Posts Tagged ‘viral video’

Aug
18
How to Make a Successful Viral Video
Posted by: Brandtailers

How much does it cost to reach 45 million adult viewers on national television? About $917,300. How much did it cost Unilever to get 45 million views on this Axe viral video? Nuttin’ honey. How long did it take? About 2 months. How much did the production cost? We’re not sure, but it probably cost a bit more because it was 2:30 minutes long vs. the typical 30 second broadcast spot. Yet certainly not $917,000 more.

All these metrics look great, don’t they? But the biggest difference is not the cost, the savings, the reach, the time frame or the production. The biggest difference with this viral video is exactly that – it was all viral. People sent it to friends, showed it to family, and looked for it on their own. It wasn’t pushed into their personal media space. It was pulled into the viewer’s world by the viewer. How much would you pay to have 45 million people want to see your commercial?

Oh, yes, and the ultimate measurement: Unilever attributed a 22% increase in website activity and a 6% increase in sales while this viral video was running wild online. They called this a strong success.

What makes some viral videos generate millions of online views while others, often appearing to be equally well thought out, are left in the dust?  It centers around knowing your audience and offering them one or more emotions that stirs them into action. It causes them to want to share and want to buy.  Laughter, tenderness, fear, shock, even disgust, works if you’re directing the appropriate emotion to the appropriate audience with the appropriate retail message.  (Toss in a dash of surprise and you’re even better off!) In short, the success is in the IDEA. The question is, which advertisers are willing to re-think their agency/client compensation and pay well for a great IDEA?

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Jul
20
What’s so great about having a YouTube Channel?
Posted by: Cheril Hendry

OK, so You Tube is turning into the second most powerful search engine on the web. So what? Oh   yeah, and Susan Boyle’s 27 million viewers who saw her first appearance on Britain’s Got Talent via You Tube is no big deal either. The fact that she became a world-wide overnight sensation via the web is irrelevant for your business, right? What’s that got to do with the average business owner trying to get more sales?

Ever heard of the infamous Will It Blend video that took Blendtec, a simple kitchen blender, to historic sales levels in the kitchen appliance industry? Almost 4 million views  later, a product as basic as most of its competition made history by doing something different. Now Will It Blend has a YouTube Channel of their own with over 199,000 subscribers. Each week they see if something new will blend, from basic avocados, to Olympus Cameras, to iPhones. With over 100 videos on their Channel, each averages over 50,000 views. Sales continue to escalate.

But it’s not just entertainment that draws eyeballs. “How To” videos are extremely popular too. Check out Home Depot’s Channel. With a quarter of a million viewers watching over 100 short but informative how-to videos, Home Depot is earning business by offering free information that people search out.

And with time still being today’s rarest commodity, people who can view verses read something online appreciate the time saving aspect You Tube Channels offer. It really can be a second website for your business, just all video.  And a channel with good content that’s well-organized and optimized for search is what Google likes to serve up to its users.

Best of all, in typical Google ownership fashion (they bought YouTube a couple years ago) it’s free. Plus they’ve added a bunch of great measurement and analytics tools to help market your channel better.  All you have to do is come up with something people want to see, hear, and share. So just as a small little company with a red apple icon said a few years back, you’ll have your greatest success if you Think Different.

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