This Word Helps You Go Viral

It's hard to light up the internet. But according to one of today’s hottest viral agencies, it becomes a little easier when you take this approach. by JASON FEIFER

Right?!

That word can be the key to viral success, according to people who regularly crank out internet-stopping memes and brand videos. But to be clear, you shouldn't say "right?!" in a video yourself. Instead, you must make videos that inspire your viewers to say it.

Right?! is what you say when someone says the thing you're thinking. When something is a little off. When you're part of a communal recognition.

"Like when you order water at a Starbucks and they turn the iPad around to ask if you're gonna tip," says Reid Hailey Jr., cofounder and CEO of Doing Things Media, whose agency recently made a viral video for the beverage brand Ranch Rita with that as the premise.

"Like charcuterie boards: It's just meat and cheese on a piece of wood, but everyone thinks it's the fanciest thing ever," says Lee Ayers, creator of a meme account called Middle Class Fancy that Doing Things Media acquired.