How long does it take something to go viral?

I'm planning on launching something in the near future that will be similar to Talk Like a Pirate Day - but totally different. All I can tell you is it will be a day set aside for everyone to do a certain thing...which I have to keep secret until I launch it.

Anyway, I need to pick a date out of the year for this event and wonder if anyone out there has an idea as to how many months it may take for it to go viral (assuming everyone likes the idea, etc.)

For instance, if you were launching Talk Like a Pirate Day, how much time would you allow for promotion? Or, would you just do it and see what happens?

I think it will be necessary to do some press releases and hopefully get some mainstream media attention.

My guess is to start promoting 3 to 6 months before the "secret holiday". Anyone have an idea?

 

That's an impossible answer. It depends on how much interest the product / service or what ever you want to go viral is. It could take a few weeks or it could take a few years.

 

You know, maybe it doesn't really matter as these make shift holidays are annual. So, if it doesn't catch on the first year, then maybe it will the second year.. or the third?

But, I do believe it is a good idea to put a good effort into giving an idea a good promotional boost.

A good example is the recent viral video campaign for the tv show Dexter. They used the insanely genious site at http://www.icetruck.tv to promote their show.

Only thing is the viral effect seemed to peak about a month or two after the show started.

Anyway, I think I'll just wing it and see what happens....

 

that icetruck.tv is brilliant , havent seen anything that cool in a while

 

Just thought you guys might be interested - I emailed the folks who founded Talk Like a Pirate Day and here is what they said:

Here's one:

As I recall, the Pirate Guys didn't "plan" anything. They just talked
like pirates once a year, and it eventually assumed a life of its own.

It helps to have an idea so bold, so brilliant, so ridiculous that it
captures the public imagination...

----------------------------------------------

and then another reply from another pirate founder....

Exactly. We just started doing it, and because it was funny and unusual
when people heard about it they started joining in. In fact, I think
the key to our success was that we never at any time planned to
succeed. It was a joke that got out of hand. If we had been TRYING I
think that might have taken some of the whimsy out of it and it
wouldn't have appealed to people to the same degree. Most of the
decisions that led to this point were preceded by the words "You know
what would be funny?"

Of course, it helps to have syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry write
a column about it. We found Dave's e-mail address (seven years after
the joke started) and sent him a message inviting him to join in.We
thought that would be our 15 minutes of fame and it would be over by
that Sunday afternoon (Dave's column ran in Sunday papers) but it just
kept growing.

Dave doesn't write the weekly column any more, but there are other ways
to force yourself on the world's attention. The Internet can do
wonders. But that requires planning and the intent to come to the
world's attention, neither of which we had. Dave's column appeared in
Sept, 2002. We finally got the Web site going (thank you Jezebel) the
following May. That was a rather a turning point..

But like Jezebel said – it has to be an idea that catches the world's
fancy, and like Tori said you have to remember it. And the whimsy
really helps.

And like Mark said, you have to be daft.

 

I think you should start promotion closer to the chosen date than 3 months. I think people do not like to wait for such a long time.

Well, probably you can try some mystification and pretend as such a day was hold last year, but locally. Create some videos of your friends, some photos, local newspaper articles. People are more likely to join something that was tested before them

Good luck to you

And do not forget to invite us to take part

 

lol that is so awesome!!

i love pirate day. we have celebrated it on my forum for the last 2-3 years (everyone posts in pirate lingo..lol!)

 

I saw a study a few months ago that the most "viral" things on the web were also the things that spent the most ad money offline.

Rob