No matter how good a product or service is, customers are unlikely to spend any money on it unless they can recall it at the time of the purchase. 

The goal of any product campaign is to capture the user's attention and increase the likelihood of trial or adoption by making it easy to recall the product at the time of purchase. So why do some products register in our memory, while others do not? What are the ingredients of memorable content?

• Less is more for our brain which is always overloaded with information. Simplicity reduces cognitive load and increases the likelihood of attention and memory retention. Avoiding jargon and keeping the content simple and concise increases the probability of success of a campaign. 

• Curiosity drives us to explore, learn, and seek new experiences and knowledge. Content that creates curiosity drives customers to seek more information to satisfy their interest. Heightened attention makes it easy to encode the product into the memory. 

• Surprises evoke strong emotions, such as excitement, fear, or joy. Our minds actively work to reconcile surprises with our preconceived notions, leading to deeper cognitive processing. The distinctiveness of a surprise in a campaign makes it more likely to be stored in our memory.

• Concrete and vivid details have a powerful impact on capturing attention and engaging with the target audience. They create a strong mental image that evokes emotions or curiosity. Sparkling diamonds, ice in the bathtub, blood on the wall, sizzling flames, and lush green oasis are some phrases that pique curiosity and create a mental picture that makes it easy to register the message in the brain.  

• Statistics with a reference point for comparison provides context and make the information more relatable and meaningful. Our brain is more likely to register the vastness of a known reference point than that of a number. The fact that an air conditioner consumes 5 times the electricity required for all our other household goods is far more impactful than the fact that an air conditioner consumes 60 kWh per month. Establishing credibility with references makes it easy to capture the user's attention. 

• Our mind registers matters of emotional significance and personal relevance. Stories that evoke emotions are highly effective in engaging customers and increasing memory retention. Emotional experiences stimulate the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine and adrenaline, which enhance the consolidation of memories in the brain. 

Identify the core emotions you want to evoke in your customers, such as joy, nostalgia, empathy, or inspiration. Leverage emotional storytelling by crafting a simple and concise narrative. Incorporate characters or situations that customers can relate to. Use sensory language and vivid descriptions and throw surprises where possible to make the story come alive. Create a sense of tension or conflict to build curiosity. Be authentic in your storytelling, and aim to connect with customers emotionally to create memorable and impactful experiences. 

New-age marketers are not content with just memorable content. They work on creating contagious content that quickly spreads and reaches a large audience through word-of-mouth, social sharing, and online platforms. They bank on social influence for a quick turnaround. 

When we see others engaging in a particular behaviour or conforming to a certain belief, we tend to interpret it as evidence that the behaviour or belief is correct or desirable. We use social proof as a cognitive shortcut to make judgments or decisions. We just fit in even when we feel differently due to the fear of social rejection. Social proof and fear of social rejection are two examples of how the psychology of social influence works. Social influence helps popularise the product or service. Popularity creates a bandwagon effect, which quickly expands product visibility and sales. Social influence becomes more prominent in situations of ambiguity or crisis. When faced with uncertainty or unfamiliar circumstances, individuals often turn to others for guidance. 

So how do we create contagious content to build word of mouth and how can we use that word of mouth to get our products and services to catch on? 

• People spend their social currency to share things that make them look smart and special. When you tell someone a secret, it is the privilege of being privy to the secret that makes the other person share it with others. Find that inner remarkability that makes it compelling for people to share your product or service. 

• When something is top of the mind, it is likely that it is also at the top of the tongue. You just need a trigger.  Gin is the trigger that reminds us of tonic. Identify the trigger that positions the product at the top of the mind of your potential customers and they will start talking about it. 

• The more we care, the more likely we are to share. That is how emotions work. People share positive emotions but avoid sharing negative ones. People share when they get anxious or angry but not when they are sad. Inspire people and create the excitement required for sharing. 

• Built to show, is built to grow. People will talk about the products or services they are proud to show off. 

• People share when it makes them look good. Humans deepen bonds by sharing things that help others. Show the practical value of how your product or service can help save money or life or how it can help build someone's future. 

• Stories are the currency of conversation. No one likes salesmen selling products in their social circles but they happily share emotionally connecting stories with the product embedded in it.

Craft narratives that elicit strong positive emotions such as joy, surprise, awe, inspiration, or humor. Provide emotional, practical, and metaphorical reasons for people to spend their social currency and share your product online. Include a trigger that makes it easy to connect your product to what is trending. Look at the ways in which you can tie in pride of ownership or the practical value of the product in your story. Do not sell a product, sell emotions that engage people and make them feel better when they share your product.