Going Viral with Video Marketing

November 29^th 2011 Sally Ormond how to go viral, Video marketing

How many times have you posted a link to a video that’s gone viral?

The companies that achieve this phenomenon are canny creatures - what incredible PR? All they did was make a single investment in a video (albeit a very good one) and before you know it, it’s everywhere. Now that’s what I call PR.

So how did they pull it off?

More importantly, how come their video went global while yours remains unloved and unwatched on YouTube?

Marketing isn’t about you

It’s not you know.

I know what you’re thinking - of course it’s about me, if it wasn’t how would they know where to buy from?

That’s true enough, but think about your video marketing as you would any other type of marketing.

It’s a safe bet to say you hate being deluged with unsolicited emails and cold calls, so why do you think it’s OK to do the same to your customers?

Like you, they hate being disturbed constantly by people they’ve never heard of trying to sell them stuff they don’t want. But if you took the time to engage with them (perhaps through social media) and offered them great tips and advice, they might warm to you and consider doing business with you.

What’s all this got to do with video marketing?

Well, videos that go viral all have one thing in common - they make an emotional connection with the viewer. What’s more they don’t scream BUY FROM US NOW because they have been cleverly thought through rather than simply throwing together a blatant advert.

Watch these and you’ll get where I’m coming from:

Samsung’s video with a novel way of promoting LED TVs

Benons for Beds unique bed promotion

T Mobile

The viral way

The old school of marketing has now left the room.

If you want to be a success, you must start thinking about engaging with your audience and that doesn’t mean blatant sales pitches.

Your videos mustn’t be viewed as TV commercials - your viewer has to get something out of them. Not only that, they have to want to share them, so make it easy for them and use the YouTube platform.

So when you think about your next corporate video, forget about direct selling of your products and start to think about yoru viewer and what would appeal to them - that’s when the magic begins.

Sally Ormond - freelance copywriter