Learnings from Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash

Some weeks ago I published an article on the STEPPS framework, summarizing the content of the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

It was well received and so I decided to create a brief follow-up article where I put down my learnings from the book.

• The most effective form of marketing is “word of mouth”. To get people to voluntarily and willingly talk about a product/service, you should use the concept of social currency (people want to look good in front of others) - there are three ways to do this: (i) Inner Remarkability, (ii) Leverage Game Mechanics and (iii) Make People Feel Like Insiders.
• Associating a product with triggers (e.g. Kit Kat & Coffee) is an effective marketing strategy that can generate word of mouth.
• Humans are herd animals and imitate the actions of others. However, you can only imitate what you see and not the thoughts of others (thoughts are private, and actions are public).
• Rule of 100: If a product costs EUR 100 or less, it is more effective to give a discount as a percentage. If the price is higher, it is better to state the discount in absolute value.
• Storytelling is only good if the story is set up so that it cannot be (re)told without the information to be conveyed.
• If you want to spread word about an idea or a product quickly, applying the STEPPS framework can be very helpful. It just takes a few minutes, but has the potential to boost your content a lot. So think about Social Currency, Triggers, Emotions, Public, Practical Value, and Stories (you can check out the full checklist here).