GO VIRAL FOR HUMANITY
“In order for people to care, they have to know” – Jason Russel, Invisible Children
Viral marketing is defined as a piece of content generated by a person or company that viewers are eager to share with friends, colleagues, and family members (Markowitz, 2011). The Web is a powerful tool to share information, and according to Pete Barry, in the Advertising Concept Book (2008), online advertising can become viral (contagious) media.
In 2012, the San Diego based nonprofit Invisible Children launched a 30-minute video with the objective to arrest Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. It went viral. According to the New York Times, “ it became a sensation in less than four days” (March, 2012). The Time reports that in this period of time, the video got 40 million views on Youtube, and more than 13 million on Vimeo, as it was shared through Facebook and Twitter (Goodman & Preston, 2012). The success this video had makes it a great model to study viral marketing. So how did Invisible Children succeed? The New York Times article, How the Kony video went viral gives us some great insight.
They created narratives without going over 140 characters, while still creating emotional connection with the viewer (Goodman et al., 2012). They also were able to create action messages that can be converted into a hashtag. They already had a strong base of active and passionate followers in their social networks, which were socially disconnected from each other, allowing the message to float all around the world. Jason Russell, the film director and narrator invites the viewers to share the message through all of their social media networks, and to enlist celebrities to help get the world out. The call to this action was, to create awareness about Kony and to put pressure to the Ugandan government in order to find and arrest him.
If going viral is your goal, here are some important aspects to consider. According to Eric Markowitz (Inc Magazine), the content of a viral content should not talk about a product or service itself. He interviewed marketing specialists who confirmed that no one cares about your products. Instead, marketers should think about what the audience cares about. Traditional advertising is about promoting a product or service as being superior to its competitors, but a viral campaign needs to be thought of differently (Markowitz, 2011). A viral hit must have a message that is proactively talked about and shared my people- a mass recommendation” (Barry, 2008, p.198). Its about finding “ a purple cow”, or something that will stand out. (Markowitz, 2012). People want to share things that are funny or outrageous, in other words, memorable.
There are high risks and high rewards to viral marketing. Some companies don’t want to go viral because they lose control of their marketing and messaging. (Markoitz, 2012). Most campaigns fail, but the ones that succeed get big rewards. Viral marketing is risky, and the truly successful ideas are the most forward thinking ones, the ones that have never been done before.
Here are some other recommendations to going viral:
-Youtube videos do not need to be as short as traditional TV ads. They can surpass the 15-30 second rule.
-Optimize videos for smart phones
-Have enough followers on facebook and twitter to start the sharing process
-Use common call to actions, such as suggestions to share with a friend.
References:
Barry, P. (2012). The advertising concept book: A complete guide to creative ideas, strategies, and campaigns. New York: Thames & Hudson. Chapter 8.
Markowitz, E. (July 26, 2011). How to Launch a Viral Marketing Campaign. Inc Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/guides/201107/how-to-launch-a-viral-marketing-campaign.html
Goodman, J. D, & Preston, J. (March 9, 2012). How the Kony Video Went Viral. New York Times. Retrieved from http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/how-the-kony-video-went-viral/