Want to be a Famous Viral Success Story?
Have you seen or heard of so-called 'viral' videos and email messages? You know, the ones that people forward to their friends and generate huge attention. Ever wondered how can you get the benefits of this 'free' publicity?
(Want to be famous? See the links below for more info on how to do this.)
Well... here's my lowdown on viral marketing.
The viral marketing that seems to get most pass-alongs are the videos or emails that people find genuinely funny, surprising, or topical. People watch them (or read the email) for entertainment. Not because they might learn about your product or service.
I maintain that 'viral' communication is not a sales medium. It cannot directly help you get more customers.
At best, a popular viral video or email can drive traffic to a website. Importantly that traffic is usually in search of more entertainment like they have just witnessed. They are not in the mood to buy what you are selling.
For most businesses smaller than a major national consumer products company (and that is most of us) being famous through a viral email or video is just a pipe dream. It simply doesn't work to generate more business.
Maybe you can achieve fame on a personal level using a provocative, stupid, or dangerous stunt on video - but that isn't what most business owners are looking for.
And, sure... there are rare examples of viral business-to-business video or emails like NetQoS.
But as Tom Pick says, viral campaigns are better suited to generate brand awareness than they do generate leads. And that's if they generate ANY brand awareness at all.
But in the main, viral marketing is controlled by the recipients, not the sender.
To find out more about how to be a famous success with viral marketing see these links:
Marketing Sherpa - How to Go Viral Using Digg (public access for limited time only)
How to be Popular on YouTube (without any talent) free ebook by Kevin Nalts
eMarketer - 3 Hidden Trends for 2008
If you get the impression that I'm not in favour of most medium and smaller companies chasing the delusion of being a viral success story - you'd be exactly right!
(Want to be famous? See the links below for more info on how to do this.)
Well... here's my lowdown on viral marketing.
The viral marketing that seems to get most pass-alongs are the videos or emails that people find genuinely funny, surprising, or topical. People watch them (or read the email) for entertainment. Not because they might learn about your product or service.
I maintain that 'viral' communication is not a sales medium. It cannot directly help you get more customers.
At best, a popular viral video or email can drive traffic to a website. Importantly that traffic is usually in search of more entertainment like they have just witnessed. They are not in the mood to buy what you are selling.
For most businesses smaller than a major national consumer products company (and that is most of us) being famous through a viral email or video is just a pipe dream. It simply doesn't work to generate more business.
Maybe you can achieve fame on a personal level using a provocative, stupid, or dangerous stunt on video - but that isn't what most business owners are looking for.
And, sure... there are rare examples of viral business-to-business video or emails like NetQoS.
But as Tom Pick says, viral campaigns are better suited to generate brand awareness than they do generate leads. And that's if they generate ANY brand awareness at all.
But in the main, viral marketing is controlled by the recipients, not the sender.
To find out more about how to be a famous success with viral marketing see these links:
Marketing Sherpa - How to Go Viral Using Digg (public access for limited time only)
How to be Popular on YouTube (without any talent) free ebook by Kevin Nalts
eMarketer - 3 Hidden Trends for 2008
If you get the impression that I'm not in favour of most medium and smaller companies chasing the delusion of being a viral success story - you'd be exactly right!
Labels: viral email, viral marketing, viral video
posted by Stuart Ayling @ 4:53 PM
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