Going Viral
There’s long been a debate in our profession about what viral content is and how many views or clicks it takes before you can call a piece of content viral. A few years ago, a video went viral on YouTube if it hit a million views. But now, many are saying it needs more than 5 million views in a 3-7 day period to be considered viral. Although most brands and YouTubers would be ecstatic with 500,000+ views.
But if there’s one thing we can’t debate, it’s the power viral video has in generating word-of-mouth and its ability to reach and connect people in an instant, at a fraction of the cost of traditional media. From watching strangers kiss, a PSA for beautiful pizzas, Kevin Bacon explain the ‘80’s to Millennials, to Dollar Shave Club promote their “F****’blades,” viral video can be an extremely effective way to get noticed.
Still, whether your viral video will have huge success is anyone's guess. But great content helps. So here are some things to think about before you start production.
Expect the Unexpected
Imagine your friend told you a story. What about that story would make you want to share it to someone else? Is it who the story is about or more about what happened in the story? Chances are far greater that what happens, and the fact that you never expected it to happen, or that it hasn't happened before is what’s going to be remembered. So do what hasn't been done and spend some time ensuring no-one else has done it.
Have a Credible Reason for Being There
Don’t underestimate your audiences “marketing filter.” Your brand needs to earn a sense of purpose in people's lives. So avoid the hard-sell and try your hardest to create an honest and credible connection. Take the first-date scenario, are you going to go out with the person who keeps talking about themselves or the one who captivates you until the last word and then hands you their phone number?
Shoot for the 3rd Circle
Scott Stratten, writer for Fast Company and owner of UnMarketing.com, says the key to creating long-lasting viral is its ability to reach the 3rd Circle. The first circle is your fans or anyone who’s affiliated with the company. The second circle is the community to which they belong. The third circle is the largest leap, because at that point it is being shared simply on the merits of its content. If you’ve reached the 3rd Circle, you’ve given those who are not familiar with your brand a reason to watch, experience or even listen. So think about how to utilize a panel of tastemakers or influencers who can quickly share your viral video with a wider audience.
Align Your Marketing Efforts
It’s also important to align content with the rest of your marketing activities. Say for instance that your video is a big success, generating thousands of new leads every day, but your website lacks an e-commerce system or sales platform that doesn’t align with the rest of your marketing activity. You’ll get a lot of traffic to your site but are probably going to lose a lot of potential customers and sales.
Take Dollar Shave Club’s infamous viral video. Within just 24 hours of the video going live, they received over 5,000 subscribers by merely posting the video online. Not just because they went out of their way to show how great their blades were but also because they had a really simple landing page that continued the story and could convert visitors into members in less than three clicks.
So while having a lot of money can buy you attention, viral content has a remarkable ability to be “liked” and create brand evangelists. To get there, our best advice would be to surprise, have purpose, align your marketing efforts and most of all, provide something that's worth sharing. And, in the words of our new associate strategist Lisa Carson, “take a video of your kid after the dentist.”