by Elizabeth
4. August 2010 08:45
This post is the second in a series of four about viral video marketing. The first post, Viral Video Marketing - Creating a Strategy, covered the necessary steps needed to create a viral video strategy. The next posts will cover implementation and measurement insights that we have either learned through practice, or are widely recognized as best practices.
Once a strategy is in place and accepted by the necessary stakeholders, the next step is to determine the approach and create the content. Creative content is critical to viral success - people do not share or engage with mediocre content. Videos typically go viral when they appeal to a person's emotions - these emotions could include joy, sadness, delight, surprise, etc. Just make sure there is a clear emotional appeal, and that these emotions are inline with your brand.
Understand the Keys to Success
After you define your emotional appeal, understand how other companies have achieved success using these emotions. Visible Measures, ReelSEO, and Mashable Video all have regular features about viral videos. You can also check out the Category section on YouTube. Try to notice common themes among the top featured videos. For example, I've noticed that some viral vlogs incorporate comments from viewers into future vlogs. Doing this builds audience engagement and active viewers, and active viewers will send videos along to their friends.
Writing Content
The next step is to start concepting. Of course, we'd recommend partnering with an experienced viral video production agency to develop concepts, but here are a few ideas to get you started if you plan to make a humorous viral video:
- Parody: Is there a video that is really hot right now? Create a parody to try to build off their fame. The key to a successful parody is speed and quality. You'll need to produce this quickly - the original video still needs to be popular for a parody to take off. It should also be as funny or funnier than the original. If the humor quality isn't up to snuff, then the video will fall flat and may even tarnish your brand.
- Stunt: A stunt video shows some kind of newsworthy or novel action, typically featuring your product. The most successful example of this is Blendtec's "Will it Blend" videos. The key to their continued success is that they are blending newsworthy objects - whenever a new iPhone comes out, Blendtec is quick to blend one.
- Prank: A viral video that shows a prank needs to be hilarious to go viral. The other side of the coin is the shock video - this is when a prank or a stunt goes horribly wrong, so much that the audience is shocked.
- Celebrity: If you are lucky enough to have celebrity friends that will endorse your product, you'll have a quick way to get views. Celebrities already have a fan base, so appealing to that base could help your views and viral potential.
- Original story: This is the most ambitious of the above approaches, since you will likely need to partner with an agency or scriptwriter and hire actors. Think about this approach as making a mini-film or broadcast commercial. But with the added investment, could come a huge payoff.
Other Considerations
- Will you need to hire talent?
- Where will the video be shot? Do you need to secure a location or a studio?
- Will there be one video or a series of videos?
- Is it all live action? Or will you need animation as well? Or is it all animation?
- What equipment will you need?
- Are there other licensing considerations?
Creative content is the first part of the puzzle. The next blog in this series will cover the second part - landing the content for viral success.
