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Viral refers to the phenomenon of content that is passed on and shared by its viewers, causing an exponential growth in viewers.
Whilst the mechanisms for spreading "virals" has evolved over the past 15 years, the principle of producing great viral marketing campaigns remains the same:
- Produce engaging content
- Produce a mechanism for sharing the content
Viral videos have seen a proliferation in recent years thanks to the rise of online video sharing sites and social networks. Some of the earliest examples of viral videos include Star Wars Kid (http://wooshii.com/v/94/3136) and the Evolution of Dance (http://wooshii.com/v/687/3136). These videos spread like wildfire and yet were not designed as viral advertising campaigns and went viral more by accident than design.
The golden egg for many advertising agencies has been to replicate the success of these viral videos within video advertising or viral marketing campaigns attached to brands.
Although a difficult effect to create, there have been some notable successes.
Transport for London (http://wooshii.com/v/720/3136) managed to create over 20 million views for this viral advert that focused on improving driving habits of London drivers.
Sunglasses brand Ray Ban produced a series of videos with a notable success being the Man Catches Glasses viral campaign (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-prfAENSh2k).
In more recent years we have seen even more sophisticated viral advertising campaigns that have included personalisation and interactivity (Hero and Val Sinestra are two great examples) and connections with social network APIs.
Although there is no guarantee of a viral hit, many features can be built into a video to give it the best chances of being a viral success.
Resonate with your audience - What are your viewers talking about/ sharing/ associating with? Virals are used as a form of social currency online so anything that you can produce that will make them look funny, clever, cool etc is likely to get passed on.
Provide a trigger - Something that will engage the viewers to pass on. This might be a shock, joke or random event that sets a desire to spread a particular piece of footage to their peers.
Make it High Impact - Viral videos do not work with mediocrity. They have to stun. So, to ensure your viral marketing has the best chance of success,make it really funny or a huge shock. Less triggers emphasised is better than many triggers that are low key
Seed it - Don't stay passive waiting for your audience to find you perfect viral advert. Use paid services such as Stumbleupon or Sharethrough to gain as much exposure as you can quickly to your content
Open Up - Do not be shy - ensure your video can be tweeted, shortened, downloaded. It will only become a viral video if you open up the mechanism to allow it to be shared
Timing - events, news stories and seasonal events can all be an excellent way to ensure your viral video has the best chance of success. Better still, focus around an annual event and your viral advert will reappear every year
Track - So how do you know if your viral advertising campaign has been a success? Tracking. Use YouTube Insights or services such as Tubemogul to keep a score of how successful your viral video advertising campaign is
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