What makes a product go viral?
Ben Katz
9 replies
You make have seen the recent viral article (linked below) that chatGPT passed an MBA exam when a Wharton professor tested it. That professor's son is a close friend of mine and we discussed what we could take away from that viral moment:
1. It's all about the headline. Very few people actually read the article.
2. Brand matters. "Wharton professor" adds instant credibility.
3. You can't predict what will go viral. Christian Terwiesch is an accomplished professor and author that has poured countless hours into various works but the one that went viral was something he spent two hours on for fun.
To summarize - the narrative (made up of headline & brand) is what went viral, not the content itself.
I write a weekly newsletter and this Friday's edition is around product virality and how to set yourself up for success. You won't want to miss it, so subscribe here: https://benlkatz.substack.com/
article link: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tec...
- Ben
Replies
Victor Zhang@victorzh
digital content
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Great insight; thank you for sharing.
Also got me thinking I will try asking ChatGPT to tweak some future headline drafts of mine to have more potential to go viral :)
Networking!
If you're wondering what makes a product go viral, let me break it down for you:
1. A product that solves a problem in a unique way - that's the key to making people want to spread the word.
2. Shareability - A product that makes it easy for people to share on
3. social media, the more shares, the more viral it gets.
4. Network effects - When a product becomes more valuable the more people use it, it creates a self-sustaining cycle of growth.
And don't forget, timing and luck also play a big role in making a product go viral.
So, keep trying and who knows, you might be the next viral hit! "
The core idea should be half smart, half crazy ;)