Before the world had Bieber Fever, we had Beatle Mania. In the 1960s, The Beatles caused pandemonium with screaming and crying fans across the world. The spark they caused hadn’t really been seen before. But, imagine if The Beatles hopped across the pond and landed in America today?

Jimmy Fallon did just that on the ‘Tonight Show.’ He spoofed footage of the iconic band after their appearance on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ 50 years ago. He, acting as a member of the band, told the crowd to like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter and Instagram. He even mentioned that they posted “throwback Thursdays” (#tbt) on Instagram, and to disregard the picture of Ringo’s egg Benedict brunch.

Fallon’s spoof has since gone viral. Huffington Post, Rolling Stone, MTV, Entertainment Weekly, Today Show, and many other news and media companies immediately brought their own ideas into how social media would have played a part in Beatle Mania. The fact that Fallon’s clip alone garnered so much attention and that #eggsbenedict trended on Twitter should give us all an idea of the effect social media would have had in the 1960s.

While it is certain that The Beatles would have had millions of followers and a huge social media presence, what is interesting is how much attention Fallon got just for the idea. It leads to another million dollar question—what makes viral content?

Viral content takes man hours to find or create. One of the basic rules for creating viral content is that it should play on human emotions, like the nostalgia those Beatle maniacs probably felt. You will also need a fresh angle on your topic and a little stroke of luck. Successful bloggers will post 20 videos a day, and most days none will get attention. In a recent interview with Hubspot, blogger Neetzan Zimmerman said that it is important to look at why something didn’t work. Was the headline too long? Was the time of day right? Those are important questions to ask yourself. And, of course, it is important to have a the right social media platform to push out your content. Viral content can sometimes take a while to catch on. So be patient, but also constantly thinking about how you can improve.

When trying to post viral content, just remember to FLIP!

F – fresh take on an idea
L – little bit of luck
I – inspire emotion
P – platform considerations

As always, please let Hayse Marketing know if you need any help! #GetNoticed