Tracking. Bad. The Secret Strategies Behind Many “Viral” Videos. Update: Dan has a follow up to this post, here.
This guest post was written by Dan Ackerman Greenberg, co-founder of viral video marketing company The Comotion Group and lead TA for the Stanford Facebook Class. Dan will graduate from the Stanford Management Science & Engineering Masters program in June. Have you ever watched a video with 100,000 views on YouTube and thought to yourself: “How the hell did that video get so many views?”
Chances are pretty good that this didn’t happen naturally, but rather that some company worked hard to make it happen – some company like mine. When most people talk about “viral videos,” they’re usually referring to videos like Miss Teen South Carolina, Smirnoff’s Tea Partay music video, the Sony Bravia ads, Soulja Boy – videos that have traveled all around the internet and been posted on YouTube, MySpace, Google Video, Facebook, Digg, blogs, etc. – videos with millions and millions of views.
Secret #1: Not all viral videos are what they seem 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. AdFreak: YouTube names top 10 brand videos of 2010. 10 Guidelines for Creating Great Social Media Content. Sean Carton | December 20, 2010 | 0 Comments Creating media that can "go viral" is a lot like becoming a successful stand-up comic.
I had to laugh this morning when I read the headline to this article on MarketingVox. "Want Your Video To Go Viral? " it asked, "Make it Funny or Focus on Sports. " Oh sure! Observing that "all" you have to do to make something go viral is "make it funny" or "focus on sports" is sort of like saying that "all" you have to do to become a famous standup comic is "get on stage" and "tell jokes. " If you've ever ventured into the wild world of viral media, I'm sure that you know that creating successful viral content is tough. So what works? Before you go on, go refresh your memory by watching the videos. OK. Wow! One final note: this list covers creating viral media…the strategy for getting it out there is another thing. The Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns - Forbes.com. How to Hit the Spread in Online Video - Advertising Age - DigitalNext. Measure Viral Video & Audience Engagement.
20 Winning Elements Of a Viral Campaign. 5 Steps to Going Viral on Twitter — Copyblogger. Recipe for a Successful Viral Video. 8 tips to make your YouTube video go viral. Have you seen Will It Blend?
It's a crazy series of videos by Blendtec, a small blender manufacturer. The series has been seen by millions of people. My favorite is Will It Blend? – iPhone. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and take a minute to watch. Recently I appeared on MSNBC Your Business with JJ Ramberg to discuss how to make your YouTube video go viral. Here are some tips to make video go viral. Most importantly: Your video needs to be funny or amazing or remarkable or have some fascinating information or be controversial. Tip # 1 – Homemade is just fine You don’t need to hire a professional. Tip #2 –Your video should be no longer then 2 minutes (preferably less) Think very short. Tip #3 -- Make your description clear and specific. Tip # 4 -- Don't attempt "stealth" fake customer insertions to YouTube. Tip #5 – Try a series of similar videos to build interest Sometimes a series of videos works great.
Tip #6 – Tell everyone about your video! Good luck.