Everybody wants to know what’s the fastest way to go viral using social media. If not the fastest way, they want to know what’s the easiest way to go viral. The problem with answering these questions is the answer itself: it depends. If you have been keeping up with this blog, you know by now that even though going viral is both an art and a science, we like to focus on the science of it.

We focus on the science of it because the science of going viral is predictable.   We like to say that if you can get your best customers to refer at least 3 people to your business every month/quarter/year (depending on the sales cycle of your business), and then get at least 50% of those referrals to do the same you will create an unstoppable viral loop. There are no shortcuts for getting real customers to send you real referrals to create a viral loop like this.  You just have to work at getting your word-of-mouth referrals to go viral everyday.

However, there is one shortcut that will lead to more social media sharing that could help you out big time.  It’s called a social content locker.

So what is a social content locker?

A social content locker is a technique that allows a visitor to a webpage the ability to get access to protected content only after they share the landing page on a social media website such as Twitter or Facebook.

Using a social content locker is a great way to kick-start the process of going viral.  However, you still must create great content that is worthy of being shared.  People will just leave your website and look elsewhere instead of sharing if it’s not great content.

A great way to use a social content locker is to sell books.  Here is a step by step guide on how to sell more books using social content lockers. I recommend you read it to get an idea on how you can add a social content locker to your marketing program.

I know for sure another fantastic way to use a social content locker for marketing is to protect a coupon code with it.  For example, you could offer a 10% or 20% discount that is only available with a coupon code.  Then, the only way to get the coupon code is to reveal it using the social content locker.  If you are offering a valuable discount on a compelling product, a content locker could provide tremendous support to help you jumpstart the process of  going viral.

What do you think about social content lockers?  Do you love it or hate it?  Please leave a reply in below to share your comments.