The Theory of Viral Marketing via Videos and Websites by Mark Li
Introduction and Background
Viral marketing is the holy grail of marketing. The goal of any successful
marketing campaign is to generate buzz and awareness about the product or
service being offered. If done correctly, the campaign will generate expansive
reach, strong brand-building, strong sales, all at a relatively low production
and distribution cost.
Viral marketing can occur through many mediums, but the Internet is currently
the reigning champion. Cheap Subscriptions (always-on internet access), efficiency
in building contact networks (email, messengers, blogs, websites, etc.), and an
abundance of new content (think Youtube.com) means that there is always
something interesting and easy to share. Videos and websites are probably the
most effective internet platforms for internet viral marketing.
The caveat of viral marketing is that since you are leveraging other people's
Subscriptions (their time and effort, their email lists, etc.), they will be on the
lookout for signs of commercialism. A person will not spread a company's
message because there is no benefit for him. He actually suffers because he is
losing credibility among friends. On the other hand, if the same person told
his friends to give to an orphanage or other charity, he will be well received
and appear magnanimous.
So assuming that your target viral marketer - the person who sees your ad and
must spread the advertisement to his acquaintances - falls somewhere in between
the extremes of shamelessly plugging a company and expounding upon the virtues
of charity, you must balance the inherent commercialism with his desire to
spread your message. You must produce something so interesting and compelling
that your target marketer has no choice but to share it, marketing message
payload and all.
So here is where we strike upon the most difficult challenge of creating a
successful viral marketing campaign - finding the balance of creativity and
uniqueness while not diminishing the purpose of your marketing in the first
place. The challenge is stiff: too commercial and it will not spread beyond the
first marketer, too radical and your brand image may no longer match the
content of the advertisement. However, do not despair. It has been done with
impressive success, and as long as there is an audience of willing consumers,
many more impressively successful campaigns will manifest.
Examples of Successful Commercial Viral Videos
The Superbowl is the largest television event in America. Every year, 40
percent of America households, or approximately 80-90 million Americans, are
tuned into the Superbowl at some time. The 30 second Superbowl commercial, the
most revered spot in American broadcasting, sold for a reported $2.5 million in
the 2006 Superbowl.
With viral marketing, the same level audience can be reached, but at a fraction
of the cost. The best viral marketing is not blasted at once to a large
audience, but once seeded to a few individuals, will grow until many millions
of people will have heard of it. Importantly, these people are not just
receiving a television broadcast, but they are telling their friends about it,
discussing it, joking about it, and making a mental impression of it. One
person who tells others about a video he saw is more valuable than 10 who see
your video and forget about it.
One successful viral video shows 2 men dressed in lab coats demonstrating the
befuddling Diet Coke and Mentos chemical reaction. Apparently, if you drop
Mentos breath mints into Diet Coke, it creates a reaction akin to mixing baking
soda and vinegar. Many videos were produced, but this particular video was
probably the best produced, including a musically choreographed demonstration
of over 100 Diet Coke and Mentos fountains. After being featured on CNN, it was
revealed that the video's creators had already made several tens of thousands
of dollars selling the advertisements at the beginning and end of the video.
- Coca Cola and Mentos
The Diet Coke video is an example of how viral videos can make money. But a
company that wishes to get exposure needs a different approach. One way is for
the company to sponsor the creation of a new video (or the sequel of a
previously popular video), and then intersperse the company's logo and website
throughout the video. A good example of this is Stride gum's commission of
"Where the Hell is Matt" - a video that shows Matt dancing for a few seconds at
dozens of places around the world, all set to funny music. The video is novel
and ridiculous at the same time - just how many airports, customs, and taxis
did Matt and his crew have to go through just to shoot a few seconds of Matt's
dancing? Anyways, the video took off, and Stride cannot be disappointed with
their return on investment.
- Where the Hell is Matt?
However, the Matt video still only straddles the line of balancing
commercialism and content. The perfect video would both integrate the company's
product with content so compelling that the commercial aspect is no longer a
concern. To remove the commercial aspect would destroy the very fabric of the
commercial. Below, I have included the links of 2 successfully circulated
videos, one for Coca-Cola and one for Carlton Draught. These ads are classics
of viral marketing because of their power, their persuasiveness, and elegance
in weaving together commercialism and content.
- Carlton Draught Big Ad
- Coke Happiness Factory
A Case Study for Successful Web Marketing
Viral videos excite on a visual and auditory level, but have limitations in
spreading your company's message. Unless you are making a branding video, and
can pull of something like Coke or Carlton Draught, the user may not even know
what your company does unless he goes to your website or otherwise tries your
product. A website can be a successful viral platform that not only generates
visitors, but can also deliver your company's message. In this case study, we
will look at a service called AdCubes that combines all the elements of
successful viral web marketing.
- AdCubes
The first element that of a successful viral website is to have an idea that is
at once unique and creative. The website must offer something the visitor and
the visitor's friends will need. In the case of the AdCubes, the product is
mundane - it is an advertisement that is sold to anybody who wishes to purchase
it. However, the concept is unique. Each ad cube costs $1 more than the
previous one. As more and more people visit the site, the ads become more
valuable, and the price is naturally driven up by purchases made by the same
visitors.
The payoff for buying an ad is huge - the person who purchased the first ad for
$1 has received hundreds of clicks for his investment. As the value of the ads
increase, people will return to the site often, morbidly curious how much
advertisers would pay for the same cube that others have purchased for less.
Will the price top out at $100 per cube? Or will it be nearer $100,000?
The beauty of this system is that it is self-reinforcing. People will come and
buy ads, and tell their friends about the site. As more and more buzz builds,
traffic increases, advertisers increase, and the price of the ads increases.
The increasing price drives more buzz, and eventually will garner media
attention. Then when buzz is peaking, the price of ads will peak as well,
driving higher and higher interest in the concept. In the end, the payoff to
the site's owners could be millions of dollars. The payoff to advertisers could
be millions of impressions and thousands of clicks. The payoff to visitors
would be to witness a web phenomenon in action.
Of course, there is a lot of seeding that must be done before a site can
successfully become a viral property. However, once the seeding process begins,
a well-planned site will grow closer and closer each day toward critical mass.
Once the critical mass is satisfied, then the site truly becomes viral, growing
more and more popular without any input from the creators. This process can be
facilitated by improving distribution channels. In the case of AdCubes, a links
page allows webmasters and blogs to easily post about the site. Each sales
confirmation email also contains a request for the advertiser to tell his
acquaintances about his new AdCube.
There are many approaches to making a successful viral web site, but the basics
are the same. You must have compelling content, it must be accessible for free
or at low cost, and it must be easy to transmit. Once the basics are in place,
the only thing left is seeding the first visitors until you reach the critical
mass.
Additional Successful Web Marketing
- The Subservient Chicken from Burger
King
- I Love Bees for Halo2
- The Million Dollar Homepage
Conclusion
It is essential for marketers to understand viral marketing. Why spend
Subscriptions on getting your company message out when you can recruit others to do
it for you? You will need to have creativity in spades to find that
all-compelling idea that people cannot help but spread, but find that idea, and
you will be well on your way toward profiting from the holy grail of marketing.
Subscriptions Referenced
- Youtube Videos
- International Business Times
About the Author
Mark Li is an independent marketing professional who offers web development and
marketing consulting services. Please email markli57 at gmail dot com to get in
touch with Mark.
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