Jonah Berger: Contagious

Use social currency to go viral. People want to share something that makes them feel in the know, makes them look a certain way to the friends who will see it. 

Triggers, link yourself to something common, so it will advertise for you whenever they think of that thing, they think of you. 

The rule of 100: under $100 use a discount (ex: 10%) instead of saying $10 off. Over $100 say $500 off, instead of 25% off. Very powerful. 

Deals. Nobody knows how much something costs, so give them a reference point and help them decide. Compare to competitor, or use a cheaper product you use. 

Make them feel special. Don't call them customers, not even client. Call them member. 

When pricing a product, make the number as compact as possible, like $200 not $200.99. When offering a discount, make the number as large as possible, like $100.00 off instead of $100 off

Why things catch on like the $100 cheesesteak at Barclay Prime:

1. They are just plain better

When something comes along that offers better functionality or does a better job, people tend to switch to it.

2. Attractive Pricing

If two similar products are competing, most likely the cheaper one will win out. 

3. Advertising

Consumers need to know about something before they can buy it. 

But these popular criteria do not explain most of it... think of YouTube, videos are all free to watch, and most that go viral are blurred and out of focus. 

So what explains why most things go viral, why one YouTube video gets more views?

• Social influence and word of mouth

The things others tell us, particularly friends and authorities whom we trust, have a significant impact on what we think, read, buy, and do. 

We try websites and apps friends recommend, read books relatives praise, and vote for a candidate which out friend endorses. 

Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20-50% of all purchasing decisions, depending on the niche. 

Word of mouth is more effective than traditional advertising because:

• it's more persuasive. Ads tell us how great a product is, but they are biased in favor of the product. They lack true credibility.

 On the other hand, our friends tell us their experience with a product objectively. We are more likely to trust, listen to, and believe our friends. 

• it's more targeted. Advertising attempts to reach the largest number of interested customers, 

While word of mouth is directed to an interested audience who is already planning on buying. We share information or recommendations only with people who would find it most relevant. 

Research by Keller Fay Group in 2012 showed only 7% of word of mouth referrals happen online. That number has changed to X% in 2017, use this when selling?

Word of mouth online is also not one to one, instead social media sites provide a handy record of all the clips, comments, and other content we share online so the word of mouth can spread to multiple friends. 

When marketing online to leverage word-of-mouth you need to know what you are doing or you will get swept away. For example, on Youtube 50% of videos have under 500 views. Only one-THIRD of 1% get more than 1 million views. 

Interesting way to make a point:

You may well observe that Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and Bill Cosby are all famous and conclude that changing your name to Bill is the route to fame and fortune. Although the initial observation is correct, the conclusion is patently ludicrous. 

Then follow with how someone made a conclusion off limited data, and explain how most people make conclusions by looking at a handful of examples and end up missing the larger trend and confounding variables. 

Virality isn't born, it's made. 

While Hollywood movies seem cooler than toasters or blenders, Jonah points out the story of Blendtec going viral and selling their blenders at an increase of 700%. 

Regardless of how plain or boring a product or idea may seem, there are ways to make it more contagious. 

6 Key Steps that cause things to be talked about, shared, or imitated:

1. Social Currency

How does it make people look to talk about a product or idea? 

Most people would rather look smart than dumb, rich than poor, cool than geeky. 

Knowing about cool things--like a blender that can shred an iPhone makes people seem in the know. 

To get people talking we need to craft messages that help people achieve these desired impressions. 

We need to find our inner interesting-ness and make people feel like insiders. 

Your message should give people ways to provide visible symbols of status which they will be happy to show to others. 

One way to make social currency is through secrets. If someone knows a secret, they might be more likely to share it with others because it positions them as in the know. 

Harvard neuroscientists Jason Mitchell and Diana Tamir found that disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding. People want to tell how a product benefitted or served to detriment them; you better hope your product benefitted them. 

People will refrain from sharing something if it might make them or someone close to them look bad. 

Just as people use money to buy product or services, they use social currency to achieve desired impressions among their families, friends, and colleagues. 

Mint social currency by finding inner remarkability:

Remarkable things are defined as unusual, extraordinary, or worthy of notice or attention. Something can be remarkable because it is novel, surprising, extreme, or just plain interesting. 

