Can you use fake content to increase the chances of your content going viral? Yes and no. As with any issue related to the use of social media, and the related content marketing strategies for the promotion of a brand, a service, or a certain product, the possibilities for interpretation are almost infinite, they are so numerous that any attempt to create a system of rules, or a precise and well delineated code of conduct on the matter, appear to be completely useless.
Decisions as to what content can be published on a brand’s pages are ultimately up to the management, or at least the staff in charge of communication. This content, theoretically, could also focus on thorny, uncomfortable or countercurrent topics, with a real risk of exposing the brand to a media boomerang that is extremely damaging to its reputation.
The most daring brands sometimes take the path of calculated risk, deciding to publish a deliberately provocative content or message, with the aim of drawing attention to themselves and their posts on social media pages. Brands – as indeed anyone with a social media account – enjoy a really wide, almost limitless freedom, and can decide in full autonomy to publish even potentially risky content.
In the pursuit of virality, many brands have indulged in truly horrendous blunders, compromising their reputations forever and ending up among the funniest ‘epic fails’ in the history of the internet.
Calculated risks
No one forces brands to create content that is deliberately provocative or potentially divisive. However, in a historical phase in which it appears increasingly complicated to attract the attention of those surfing the Internet, the choice of proposing content that goes against the grain could be an extremely effective weapon to stop the thumb of those scrolling through their social media walls, intriguing them and forcing them to devote some attention to the content in question.
The desire to create viral content, capable of generating hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of interactions, has driven managers and CEOs of countless companies to seek the support of external consultants and communication gurus in an attempt to find the secret recipe for creating viral content.
The example of Adidas
Some brands could take a cue also from the strategy developed by Adidas, which a few days ago – via the LinkedIn account of one of its employees – released a video in which the Argentinean footballer Lionel Messi, after having triumphed in the World Cup final against France, appeared in the famous Dubai Frame, one of the main urban institutions of the UAE city, in a three-dimensional version that caught the attention of millions of people around the world, also due to the simultaneous presence of several past versions of the same footballer.
Many believed it was a real image, but they were wrong. It was in fact a celebratory video by Adidas, the main sponsor of the Argentine national team and Lionel Messi, released with the clear aim of maximizing engagement rates following Argentina’s World Cup victory in Qatar.
The immediate aims were achieved, particularly in terms of reach and engagement, and the whole world was once again able to admire the communicative power of one of the world’s biggest brands, without any damage to its reputation.
Sometimes, in order to achieve maximum results from one’s online communication, one must find the courage to dare, even proposing apparently contradictory content. Those who surf the web, websites and social media are in search of excitement, of highly intense emotional discharges, of having fun without thinking about anything, as if it were a true method of finding one’s mental well-being.
Those who have been able to exploit the web for these purposes, i.e. to generate emotions and high levels of engagement among their users, is certainly the online gambling sector, which through its powerful portals has been able to build a valid alternative to traditional casinos.
With a wide choice of UAE online casinos and the best casino games on the net, these portals will know how to give you adrenaline-fuelled and electrifying moments, to be experienced at any time and from wherever you are, even from home. The catalogue of games on offer is extremely broad, so much so that it will certainly be able to satisfy even the most demanding tastes and allow anyone, even the most experienced players, to find the gaming experience most suited to their personal tastes.
The brands that acquire the ability to dare, with calculated and well measured risks, will be the only ones able to entertain and excite their audience, especially in the long run.
