Recently, I have been researching different ways to launch my creative content business Raybabe Productions Inc. Digital Marketing is a crucial part to the success of my company because there are many low cost or no cost strategies to drive business. Perhaps developing a creative video that shows a piece of my creative content could be posted on the web? What next? How can I make this video go viral?
David Meerman Scott from WebInkNow.com has an incredible blog on Digital Marketing and Leadership Strategies. I found some great tips on how to make a video go viral on the world-wide-web. Here are the eight tips Mr. Scott shared.
The most important thing is to make sure the video is funny, amazing, remarkable, or have some fascinating information or be controversial. The video needs to have a reason for people to pass it on.
TIP #1
The first tip is that you don’t need to hire a professional. A homemade quality video can work great. Plan ahead and shoot several takes to get it right.
TIP #2
Your video should be less than two minutes. Think very short. Although YouTube will accept a video that is less than 10 minutes, try to make the video between 30 seconds and two minutes.
TIP #3
To best promote your video, you'll want the video title or description on YouTube to be accurate and interesting. Use descriptive keywords and language that people will find when they search for videos. Make sure to use the correct categorizations on YouTube so people can find it.
TIP #4
Some companies try to sneak corporate-sponsored videos onto YouTube in a way that makes it seem like it is a consumer-generated video. Scott warns us to not attempt “stealth” fake customer insertions on YouTube, as YouTube is adept at fleshing out the fakes.
TIP #5
The fifth tip is to try a series of similar videos to build interest. This tip may help me as I introduce the characters of a slapstick comedy film. Perhaps a few short funny videos to help introduce my characters? Collectively, they could tell an interesting, amusing, and short story. These videos could create interest and link them to my films’ website.
TIP #6
When uploading your first few videos, you are likely to hear a deafening silence. You'll be waiting for comments, but none will come. You'll check your video statistics and be disappointed by the tiny number of viewers. Don’t get discouraged. It takes time to build an audience. Make sure people know it is there and can find it. Create links to your video from your home page, product pages, or online media room. Mention your video in your e-mail or offline newsletters, and create links to your video as part of your e-mail signature and those of the others in your organization.
TIP #7
You also need to make sure bloggers know about you. Sending a link of the video to bloggers or commenting on other people's blogs (and including a link to your video) is a good way to build an audience. If you comment on blogs in the same space as yours, you might be surprised at how quickly you will get viewers to go to your video.
TIP #8
Finally, while Scott believes it is difficult to purposely create viral marketing buzz, it is certainly possible. He suggests creating a number of campaigns and observe what is a hit, then nurture the winner along. Think like a venture capitalist or movie studio and try a number of things in order to get that elusive hit.
These tips were very useful for marketing my video content and they could also help you. Check out the link at the end of my post to view some of the nominated viral videos from the 2011 Webby Awards. My personal favorite is the Digital Nativity. Let me know if you had some success with your video going viral by sending me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts about digital marketing and viral videos.
Interesting content Ray!
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