Remarkable things provide social currency because they make the people who talk about then seem more interesting. 

The key to finding remarkability is to think about what makes it interesting.

Can the product do something nobody would have thought possible (like blend golf balls)?

Are the consequences of the idea far more extreme than people could have imagined?

What makes your product stand out?

Mint social currency by leveraging game mechanics 

Game mechanics are elements of a game-including rules and feedback loops-that make them fun and compelling. 

People want points and tangible evidence of progress so they can know where they stand in the game. 

When people are close to a goal in a game they will risk more and work harder: ex. If you have 9.7k instagram followers but your client wants to cancel their instagram management, convince them how they need to get to the 10k milestone...

Game mechanics motivate us on an interpersonal level by encouraging social comparison. Utilize this by showing your clients how they are growing faster than their competitors with your service, or how they have more followers than competing restaurants... etc. 

Adding levels shows us where we are in absolute terms. If you are Premier Level in frequent flyer Miles, you know where you are in the hierarchy. 

People love boasting about success in games, they like to tell everyone how many twitter followers they have, or how they scored on a test. 

If people have a status via winning a game, they will be compelled to share it because it makes them seem successful. 

Leveraging game mechanics requires quantifying performance. 

It also requires helping people publicize their achievements. 

Use contests to involve game mechanics. Post a winner on your page to give them a shoutout for posting a testimonial or review post. 

Mint currency by making people feel like insiders:

Make things less available to outsiders, offer added benefits to members or create secret areas for platinum members. 

People don't need to be paid to be motivated. Managers often look to gifts, perks, and raises to motivate employees, however it is more effective in the long term to offer social incentives. 

By harnessing the desire to look good for others you can make people and employees work harder for free. 

2. Triggers

Triggers are stimuli which prompt people to think about related things; we need to remind people to talk about our product/idea

If you live in Philadelphia, seeing a cheesesteak might remind you of the $100 one at Barclay Prime. 

People often talk about whatever comes to mind, so the more often people think about our product/idea, the more they will share it. Top of mind leads to tip of tongue

In order to sustain interest in the long run, you must employ triggers consistently.

Remember most people hear an ad one day and then go to the store days or weeks later. 

Sometimes, even negative word of mouth can increase sales if it informs or reminds people that the product even exists and elicits a want to try.  

What makes an effective trigger?

How frequently a trigger occurs. 

Frequency must be balanced with strength, for example it's not a good idea to link your product to the color red because red already boasts a host of associations. 

Timing is also important. You want a trigger that happens right when the buying decision occurs, not some other time like afterward. 

3. Emotion 

When we care, we share. Craft a message that makes people feel something. 

How?

Blending an iPhone is surprising. A potential tax hike is infuriating.

We need to pick the right emotions to evoke. 

Emotions which boost sharing: 

Awe

Anger

Anxiety

And any other type of arousal, for example participants who exercised were twice as likely to share an article than those who were relaxed. 

4. Public 

Can people see when others are using our product or engaging in our desired behavior? Making things more observable makes them more easy to imitate. 

Social proof is a prevalent factor behind buying behavior and word-of-mouth. But the most prevalent factor behind social proof is observability. 

Everyone is more likely to see your shirt than your socks, and your car rather than your toothpaste. These types of products are more susceptible to social pressures. 

Observable things are more likely to be discussed and spur action. 

Make the private public. 

For example, charity donations are usually private. But the movember foundation had donors grow a mustache, which spurred the donors friends to question and spread the word. Everyone who sported a mustache became a walking, talking billboard for the charity's cause. 

Most products, ideas, and behaviors are consumed privately. You need to think of a way to turn the private ideas surrounding your product into conversation pieces. 

Design products that advertise themselves.

5. Practical value

How can we craft content that seems useful? People like to help others, so if we show them bow out product/idea will save time, improve health, save money, ameliorate a pain point, they'll spread the word. 

Because people are inundated with information, we need to highlight the value and package our expertise so people can easily pass it on. 

Package your pitch or product in value or news. 

How to create practical value?

Save money

Improves health

Saves time

News people can use

6. Stories

What broader narrative can we wrap our idea in? 

Information is passed on, stories are remembered and truly shared. 

We need to build a Trojan Horse, embedding our products and ideas in sorries that people want to tell 

People don't think in terms of information, they think in terms of narratives.