Growth Talks | Ep.2 Ft.Snehal Chandak | How to go viral on Social Media in 2019
With every GrowthShop that is being organized in different cities, We (Growth Folks) are inching closer to our motive of creating a community of like-minded people who like to be around marketing and who want to grow with each other.
The recently concluded event in Pune was all about this. Being the second chapter of GrowthShop in the city, a few more new faces joined the event which was all around “How to go viral on Social Media in 2019: Unlearn to hack 2019”. People loved this concept of GrowthShop wherein we try to meet and learn some actionable and hands-on things around marketing with an essence of Growth Hacking mixed to it.
Since the event was in Pune and it was around growth hacking, social media & virality, who would have been better than Ms. Snehal Chandak herself as the speaker for the event. Snehal began her Digital Marketing journey as an intern in one of the organizations in Pune and that’s how she stepped into this field. Currently, She is working with a leading market research company in Pune. She has an experience of 3+ years as a Digital Marketer with Social Media being her core expertise. She also runs a Facebook group of digital marketers by the name, ‘Indian Digital Club’ and has been the speaker in various events.
The event was really interesting as the attendees liked the experience and approach shared by Snehal. Also, the QnA session saw many people asking some really amazing question which helped other people understand the concept much better.
Our city lead in Pune, Mitasha Jain, got an opportunity to talk Snehal regarding growth hacking and her approach towards making a viral content and growth marketing. Here’s a highlight of how it went:
Mitasha: How was the event? How do you feel being a part of this community?
Snehal: Thank you so much for having me by the way. You guys actually just put up an interactive event. That was awesome.
If you have to describe growth hacking in one word, what it would be?
Snehal: It is very difficult to define growth hacking in one word. A growth hacker has one role- to achieve GROWTH! A growth hacker is laser-focused on acquiring new users.
Every decision a growth hacker takes is driven by a single objective- to achieve growth as quickly and inexpensively as possible.
Every strategy or tactic employed by a growth hacker is in hopes of growth. It involves idea generation, rapid execution, measuring results and then optimizing. Although traditional marketers care about growth too, they have a broad scope. A plethora of responsibilities and constraints hamper their ability to deliver at a pace which a growth hacker can.
Growth hacking is a data-driven marketing approach. It makes use of modern-day software and tools to analyze different distribution channels and go all-in on those that perform best.
What according to you is a viral post?
Snehal: I have to be honest with you… there is NO ONE ANSWER to go viral. But I can tell you 3 things that will help you in your efforts:
- Know your viral coefficient
- Test a combination of strategies to see what works.
- Persistence… just don’t give up!
Check out recent example –
The first photo of the egg was posted on January 4, from an anonymous UK-based Instagram account @world_record_egg with the caption,
“Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this.”
According to Dailymail, he says,
“I worked to garner attention for the page on Reddit, reached out to media really early on, and told all of the celebrities and influencers in my network to help push it… I would like to give all the credit to the chicken who laid this egg. They were the spark. I was the gasoline.”
According to the same source, he says, that the idea was to make people connect with an inanimate object and ‘root for the underdog’.
Can you tell a viral post and the science behind it? like how it went viral, why it went viral?
Snehal: It’s never a guarantee, but planning for it and knowing the science behind virality definitely increases your chances. According to me, the science behind the viral post is:
- Give People Something to Talk about
- Use Push One (or More) buzz buttons like remarkable, secrets, outrageous.
- Try to give personal attention
- understand human psychology
- The Element of Surprise
To understand more about viral I would suggest referring Buzzmarketing and Contagious to learn even more about what generates buzz.
What should one keep in mind while creating viral content?
Snehal: According to me — It’s a little more difficult to create written content that goes viral. First of all, most Internet users have a short attention span. This means that a photograph will catch their eye much more quickly. A short video will do the trick as well. Think about all the most popular viral content you’ve seen in the last few years. Odds are most of it was either videos or pictures.
Is there a different way of getting viral on a different platform? or Is there a single way to achieve virality across various platform? If yes, what is the way? If not, what would be an ideal way?
Snehal: Every social media platform is different. Before creating content, choose a platform on which to specialize. Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are all good platforms on which to start a viral marketing campaign; however, the content you create will differ depending on the platform you choose.
If you choose to create content for Instagram, for example, a series of Instagram Stories or an image with a compelling caption can spark viral shares online. However, content that will perform well on LinkedIn is usually created from a Pulse article or from a thoughtful LinkedIn update.
The platform you choose should be informed by the information gleaned from your work creating a marketing persona
Any resources that you’d like to share with our viewers?
Snehal: There are so many resources, information book is available But I suggest few books like –
- Hooked –book by Nir Eyal is a book that answers questions such as why some products capture major attention and others flop, what makes us engage with products out of habit and how certain technologies hook us.
- Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success”-Sean Ellis, CEO, and co-founder of GrowthHackers.com, and Morgan Brown, COO of Inman News, have put together Hacking Growth, an amazing book that’s an accessible and practical toolkit that companies of all sizes and in all industries can use to increase their customer base and market share.
Any last words or tips for budding/ aspiring growth hackers?
“Growth hacking is a set of tactics and best practices for dealing with user growth”- Mattan Griffel
Snehal: While marketers take some time to create a marketing strategy plan, growth hackers constantly test and check what approach works best. They have the opposite approach of launching a large plan as a one-off attempt. Growth hacking is all about small attempts and iteration. It constantly requires thinking outside the box and trying new things. But the goal is to find a method that works and get the most out of it. This is something everyone should leverage
So thanks Snehal for giving us your time and being on this fire chat. Thank you, guys. Will see you next time.
It was great catching up with Snehal at the event and the experience & knowledge she shared with the people at the event was amazing. To this 7 many more GrowthShops in the future — Cheers!
Until then, Keep Growing!
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