What is the reason why viral marketing is so popular and how can operators learn from it?

Recently, has your circle of friends been flooded with pictures of left and right brain age tests?

As the latest hot topic in the circle of friends, the left and right brain age test is very simple. Just scan the QR code in the test result picture and answer a few set questions, and a picture showing the left and right brain age test results will be generated, with relevant text explanations below the picture.

Although data shows that tens of millions of people have been tested, the authenticity of the test results is questionable. A programmer dug out the test code and found that the measured age was actually just a random number. Relevant experts also said that there is no scientific basis for testing the age of the left and right brain. There is no division of labor between the left and right brains. When engaging in complex activities, the left and right brains actually work together. However, despite these well-founded refutations, users are still having a great time on WeChat Moments.

In fact, this kind of test activity has been popular on WeChat Moments more than once or twice. The most typical one is the Plato personality test, which had a total PV of 30 million, generated more than 20 million personality labels, and increased WeChat followers by more than 4 million ( data from Zhou Qi, the person in charge of this activity for Plato APP). What is the reason why this type of testing activity has repeatedly become a viral marketing hotspot in the circle of friends and why user participation enthusiasm remains high? What reference value does it have for operations personnel in event planning ?

Why do users continue to participate in tests and forward them?

01. Closely related to oneself

Everyone pays special attention to anything related to themselves. This is a common human trait. These WeChat quizzes basically test certain characteristics of the participants, such as personality labels, what kind of car they drive, what kind of house they live in, what kind of girls they date, what kind of guys they flirt with, what kind of good fortune they have, etc., all of which are closely related to the participants themselves.

02. Fun and interesting, low entry threshold

These little tests are usually novel in form and have interesting results. The operations required for users to participate in the activities are very simple, and they can see the results with just a few clicks.

03. Satisfy curiosity

People are always curious about things they don't know and have certain expectations. By playing small tests, you can see if the test is accurate, such as "Personality Label"; by playing small tests, you can see what your fortune will be, hoping to get good luck , such as "New Year's Sign". Take this quiz to find out what your future significant other will be like! After all, no one has ever seen it, and everyone wants to know. It's harmless anyway, so it's a waste not to watch it.

04. Catering to vanity

The results of these small tests are basically positive. Even if there are occasional negative words, they are just a word game of first criticizing and then praising. Through these test results that only say good things and not bad things, the user's vanity is greatly satisfied. I tested what car I would drive in the future, and the answer was a Lamborghini . I tested my future and the result was that I would get a promotion and a raise, marry a beautiful and rich woman, and reach the peak of my life. When the most beautiful words in the world are used to describe the participants, who would refuse to forward it to their friends circle to make others "envious"?

05. Herd mentality

When I opened my Moments, I found that everyone else was playing the same little test. If I didn’t keep up, I would have nothing to talk about with my friends after dinner. Therefore, driven by this herd mentality, many users followed suit to take the test and forwarded the results to their own circle of friends.

Why do the test results seem accurate to everyone?

The test results of these small tests that are circulating wildly in the circle of friends basically have no scientific basis. But why do the answers to these tests seem so accurate? This involves two famous psychological phenomena - the Barnum effect and the Pollyanna effect.

The Barnum effect refers to the fact that everyone will easily believe that a general, general personality description is particularly suitable for him. Even if this description is very empty, I still think it reflects my personality, even if I am not that kind of person at all.

The Pollyanna effect is the tendency for people to agree with positive descriptions of themselves.

Looking at the answers to various tests, they cover almost all aspects of personality traits, and the statements are relatively vague and general, so basically everyone can find common ground among them. In addition, everyone's thinking is selective, and they will give priority to information that is consistent with themselves, or choose some information that they can accept, so they will feel that it is accurate.

What is the purpose behind various tests?

Merchants are constantly launching various testing activities, the purposes of which are nothing more than three: attracting new customers , exposing the brand and monetizing traffic .

Taking the once popular Plato Personality Test as an example, this marketing campaign made the app's ranking in the social (free) list in the app store jump from outside 150 to 25th in a short period of time. After the end of the campaign, the number of newly registered users of the APP reached about 200,000. It can be said that huge new user acquisition results were achieved at extremely low cost.

Moreover, since the participants of this kind of test often number in the tens of thousands and the PV of the event can easily reach millions or even tens of millions, it is also a good choice to use it for brand exposure or traffic monetization.

How to plan a similar viral marketing campaign?

Since testing activities are so effective, we should use them in our daily operations. If you want to do a good job in a test marketing campaign, you need to pay attention to the following six points:

1. It should be fun and interesting;
2. It is related to users and needs to satisfy their desire to show themselves in Moments;
3. The participation threshold should be as low as possible, and users can get the test results after completing a few steps;
4. Can help participants complete some kind of social currency, such as providing topics for conversation, giving help, being useful and fun, shaping an image, and social comparison;
5. It can quickly complete the cold start , quickly accumulate the potential energy that can trigger the activity, and create the "illusion" of screen swiping;
6. The test result of the setting must be positive

It should be mainly praise with some self-deprecating elements, and the balance between praise and criticism should be well-balanced, so that users feel it is accurate and others will not think you are showing off. It is best to use internet-based, humorous and funny words to allow everyone to participate in the event with a relaxed and entertaining attitude, so that users will be more willing to share.

Of course, the factors we need to consider when actually operating an activity are often much more complex. Sometimes the activity is interesting enough and the number of participants is high, but the expected operational goals cannot be achieved. However, in order to achieve as many operational indicators as possible, the fun of the activity is weakened, users simply cannot play it, and the activity has no effect. In this dilemma of dancing with shackles, how to strike a balance between the fun of the event and the operational goals will test the vision of each operator.

Disadvantages and hidden dangers of testing activities

01. If the activity is too popular, it is easy to be blocked by WeChat

WeChat has always been ruthless towards harassment of friends. WeChat has previously defined the behaviors of inducing sharing and inducing attention:

• Inducing sharing: Sending rumors, pornographic, test, quiz and other content to induce users to share to their Moments. Only after sharing can users see the answers or content.
• Inducing attention: Sending rumors, pornography, tests, quizzes and other content to induce users to follow the official account . Only after following can users see the answers or content.

Therefore, it is too risky to make increasing fans the first goal. If the account is blocked, it will seriously affect the effectiveness of the activity. However, if the first goal is set as brand exposure, more product information can be embedded in the answer page. This will, on the one hand, have a better effect on brand exposure of the product. On the other hand, after a certain number of fans has been gained, you can stop in time and set up fan diversion measures to avoid the tragedy of fans being cleared.

02. If the followers are not accurate, the unfollowing rate/churn rate will be very high

Since fans follow your official account or mini program because they want to know the answers to the test, they don’t understand your product and are not necessarily the target users of your product. Therefore, it is easy for them to unfollow you after using your product. At this time, the unfollow rate/churn rate will be very high.

Therefore, we need to set up hooks to retain users in advance, such as adding a lucky draw event later, to extend the user retention time as much as possible, so as to convert more target users or achieve other business goals.