What’s the secret to going viral? You have to go small to go big. Don’t try to go viral in an ocean. It’s too big. Go viral in a sandbox.

It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than just be another fish in the ocean. Think niche. Take your idea viral in a smaller pond where you can dominate your market.

I’m always collecting best practices and sharing them in this space and here’s one in which I can give you the inside scoop. In this example, the American College of Healthcare Executives increased their response to a membership campaign by tenfold! You read that right. They got ten times the response! Traditionally, they registered 120 members from a promotion; but in this case they increased membership registrations to 1,111.

How? I’ll give a hint in three words: Simplify. Codify. Multiply.

They created a membership referral program in which members received points for referring new members to the organization. They simplified the message even more to say the more referrals you make, the more points you can redeem towards any FREE gifts (more about the gifts in a moment) and a chance to win FREE registration to the association’s national convention.

Next, they codified it. They created a series of referral letters members could send quickly and easily as an email to their colleagues. As members sent out the referral emails, they multiplied the message far more effectively than the association could have on its own. Did you get that? They took the marketing promotion viral! When was the last time you had other people promoting your marketing for you?

Don’t get me wrong. Members never would have done it on their own so I’ll let you in on another secret: you need irresistible bait to fish in your pond. In this case, they offered members their choice of several prizes depending on the number of points they redeemed (see the picture, right).

This was interesting. Guess which prize was the most popular of the two Polo shirts, pen and leather Smartphone holder?

See for yourself by moving your mouse over the image! I never would have guessed that would have been the most popular gift but people loved it because it made them stand out from everyone else. It was a status symbol.

What’s the catch? You have to have the right bait for the right audience. Test your ideas. Often, the winners turn out to be ideas no one expected to perform well.

Here’s the best part; you don’t have to try and attract millions or even tens of thousands of people to your idea. In this case, 1,111 is a home run!

We have lots of referral partners too. As part of our relationship when speaking at seminars and conferences for organizations they also feature us in articles in their magazines, in blogs and on their websites. In a sense, they endorse our services. In exchange, we give their members great content they can use to turnaround their organizations. It’s a win-win.

But you have to give people a reason to act. Take a look at the two Facebook ads to the right for a separate promotion from Brian Offenberger. Which do you think did better? Mouse over and see if you answered correctly. The winning ad got 222 clicks and 112 fans on Facebook and the other got absolutely nothing. Why? Because the ad offered more than just a hat; it gave people a reason to take the next step.

Every once in a while you may even hit a grand slam. That’s what happened with Douglas Wray, who used the principles of simplify, codify and multiply to explain social media with donuts! He took a complex problem (how do you explain social media to people?) and made it fun and easy. Every relevant social media platform is simplified with just a few words (see the picture, right).

He codified his simple chart by publishing it to Instagram.com. Since then it’s been multiplied by viewers. More than 100,000 people have re-posted it on Facebook and Twitter! Can you believe that?

Wray admits he never expected his social media chart to go viral but because he was playing in social media already, the idea took off. Another lesson learned: You’ll never harness social media’s power if you don’t play that game. You have to play to win. Try it. Test a few ideas, which you can do quickly and easily with social media.

To help you, here are my 3 Laws of Going Viral, which says for an idea to really take off it must be:

1. Curious
2. Digestible
3. Sharable

And one of the best ways to do this is to entertain and make your idea fun. Watchfire LED Signs got their message across with this tweet (see image, below left). How does a sign help police nab the “ball cap bandit”? Most signs take days or weeks to develop from the time an artist designs to the time it’s finally put on display. But LED signs can be changed instantly with a few keystrokes.

And as soon as the “ball cap bandit” struck, the FBI struck back with a billboard campaign advertising the crime using LED signs that led to his arrest. Not only did it catch on with the public following the heist, but it’s an idea that caught on with potential clients for Watchfire LED Signs.

People were curious about it. It was easily digestible in just 140 characters in a tweet. And it was a cool story the public and potential prospects wanted could share with their friends and colleagues. With just that one story, Watchfire can show vendors in the sign world just how easily their signs help attraction and can increase response for businesses and organizations. Small market, big fish!

So how can you create a story to attract the attention of your prospects? Don’t try to go big. Instead, try to be a big fish in a small pond.