Viral marketing: what you need to know.
21
Viral Marketing Everything You Need to Know Ruth Alvarez
-
Upload
ruthalvarezz -
Category
Marketing
-
view
64 -
download
0
description
What is viral marketing? How does one achieve success?
Transcript of Viral marketing: what you need to know.
Viral MarketingEverything You Need to Know
Ruth Alvarez
What is Viral Marketing?
The word viral means, “an image, video, advertisement, etc., that is circulated rapidly on the Internet.”
Marketing by definition is, “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.”
Viral Marketing is…
1. a direct marketing technique in which a company persuades internet users to forward its publicity material in e-mails (usually by including jokes, games, video clips, etc)
2. a marketing strategy in which conventional media are eschewed in favour of various techniques designed to generate word-of-mouth publicity, in the hope of creating a fad or craze
Viral Marketing: History
Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, creators of Hotmail.com, needed a cheap and efficient way to market their email service website. Attached at the end of every email sent from a Hotmail account would be the words, “Want a Free Email Account? Sign up with Hotmail Today!”Every person that received the email could easily click on the hyperlink and open their very own account.
Viral Marketing: History
After its first month of enticing customers with the promise of a completely free email service, they had 20,000 new registered users.
Hotmail is the very first company to have viral success and therefore are widely considered the creators of viral Marketing.
Making a Successful Viral Video
How can you make a successful viral video?
There is no right or wrong way to make a video. Sometimes it’s just luck and timing and other times it’s a carefully thought out process. Most videos that go viral consist of six or seven elements that help in making them viral.
Elements of a SUCCESFUL viral video.
1. EmotionA successful video needs to trigger some sort of emotion in the viewer. You must decide what kind of emotional reaction you would like from your viewer. Is your video supposed to trigger happiness, laughter, sadness, anger or thought-provoking?
Elements of a SUCCESSFUL viral video
2. Do the UnexpectedEven though your main reason should be to promote your item, company or self, it should be subtly introduced in the ad. For example, the “Will it Blend?” ads were promoting a blender, but instead of talking about the blender they’d capture your attention by blending something unexpected, like an iPad.
Elements of a SUCCESSFUL viral video
3. Create a Story Nobody wants to watch a commercial of self promotion. People want to watch two minutes stories. Allow your item or company to be part of a larger story, not the center of it.
Elements of a SUCCESSFUL viral video
4. Don’t believe the Sequel CurseMaking a movie sequel usually ends in failure, but that is not the case in viral marketing. Take advantage of the attention your first video receives. Don’t let the curse discourage you. A great video will always leave the viewers with a desire for more.
Elements of a SUCCESSFUL viral video
5. Click here to share Most websites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have some sort of SHARE button. Promote your viewers to share the video on their personal websites, blogs, Facebook and YouTube accounts. Remember, they have friends and family that haven’t seen your video just yet.
Elements of a SUCCESSFUL viral video
6. Be Interactive Allow yourself to be accessible. The more people feel like they can relate to you, the more they’ll keep watching. People love feeling heard. Make a contest, answer some questions and if possible, mention the word FREE. Who can resist free things?
Top Five Viral Ads
1. Unilever“Dove Real Beauty Sketches”
Top Five Viral Ads
2. Old Man Spice “The man your man could smell like”
Top Five Viral Ads
3. Poo-Pourri
Top Five Viral Ads
4. Anything Geico“15 minutes could save you 15% on car insurance.”
Top Five Viral Ads
5. Volkwagon “Darth Vader”
Elements of a UNSUCCESSFUL viral video
1. OffensiveYes, you want to trigger an emotion from the viewer but you never want to offend a viewer.2. LengthLets be honest, short and sweet works every time. 3. What was your point?You want to be subtle in what your promoting, but you don’t want to leave your viewers confused.
Effective Platforms for Viral Marketing Videos
YouTubeProbably the biggest video-based platform. Companies are now creating their own channel and launching marketing campaigns specifically for the web.
Effective Platforms for Viral Marketing Videos
FacebookYou get to ‘like’ your favorite brands and companies. Keeps you updated on new products and services. Allows for interaction between consumer and supplier. The share button is the greatest weapon for viral marketing. TwitterGreat way for self promotion. Ex. #wearewinter
Give It a Try.
Although, viral marketing has become the quickest, cheapest and most efficient way for huge companies to reach a mass audience in a short amount of time, there is no doubt that anyone can do it. YouTube is a great example of how a simple video can garner a great amount of views. Don’t be shy. Give it a try!
