Like April Fools Day jokes, viral marketing is enjoyed by half the people, hated by the other half of people, but known to all.  If there is a prank that is pulled at your office or school, it doesn’t take long for word to spread.

Maybe the prank was hilarious and loved by everyone or maybe the prank was tactless or failed in its intention, either way by the end of the day everyone heard about it.

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There are a few key characteristics of the April Fools Day prank that we should all keep in mind when planning a new viral campaign.

A good prank is:

  • Unexpected
  • Entertaining
  • Communal

Unexpected: For any sort of advertising or marketing to be effective you have to first get the attention of your audience.  All day we go through routines and mundane processes that we become used to and start to tune out: brushing our teeth, the drive to and from work, eating at the same restaurants, etc.  When something unexpected like a prank comes along it provides a momentary jolt from that routine and stays fresh in our memory.  We may not remember what papers we filed on April 1st, but we’ll never forget the time when someone put a whoopee cushion under our boss’ chair.  In order to capture the attention of your audience, give them something unexpected.

Entertaining: Once you give them something unexpected and have your audience’s attention, the rest of your message needs to be entertaining.  Like a joke that starts out with a great one-liner but quickly fizzles into a long rambling story, your audience will start to tune out if you don’t entertain and engage them throughout the message.  This is best done by keeping your viral messages short and to the point.  If they can’t sit through the whole thing, don’t expect them to pass it along.

Communal: Possibly the best result of a good April Fools prank is that it starts conversations and creates a sense of community.  All the sudden those coworkers who don’t talk much or don’t know each other are sharing the story and laughing together.  By enjoying something together as a group, a special connection is made that could continue to grow from that day forward.  Likewise, word of mouth and the sense of community are the lifeblood of effective viral marketing.  Including your audience as part of the story and empowering them as the storytellers will make them feel valued and motivate them to spread the word.

Feel free to share your favorite April Fools prank with a comment below and we can see if it meets the standards of a good viral marketing effort.

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