV show all in the same conversation, you won’t want to miss out…