In the last 10 years a noisy world got even noisier. There aren’t just blogs, there is a blogosphere; there isn’t just Twitter, there’s the Twitterverse. How do you make your voice heard over the constant rumble? How can you get your content to go viral?
The truth is you don’t. Everyone wants their story to “go viral” but the vast majority won’t. This is a sad fact we must all face.
However, you can increase your chances of reaching the audience you crave with a few simple steps. Here are 10 of them.
Step 1: Be bold, be brave
The Scar Project is a initiative by David Jay, a fashion photographer who felt the whole breast cancer story wasn’t being told. It’s on the edge, and won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it grabbed a lot of media attention because it was so raw.
In our society, breast cancer is hidden behind a small pink bow. The public needs to be educated.
Step 2: Be honest
The MS Society asked people with disabilities what they would write on a postcard to tell the world about their lives. Shoshana saw the other contributions to the project and said “Oh, mine’s a bit different from everyone else’s.” But it grabbed a huge amount of attention, challenging traditional perceptions of people with disabilities.
I suppose my postcard could have read, ‘I used to be a dancer, I now need carers to help me wash and dress. I struggle to walk 10 metres with a walking frame, I live with constant pain and I have to manage every hour of my life around fatigue. I cannot urinate or defecate without medical aids. I had to sell my business, my husband left me’, etc etc etc… That is one side of my life. But it’s certainly not what defines me.
Step 3: Be careful
Not all stories are made to be shared on social media. Think before you tweet – will it end how you want it to?
This man used social media to track down his birth mother, asking people to share this image on Facebook. The story exploded across both social and traditional media. He found her and it ended happily. But he was lucky. How would it have turned out if his birth mother had fallen pregnant through rape, was a drug user or child abuser? This is the reality for many adopted children, and trying to organise a reunion through social media is enormously risky for both sides.
Step 4. Catch the moment
There is a growing movement around the portrayal of women’s bodies in the media. The 4th Trimester Bodies project taps into that zeitgeist and is shared widely on social media as a result.
The project exists because women are judged too crudely on the way we look and are often told we don’t measure up. Because no real person can compete with the tools in Photoshop and glossy magazine covers. And because motherhood is sacred and should be celebrated.
Step 5. Create a moment
Will they? Won’t they? The narrative around the Greenpeace activists who climbed the Shard was as edge of the seat as any TV drama. It created a moment for the organisation that was followed around the world, trended on Twitter and made front page headlines in London.
Step 6. Murdoch is so over
News is now often lead by social media. For example, the recent incident of the American Tourist locked in Waterstones by accident. This story was all over Twitter long before it made it to mainstream media. The Twitter Joke trial is another example of stories created on Twitter, that gained a huge traditional media response. It also sparked subsequent Twitter viral moments, including #iamsparticus started by comedians supporting Chamber’s case.
Social media is still considered the poor cousin to traditional media by many communications teams. But do something creative and surprising on social and you can find it takes the lead.
Step 7. Make it shareable
This Greenpeace image received over 6000 shares.
Social media is all about how we wish others to see us. People will share things that make a strong statement that correlates with their own personal beliefs. By sharing it with their friends they’re saying: this is what I believe in. If you can make that statement non-verbal (or near as) you can transcend language barriers and have the potential to go global.
Step 8. Be participatory
Traditional media is largely a one-way process. Social media is all about having a conversation. And this isn’t something to be scared of – celebrate it! The more people participate the more you reach. Because for every one person who takes part, tens or maybe even hundreds of their friends learn about your campaign too.
The Let Toys Be Toys campaign achieved a huge reach through their #caringboys and #activegirls Twitter hashtags, proving small organisations can achieve big things.
Step 9. Think little
Many scoff at the “cat stuck up a tree” local media stories, but the power of regional TV, radio and newspapers shouldn’t be underestimated. Together they reach millions, and they’ll love your story of a local man/woman made good. Especially if its at a national level.
And don’t forget the bloggers too. Creating a blogger outreach program needs time investment, but can pay back handsomely.
Step 10. Keep going
It can be really hard when you’re getting knocked back, especially by sniffy journalists (and some of the can be very sniffy!). But the only difference between the people who cut through the noise and those who don’t, is that they keep trying. When one idea fails, they keep trying until they find a better one.
So as Kate Bush says…
