viral marketing for nonprofits: 5 best emotions to leverage

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VIRAL MARKETINGFOR NONPROFITS

The 5 Best Emotions To LeverageAdapted from Jonah Berger’s New York Times Best Seller, Contagious

Why emotions?

“People will forget what you said,

people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

- Maya Angeloumediacause.org | connect@mediacause.org |

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HOWEVER:

Not any emotion will

drive action and word of mouth

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Which emotions, then?

DON’T: Use physiologically low-arousal

emotions

DO: Use physiologically high-arousal

emotionsHUH?

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Low arousal emotions

Low arousal emotions include happiness & sadness

People are less likely to take action or spread the word with low-arousal emotions.

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High arousal emotions

High arousal emotions fire people up.They drive people to action and spread the word: • Awe• Excitement• Anger• Amusement• Humor

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Awe

Futures Without Violence’s visual with a shocking statistic generated 190 shares. FWV’s posts usually receive 20 to 50 shares.

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Excitement

Feeding America shared exciting news about a partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts.

It received 247 shares when its posts usually receive less than 150.mediacause.org | connect@mediacause.org |

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Anger

NRDC posted a visual about the Pebble Mine that evoked anger. It received 400+ shares. Its posts usually receive less than 200.

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Amusement

charity:water posted a visual of Boo, the “cutest dog in the world,” and it generated over 6,000 shares. Posts by charity:water usually receive 100 to

150.mediacause.org | connect@mediacause.org |

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Humor

NRDC’s Fat Tuesday post of a fat squirrel received over 900 shares.Its posts usually receive less than 200.

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Learn More

High arousal emotions is just one element of viral marketing.

Learn about all six components to viral marketing for nonprofits: http

://mediacause.org/viral-marketing-nonprofits-applying-jonah-bergers-6-stepps

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or email us at connect@mediacause.org

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