Chances are you’re familiar with the concept of viral marketing and its growing popularity in recent years. For those that don’t know, viral marketing is a form of advertising where information about your brand or a product spreads like a virus (hence the word “viral”) via word-of-mouth, typically through the Web. One of the most recent viral marketing campaigns that found great success is Old Spice. King Media shared the secrets of Old Spice’s success in a blog post back in August and the campaign is still going strong today. Many companies wish for the same response for their brand but fail to realize that a successful viral marketing campaign must go beyond a YouTube video.
While a video on YouTube itself may attain a number of hits, its hope of becoming a viral success will die quickly if people aren’t talking about it. What’s one of the best ways to engage fans, share content and get people talking about your brand? Well, social media of course! According to wired.com, viral marketing is the concept while social media is the tool. Take advantage of existing outlets by creating memorable, exciting content and people will gladly share it with others. Word-of-mouth is an incredibly powerful medium that costs nothing for your company yet has proven to be extremely influential, as people typically trust their peers and family members more than advertisers.
One of the biggest challenges with creating a viral marketing campaign is balancing the fine line of spreading content without appearing as an obvious advertisement. Your message must be original and stand out from the crowd, which sometimes requires an out-of-the-box approach, but it shouldn’t come off as a traditional advertisement. One of the most successful approaches – especially with the younger demographic – is a humor appeal, as seen in the Old Spice campaign. Younger people tend to want to share things that they like and think are funny, and often times they’ll post links and videos to their Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets, and then their friends who see it will do the same, and so on. This creates enormous exposure for your brand and will leave viewers wanting more.
This brings us to the last important step for successful viral marketing. Most campaigns come and go, so to ensure yours lasts you must follow up with your audience. If your audience wants more you need to be ready to come up with additional creative and original content for your campaign. If you use a spokesperson or mascot, make certain that they’re personable and there to answer fan questions whether through another video and/or social media. This will help to make your brand memorable and build brand loyalty.
The concept of viral marketing has been around for quite some time, but when combined with modern marketing techniques, such as social media, it can create a lasting and successful campaign. If you’re interested in developing or launching a viral marketing campaign, let the experts at King Media assist you in creating one that will not only be memorable but also successful for your brand!
