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Viral marketing campaigns work like magic and cause a domino effect once they spark a broad audience’s interest and engagement. Millions of ad campaigns have come and gone with limited notice, but a few memorable ones have effectively engaged audiences all over the world.
Let’s dive into the ins and outs of viral marketing campaigns, including strategies that work and examples of viral campaigns that swept the internet in recent years
What Are Viral Marketing Campaigns?
The term “viral” refers to something that spreads quickly. Viral marketing involves creating content that resonates with audiences on various platforms, primarily social media.
Promoting channels include TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where content can get public recognition in less time than traditional methods.
Viral content is emotionally resonant, surprising or unexpected, creative, valuable, and easily shareable. These attributes inspire audiences to share the marketing message, which leads to exponential growth for the company, as audiences’ exposure defines digital marketing trends.
1.Spotify Wrapped Generated Shares, Engagement, and Loyalty From 574 Million Users
Data privacy has long been a hot topic in the digital age but Spotify has ingeniously turned customer behavior metrics into an exciting feature that millions of users look forward to each year. From January to the end of November, the streaming giant tracks users’ listening habits and creates personalized year-end summaries of their top artists, tracks, genres, and minutes listened. Users can then share these graphics and statistics across various social media platforms.
These highly detailed user metrics are presented in visually engaging and interactive slides, with elements of gamification and statuses (such as “Top 0.1% of Listeners Worldwide”) that encourage avid fans to share their results and aim for better achievements in the following year.
The popularity of Spotify Wrapped has grown exponentially in the last few years, from 68 million monthly active users in 2015 to 574 million in 2024.
2. e.l.f. Cosmetics Garnered 7 Billion Views With One Song
e.l.f. Cosmetics began as an indie digital brand and grew a massive following on TikTok and other social platforms through a series of viral marketing campaigns.
Among these, its most successful endeavor is the song “Eyes. Lips. Face. (e.l.f.),” a catchy original anthem with lyrics that echo the brand’s name. It was launched in 2019 with the hashtag #eyeslipsface and invited users to create their own videos synced to the track. This campaign marks one of the first song-based marketing efforts to go viral on TikTok, inspiring many brands to follow suit. The simplicity of the lyrics and the engaging beat provided a lot of room for creativity, and videos ranged from standard makeup tutorials to funny memes and comic skits.
The #eyeslipsface campaign garnered 7 billion views and generated 5 million user-created videos from all over the world as well as various pop culture personalities. The song was also released on music streaming sites and has over 20 million streams.
3. Gymshark’s Change Your Life Campaign Gained 45 Million Views in 3 Months
With a viral marketing campaign, Gymshark, an England-based fitness apparel brand, set itself apart in a competitive market as a value-adding, down-to-earth company that directly engages with its audience.
The brand launched its “Change Your Life” campaign in 2018, encouraging users to set a fitness goal at the start of the year on January 1st and post their transformations and gains after 66 days. Participants had to tag the official account and their posts with the hashtag #gymshark66 to be eligible for the grand prize: a year’s supply of Gymshark gear.
4. Barbenheimer Drove $1.45 Billion at the Global Box Office
Sometimes, there’s no telling what will capture the general audience and when, such as the simultaneous release of the Barbie and Oppenheimer movies in 2023 that created an unexpected social media phenomenon.
Barbie and Oppenheimer were two of the most anticipated film releases of 2023, and they happened to share the same premiere date. This social media phenomenon was driven primarily by fans, who found the opposed aesthetics, themes, and storylines of the films ironic and humorous, leading to fan-driven discussion, memes, and artwork across various platforms.
Warner Bros. and Universal, the two major studios behind each film, embraced the emerging narrative and fed into the playful “rivalry” in their marketing, leading to more ticket sales and worldwide audience engagement in the weeks before and after the premiere date.
Barbie emerged as the highest-grossing film of 2023, generating $1.4 billion in global box office revenue, while Oppenheimer was third at $974,000, an impressive feat for a 3-hour biographical thriller.
5. Duolingo’s Viral Videos Have Gained 260 Million Likes on TikTok
Over the years, Duolingo has launched various viral marketing campaigns to encourage users to sign up on the language learning platform. Its mascot is Duo, a green owl that is a long-running social media sensation. Its appearance on app notifications as an encouraging — sometimes humorously threatening — motivational coach has been the subject of numerous viral memes over the years.
The platform’s social media presence is a fantastic case study of trends and virality. Its brand voice centers on playfulness and entertainment, which resonates effectively with its target audiences (millennials and Gen Z) on various platforms. Duolingo has an uncanny ability to hop on to emerging trends and make their mark on what online consumers are buzzing about.
Duolingo has 2.9 million followers on Instagram and more than 11 million followers on TikTok, with over 260 million likes.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” Always’ #LikeAGirl, and Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaigns are other examples of highly successful and memorable viral social media campaigns.
