Part of what makes viral marketing so appealing is that it follows a tenet of overall content marketing: the marketing is subservient to the content itself. Many brands have attained explosive success though humor, self-awareness, and seemingly nonsensical non-sequiturs. When looking at the sort of posts that have gone viral in the past, it can be hard to believe that any of these ideas were carefully considered and focus grouped. Many instances of viral marketing success have the look of over-the-top stunts or random digressions from a sensical marketing strategy, but it is this digression from the hard sell that makes any and all creative options possible. Many brands test these waters by experimenting with memes, which have become ubiquitous in the online space. Once considered obscure sources of humor, memes have become the playground of every corporate entity with an Instagram or Twitter account. If humor doesn’t seem like the direction for your brand to go in, the other option your brand could take towards attaining virality is taking a serious stand for a social or political issue. A step like this can make your brand seem more human and relatable, but this could also backfire by clashing with the social or political beliefs of your target audience. If trying to go viral seems like an impossible problem to solve, we understand. It’s not impossible, but there is no set formula that guarantees viral success, as the landscape is always changing. Partnering with Marketing.com can give you a greater sense of what tactics to attempt in pursuit of widespread acclaim.