Whether you like them scrambled, omelet, or sunny side up, this whole egg will put them all aside. “The egg” cracked the internet.
SO WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THIS BUZZ OVER THE EGG?
It all started on the 4th of January when a photo of an ordinary brown egg was posted on Instagram by Egg Gang, @world_record_egg, with the caption “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this,”
The egg hatched a new mark for the most-liked image on Instagram cracking the record held by social media star and make-up mogul Kylie Jenner on the birth announcement of daughter Stormi Webster on Feb 6 last year with 18.3 million likes, but the egg, posted only 10 days ago has already amassed more than 45 million likes.
WHO’S BEHIND THIS NEW RECORD?
The identities of the individuals behind the new record remains a mystery, although they told Agence France-Presse they live in London.
“I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try and beat the record with something as basic as possible,” they said. “I guess it’s also a comment on celebrity culture and how fragile and easily cracked it is (pun intended).”
THE INTERNET WENT CRAZY!
The funny part is, everyone on the Internet went crazy. The photo was getting thousands of likes per second and is still gaining momentum by the hour. This takes to another point, the power and influence of social media. All that the @world_record_egg account on Instagram had to do was post an egg, literally, with the goal of breaking Kylie Jenner’s record, and boom! The Internet responded heavily making this goal come true.
YES, THERE ARE LESSONS TO LEARN FROM IT.
While this has definitely been one of the funniest and lighthearted moments in recent social media memory, there are four valuable lessons and insights that every small business owner should learn from the campaign’s viral success. If done right, these same principles can be applied to your own business to better position your content for potential virality:
1. Use the power of Instagram
What makes Instagram so powerful? Well, apart from its parent company (Facebook) helping the platform expand its already massive reach to older audiences, Instagram’s algorithm — as it currently stands — toes the line perfectly between being timely without being too fast-paced.
2. Keep a close eye on Internet culture
If you’re looking to go viral or expand your brand awareness through social media, you’ve got to keep a pulse on internet culture. It’s clear whoever is behind this egg campaign is very much in tune with the “language of Instagram.” They were aware that Kylie Jenner is Instagram’s golden girl, and that memes are Instagram’s golden standard for viral posts.
This will allow your content to be more natural and avoid being forced, inauthentic, or downright cringe-worthy like so much branded content on the internet.
3. People love humour
Surprise, right? This Kylie vs. egg battle illustrates how consumers are absolutely loving brands that have a good sense of humour. Gone are the days when stale and unrelatable brands were the gold standard. People want to see the human side of brands, particularly younger audiences like Millennials and Gen Z.
Never be afraid to sprinkle in some humour!
4. Have a simple mission to rally behind
Following the egg’s rise to stardom was so much fun because it made anyone who simply double-tapped the image feel as if they were a part of something larger than themselves.
Egg Gang created this Instagram account with a simple, easy-to-understand mission, which made rallying behind it seamless and easy. Adding a simple–yet powerful–mission not directly related to your brand could give you the extra boost you’ve been looking for.
Who would’ve thought an egg and Kylie Jenner could teach entrepreneurs a thing or two about social media marketing? Welcome to 2019.
Stay on top of the social media game in 2019 by checking out #SocialSpeak every week!
