Want To Go Viral? Create Something That Evokes This Feeling You know it when you see it, and you don't have to be a comedic genius to make it work for you.
By Jason Feifer Edited by Frances Dodds
This story appears in the January 2023 issue of BIZ Experiences. Subscribe »
Right?!
That word can be the key to viral success, according to people who regularly crank out internet-stopping memes and brand videos. But to be clear, you shouldn't say "right?!" in a video yourself. Instead, you must make videos that inspire your viewers to say it.
Right?! is what you say when someone says the thing you're thinking. When something is a little off. When you're part of a communal recognition.
"Like when you order water at a Starbucks and they turn the iPad around to ask if you're gonna tip," says Reid Hailey Jr., cofounder and CEO of Doing Things Media, whose agency recently made a viral video for the beverage brand Ranch Rita with that as the premise.
"Like charcuterie boards: It's just meat and cheese on a piece of wood, but everyone thinks it's the fanciest thing ever," says Lee Ayers, creator of a meme account called Middle Class Fancy that Doing Things Media acquired.
Related: 4 Ways to Leverage Marketing Trends for Viral Growth
Right?! is at the heart of much of what they do. And if you're struggling to make videos that connect with an audience, then right?! could be your greatest shortcut to relevancy. Relatable is key, they say.
They should know — because they've probably used it to connect with you already.
Doing Things Media has created viral campaigns for Anheuser-Busch, Netflix, Amazon, and more, and garnered more than 75 million followers across its own content channels. But its greatest hit might be "Corn Kid."
This video, which has been viewed billions of times on TikTok, didn't begin as branded content; it was instead part of a series that the agency cocreated called Recess Therapy, where a host charmingly interviews kids. That's how they came upon Tariq, a 7-year-old with a comical, earnest adoration of corn. He wishes everyone a "corntastic day."
Why did it take off? Perhaps because everyone knows (or has been) a kid with an outsize enthusiasm for small things. Brands quickly jumped on the Corn Kid train, with Dunkin', Chips Ahoy!, and even United Airlines creating posts that reference it. But the winner was arguably Chipotle: Its video starts with a close-up of its food options, as an employee asks a customer what they'd like on their burrito bowl. Rice? No, says the customer, who has a familiar, tiny voice. Beans? No. Meat? No.
"Corn?" the employee asks.
The camera pans up. It's Corn Kid himself. His eyes light up. Viewers' eyes did too, at the recognition. It became Chipotle's best-ever performing Instagram and organic TikTok post. Right?!
Most brands make the same mistake, Hailey says: They try to be funny, or join what's trending on TikTok, but sound stiff and inauthentic. "Don't be that 50-year-old guy holding a skateboard trying to fit in with the cool kids. Like, 'How do you do, fellow kids?'" he says.
Right?! helps you avoid this problem because you don't need to be a brilliant meme-maker. You just need to be relatable.
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Ayers says that, to find content, he often just looks around at normal, everyday things — seeking out those moments that lots of people notice, perhaps unconsciously. For example, he started making posts about people "who are totally consumed with loving craft beer." Everyone knows those folks. Bud Light started advertising on Middle Class Fancy.
Not sure if your idea is good enough to publish? Don't worry, the Doing Things Media guys say. Until you publish, you can never know which ideas will connect. "Just post as much as you can that you think is funny," says Ayers, "and pray that the algorithm will push you out there."
Because business is now driven by the algorithm. Right?!
