Q: How do you make something go viral?
A: Creating content that gets passed through the masses faster than good gossip can be startup gold. That point was clearly proved over the summer with the already iconic Old Spice Man videos, which have been seen by more than 100 million people and helped increase the company's July sales by 107 percent. But producing viral content and then, well, getting it to go viral, is no easy task.
"Video is the thing that goes viral the fastest," says Michael Terpin, founder and CEO of Social Radius, the social media marketing firm responsible for getting 40 million eyeballs on the video for Will.i.am's "Yes We Can" Obama anthem in 2008. Terpin says you don't need a big budget to create a YouTube sensation, just a two-minute-or-less short that is funny, inspirational and--above all--decently produced.
"If you're holding an iPhone in the wind, it's going to look that way."
As for the humor thing, don't fret if you're not exactly the next Jonah Hill. "Parodies work," Terpin says. He also suggests trying out your material in front of a trusted audience before pressing "record." "If your friends laugh, there's a chance that someone else will, too. A little well-calculated controversy is good, too."
When you're ready to seed your material, mine your social networks for both the "right" people and those who are connected to them. And, of course, tweet, Facebook and e-mail away, asking friends to pass it along. But make sure your video is actually good before you do.
"If you have a loser video, no one is going to want to see Loser 2.0."
This article was originally published in the October 2010 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: OMG, Check it Out.
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Comments:
Where eyeballs go, money follows.
It sounds illogical. will it blend video channel began operating in 2006. Ever since, were broadcast in the channel about a hundred videos. Scope of this activity was the company Roughly one million dollars. Blendtec's video channel is considered the leader in the number of viewing. Conclusion, only a long process and a large budget create buzz.
As practitioners in five years in a row. I can tell you almost certainly you are wrong. YouTube has become a death trap for video creators. Every day that passes only emphasizes the difficulty of reaching views, in part because of network congestion. Say you have a small budget, this is a bit naive. I wonder what you have to say about a site like unrulymedia.com. Their campaign can reach millions of views but also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Thanks Erin, video that is seo specific, with a effective call to action and is still has what it takes for your target market to pass it around..... to the rest of your target market is absolutely a interesting challenge. I look forward to see how this process develops over the next few years. all the best small business speaker Nathaneal Mohr
Thanks for the insight. I think using Twitter and Facebook can accelerate the rate at which a video can go viral as well.
It's true, to drive traffic to websites or to get anything to go viral, focus on content and create something engaging that people want to share!
Hi, Is there a revenue model around youtube videos? In case yes, can some one send a short note on the same
That last remark made me laugh.. don't we have enough of that '2.0' thing? I think it's just a matter of time when bandwidth are stretched to the max and we'll all be watching videos in a speed that matches Google Instant. Thanks for reminding me of these simple things as I'm on my way to filming that viral vid.
Oh My did I read this correctly...basically he is saying you get just one shot at a funny viral video? ouch. Live with Intention, DrBillToth.com/blog