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The Secrets of Viral Videos
By Ann Handley
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So you want to create a video that
everyone'll talk about. You want it to
be shared globally and earn views,
retweets and "likes." In other words,
you want it to go viral, like Dollar
Shave Club's hilarious video, which
earned the company a whopping 12,000 new
customers in the first two days it hit
the internet.
How do you make that happen? There is no
surefire formula. You can't conjure up
viral; you can't force it. But here's
the thing: If you are looking to market
your business, you don't necessarily
need a viral hit--you just need to
attract enough attention to draw
customers. Here's how.
Focus on the story.
Before trying to be clever, consider the
message. Why are you producing the
video? What problems does your company
tackle, and in what unique ways does it
do so?
"Most marketers have a tendency to focus
on the product, but it's more
interesting to talk about what problem
your product can solve," says Tim
Washer, who creates video for Cisco as
senior manager of social media. Ideally,
that problem is one shared by your
prospects, so they'll recognize their
pain in your video.
Dollar
Shave Club's clip
got attention because it was funny. But
it earned buyers because at its heart
was a real story: Razor blades are
excessively complicated and expensive.
("Do you think your razor needs a
vibrating handle, a flashlight, a
back-scratcher and 10 blades?")
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Keep it tight. Think short and
punchy--ideally, two minutes or less, with something really
compelling in the first 15 or 20 seconds. Effective online
content demands participation, always driving viewers to
move forward. As Arianna Huffington noted in a keynote
speech for MarketingProfs: "If you are consuming old media,
you are consuming it on your couch. If you are consuming new
media, you are consuming it on your horse." Most important
(and obvious): People won't share a video they abandoned
midway through because it was too long.
Of course, there are exceptions. Under Armour had a
hilarious clip of Tom Brady being mocked by an employee at a
Los Angeles Dick's Sporting Goods store--not because he's
from the rival New England Patriots, but because of Boston
accents. I found myself watching all three minutes of what
was essentially a commercial.
Be unexpected. An element of surprise
drives sharing and enhances your company's personality. In a
video shoot for Golf Magazine, top instructor Charlie King
filmed an off-the-cuff "tutorial," showing the proper way to
angrily throw your club into the "watery grave." The clip
was a hit on Golf.com, and it provided an "aha" moment for
King, who realized that his dry humor could be a
differentiator for the content he produces for the Reynolds
Golf Academy in Greensboro, Ga.
If you need help in the creativity department, contact a
local improvisational comedy theater to find an actor or
writer who might conceive a fun video for a modest fee.
"Give them a few parameters, ask them to keep it clean and
politically correct, then see what they come up with," says
Washer, who is trained in improv.
But unexpected doesn't have to mean hilarious--it might
simply mean enjoyable. Tell an untold story, such as an
innovative time in your industry's history or the "eureka"
moment that inspired your business. Unexpected does mean
avoiding boring talking heads and incorporating visually
arresting images and footage that dramatizes a larger point.
Don't forget the basics. An effective
video includes a few must-haves: a descriptive headline;
keyword-optimized descriptions and tags; a call to action
(what do you want people who view your video to do next?);
and a promotion plan with posts that link to your video on
relevant social networks. Make sure your clip is easy to
share by hosting it on networks that offer social sharing
(like YouTube or Vimeo), and make certain the embedding or
sharing options are enabled.
If you have a mailing list, don't forget e-mail
promotion, says Andrew Follett, founder of Oak Park,
Ill.-based Demo Duck, which helps businesses create videos.
Although you may not be able to easily embed video in your
e-mail, he says, "you can include a video thumbnail that
links directly to your video on your website, ideally on a
custom landing page."
Get lucky. Sorry, but it's true: Luck is
the real driver of online success. "Out of 10 videos, if one
catches fire, I'm happy," Washer admits. So keep putting out
great content, and who knows? You just may land on a happy
accident.
Ann Handley is a veteran of creating and managing
digital content to build relationships for organizations and
individuals. Ann is the co-author of the best-selling
Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos,
Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite
Your Business (Wiley, 2011).
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