In Michelle Wohl’s article, “5 mistakes to avoid when launching a viral campaign,” she suggests researching past viral campaigns when developing your own campaign. It is as beneficial to look at what went wrong for some campaigns as it is to examine what made other campaigns successful.

Wohl discusses the 5 most frequent mistakes that brands make in creating viral campaigns, and she presents relevant case studies; ranging from the Burger King Whopper Sacrifice on Facebook to the YouTube sensation of Susan Boyle. Wohl’s examination is eye-opening and spot-on, providing insight into the missteps you can avoid when creating a viral campaign.

• The simpler the better. The easier the campaign concept, the easier it is for your brand to execute and the more popular it will be for your consumers to engage with. Wohl cites that too many brands get stuck on the “big idea”; rather, they should focus on small ideas and concepts and watch how users interact with the concept. Then, brands should continue to fund iterative development to help and develop certain campaigns.

• Develop a thorough social media strategy. Look at where you consumers are on the social Web. If they are on Facebook, don’t develop a MySpace application. Think about hiring a company or consultant that specializes in social media; after all, they may have ideas that your brand may not have ever imagined.

• The unexpected will happen. No matter how much you plan for every scenario, the one scenario you did not expect will happen. Adapt to the situation and adapt your promotional and execution strategy as well. Wohl points to the Burger King Whopper Sacrifice campaign on Facebook, which was disabled by Facebook for Terms of Use violation. Instead of disappearing, the Burger King Fan page acknowledged the disablement and positioned the campaign in a “new dimension – outlaw”.

• Be in the know. Follow trending topics on Twitter search and learn what your consumers are talking about. Now more than ever, brands have the ability “to capture the mindshare of large-scale trending events on behalf of their audience.” Wohl presents the YouTube phenomenon of Susan Boyle as an example of how to track trending topics across the social Web.

The bottom line is that brands should keep their social media campaign concepts simple and easy for their consumers to engage with, as well as watch how the users interact with that concept. Listen to what the users are saying about the campaign, both the negative and positive. Listening and watching is a huge component of social media and should be a part of your brand’s social media strategy and viral campaign.

Which campaigns come to mind when you think of a successful viral campaign? Or an unsuccessful one? In your opinion, what did they do wrong or right?