How to Make Your Logo Go Viral

by Irene A. Blake


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A logo's role is to accurately and memorably represent your business and brand. Whether you’re updating your logo, starting a new business venture or increasing existing promotional efforts, making your logo go viral should be part of your brand recognition strategy to increase public awareness of and interest in your brand. To prompt people to rapidly share and talk about your logo, you need to make it attractive and visible.

Make It Memorable

A memorable logo design immediately engages the public and invokes a positive response. People should be able to roughly describe or sketch your logo after they've only briefly seen it, and they should remember it long after they've seen it. To determine if you have a memorable logo, show it to a survey group for about 10 seconds and then ask them to tell you what they remember about it and how it made them feel. Use their feedback to enhance the design outline, colors and text to make it more memorable.

Display It

You don't need to overwhelm the public with your logo, but you do need to make it as visible as possible. Besides displaying it in obvious places, such as on your stationery, company website, email footer, social networking profiles or print materials, display it everywhere else you interact with the public. For example, you might add it to the beginning and end of videos and to forum posts and article comments. Additionally, you might release a documentary that shows the logo’s creation and an interview segment in which you explain what the logo means to you.

Share It

It's not unheard of for a business owner to ask relatives, friends, employees, e-newsletter subscribers, social followers and anyone else he knows to help him spread information about his company, including the image of his logo, to increase brand recognition. Additionally, you might create a contest on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or another social network in which followers get contest entries when they share a post featuring your logo. Another way you might attract interest is by posting your logo on sites where users evaluate and share images, such as Pinterest, Flickr and Tumblr.

Give It Away

You can also make a logo go viral by printing it on regularly used items and then gifting those items to employees and customers or offering them as work- or contest-related rewards. Branded promotional items include pens, sticky note blocks, notepads, mugs, water bottles, hats, t-shirts, bracelets, umbrellas, calendars and flash drives. Pick a few general items and ones that receivers can relate to your business products or services. Once people use and pass around items printed with your logo, they will more readily recognize it and associate it with your brand.

Surround It in Mystery

If you're trying to make a new logo go viral, surprise the public with it. For example, you can generate buzz by launching a mystery-style QR code campaign. Link a QR code to the logo image and a date and then post the code without additional details on advertising materials, product packaging and flyers. On the date, make a public announcement about the logo and, if applicable, your new business or rebranding efforts. Additionally, you might create a puzzle from your logo, slowly release pieces to the public until the launch date and then display the full design.

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