If your company doesn't have a website, you don't exist. These days, almost everyone is doing their marketing online. However, it's not enough to just have a website, a Facebook page or take out banner ads. One has to be more creative in order to go viral.
It's not just about making other people aware of you. It's also about being interesting enough for people to do the marketing for you. Here are some of the most outstanding ideas from the past two years that made the most out of social media:
1. Youtube
The most popular Youtube videos tend to be really random or have no intention of being viral (Double Rainbow anyone?). Because of the success of the viral video, a lot of companies have tried to duplicate the effect. Some try and go for the unbranded approach but it can still backfire because it's harder to get the message across. If the video feels too staged, it may take away the authenticity of its message.
A viral video doesn't have to be unbranded to work. One of the most successful viral videos is the Old Spice Guy Commercial. Last year they came out with another great idea.
Old Spice Guy Response videos
They knew how popular the character had become and took it further by letting him interact with the audience. This is the viral winner of the year because it's so simple but genius. A lot of articles have already been written about this campaign. See the stats in this infographic:
As expected, this style has been copied but with little success. Cisco's Who is Ted From Accounting has a dismal 11,000+ views.
Tipp-Ex Youtube Takeover
A Youtube takeover is not just a simple video. The video isn't confined to the video box, it stretches to fill the entire page. Unlike the previous example, this is a more complicated style of a Youtube video.
Tipp Ex might not have been the first interactive Youtube takeover, but they did it better with over 43 million channel views. Who would've thought that one of the most creative ads could come from correction fluid?
Most of the following examples prove that you don't need a video to be a viral success.
2. Facebook
Last year there were even more contest than ever. The easiest way to get buzz is to hold a contest where all you have to do is like something to win. It works because of how easy it is to do and how viral it can get because it automatically gets posted on your wall.
Everyone wins: Kohl's Cares
Target's app in 2009 allowed people to vote for a foundation they would give $3M to. It was simple, spreadable and it was for a good cause. Last year Kohl's duplicated the success with their own charity voting app. Kohl's and Target both have over 3 million fans each in their Facebook pages.
See this list for more innovative Facebook applications. Not satisfied? Read this one.
Best Ad Placement: Bing on Farmville
Bing got 400,000 new Facebook fans in one day after offering an incentive on Farmville. Placing an ad in a game isn't exactly new but this was a big opportunity and they just took it. Today, Bing has over 1 million fans.
Most Creative: IKEA Showroom Facebook Tagging
This example came out in 2009 but it remains one of the most innovative Facebook campaigns ever. IKEA posted pictures of its products in Facebook. Users who were first to tag themselves on an item won it. Unfortunately, this type of promotion is not allowed anymore by Facebook's new policies.
Ideas that have potential:
Changing your Facebook profile picture
3. Twitter
Uniqlo Lucky Line
Uniqlo came out with this simple contest last May. Users can join the lucky line via a tweet! Every 26th user to line up wins a coupon worth ¥1,000. Contests in Twitter aren't a new thing but Uniqlo did it in a different way using a cute Flash interface that got people's attention. More than 60,000 people joined the queue in its first two days.
X-box Support
This next example isn't really a campaign but it's a good example of how to effectively use social media. The X-box Support Twitter is a good customer service. Instead of waiting for users to write to them, they make the first move by searching for problems reported on Twitter. They even got a Guiness World Record for Most Responsive Brand on Twitter.
4. Chat Roulette
To promote the movie, a cute flirty girl was placed in Chat Roulette to prank users. Just when the victims think the girl is ready to take her clothes off, her eyes roll back and she is possessed by a demon. The best reactions can be seen on Youtube with over 4 million views. The movie grossed a total of $41M domestically which is a lot for its modest $1.8M budget.
Read more examples of Chat Roulette ad campaigns here.
5. Google Maps
Arcade Fire: The Wilderness Downtown
Arcade Fire reinvents music videos through their joint venture with Google. Viewers input the address of the house they grew up on and watch a personalized video of the song. The technological aspect merited them the FWA Site of the Year 2010. The band also received acclaim for their music as they won a Grammy for Album of the Year.
Monopoly City Streets was promoted through an online game integrated with Google Maps. People could buy and sell property like the Monopoly game but with real existing streets. The game was a success, running for 3 months with over 5 million players. Watch the Monopoly City Streets case study.
6. Foursquare
The premise of KLM Surprise is simple. Passengers who check in their flights through Foursquare can get a personalized treat from KLM. Read a case study of KLM Surprise here. KLM currently has over 4000 followers on Foursquare, which is low compared to the other figures in the other examples. On the other hand, location based marketing is relatively new. Similar campaigns will appear when location based marketing becomes more popular.
What makes something viral?
1. Fun or entertaining - People don't seek out things on the Internet that are boring. It's good to have an element of spontaneity or something new to catch attention. Cadbury made the first round Youtube video player. It's new enough to grab your eye but without much interactivity, the gimmick gets old quickly. Tipp Ex gets it right by letting you type what you want the hunter to do.
2. Connect with the audience - It's not enough to be funny or entertaining. People have to care about what you're saying. Adding interactivity can help build that connection which will help your ad spread. Target is able to connect with users because people want to help. With their Facebook app, it's easy for people to do so. Everybody wins.
What didn't work was the Digital Death Twitter campaign to fight AIDS because more focus was placed on the celebrities instead of the disease itself.
3. Do something easy to win a prize - In most cases, if your campaign revolves around bribing your customer then it isn't a very innovative campaign. However, a lot of examples in this post are creatively executed like IKEA and Uniqlo. In the other examples, brands were able to make that emotional connection with their fans without offering a prize because they were creative enough.
Conclusion:
Going viral is the easy part. The content that goes viral has to be related to the message you want to spread about your brand. Secondly, once you do go viral, it's important to keep the momentum going in the right direction. Another useful tip to get from these examples is to integrate more than one social media website into your campaign. The biggest example, Old Spice guy, used the responses from Twitter to make the video replies from. The Last Exorcism compiled the reactions it got from Chat Roulette into a funny video to post on Youtube. It's important to have the proper response and strategy for the reception of your viral.
There's a lot of ideas left to be explored with the Internet growing everyday. You could be using the next big viral and not even know it yet! Some of the best ones are usually the most simple that make you wish you thought ot it.
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