Viral marketing
In previous articles, I gave my classification of common word of mouth marketing (WOMM). I listed 11 types and promised to tell about each of them in more detail. I have already managed to write about marketing rumors and give an example of its practical use (see kudashkina.habrahabr.ru/blog/75946 ). Today we talk about viral marketing. This is an extensive topic that deserves to be highlighted in a separate article (perhaps not even one).
Viral marketing (word of mouth marketing) is a great thing. Just think ... instead of spending big money on advertising in print media, on TV commercials or banners, you do not spend anything - and allow your admirers to do all the work for you.
With viral marketing, your campaigns suddenly begin to live their own lives - and spread like a virus. Everyone wants to see them, but after seeing, they want to discuss.
')
Viral marketing is an extremely powerful weapon, and its effect is usually 500-1000 times stronger than from traditional types of advertising.
But how?
Viral marketing has many tricks. Here are the 7 most important:
The most important trick in this business is to cause very strong emotions. You must have an opinion and express the idea with all responsibility and devotion. You need people to:
They were filled with love or hate;
Were very happy or insanely angry;
Were idiots or geniuses;
Were full of compassion or extremely selfish.
You need the blood of people to boil with excitement.
Forget about diplomacy, about trying to please everyone, taking into account the interests of several target groups and about other “neutralities”. Viral marketing is 100% emotionally based.
Actually, this is the essence of the recommendation. If you want your campaign to be noticed, be different from others - be unpredictable. Forget about promoting your product only by reassurances about how good it is - everyone does it. Forget about trying to put it in the most favorable light - in this you will be unoriginal.
Remember how Dove advertising evolved? It was unexpected - and it was one of the most effective viral advertisements of all time. Almost 10 million views!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
One of the biggest mistakes made by companies is looking at viral marketing as if it’s just an advertisement that people exchange - and this isn’t true! Traditional marketing is a looping on product promotion by demonstrating its best qualities. At the same time, advertisers, as a rule, are incredibly egocentric, and for filming commercials they attract supermodels or movie stars. But you know what? Nobody cares about you!
The basis of viral marketing is a good story. In the BMW Films produced by the BMW Concern, the main ingredient was not cars, but history. Replace one car with another - and it will still be great. When Sony released its Bravia TV commercials, no one has yet seen the product itself - but we still remember the commercials.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bb8P7dfjVw&feature=player_embedded
Sony Bravia commercials should be attributed to the most successful viral video of all time (18,900,000 views!). The idea of ​​running thousands of bouncing balls through the streets of San Francisco should have sounded like crazy stuff in words, but in practice it had the exact opposite effect. It was hardly possible to discern what it was: an advertisement or a video clip for Jose Gonzales's “Crosses”. Never before has the concept of color been conveyed so brilliantly, and the creators of the video maximized the benefits of this crucial combination of image and sound.
Forget about yourself, your product and your company. Focus exclusively on creating a good, interesting story. Of course, you can add to this cocktail and your product. But he should not be his main ingredient.
So, people just saw your campaign. It seemed to them interesting, unexpected, their emotions reached a high level - that is, you won their attention.
What's next?
Doing the same as most companies doesn’t care about doing nothing at all ... and this is a big mistake. Having caught the attention of the public, you need to act; and the best thing to do here is to create sequels. Under the sequels means a lot of things.
It may be the following films in the same concept as the first - so did BMW Films and Nissan. These can also be:
Films about making movies (commercials):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkdcnEwiW5M
Blogs to discuss the process;
Additional materials or quality product;
... or all of this together.
Never leave people with anything.
By the way, forget about accepting the expectations of a new release - that is, about releasing new episodes once every 2 weeks. Attention of the public can not be held for so long. Give her everything at once!
Data sharing is the basis of viral marketing. Everything you do to make it easier will benefit your campaign. This means that you should allow people to:
Download content in a convenient format (video - in MPG, images - in JPG, etc.);
Easily place content on their own sites (Note: do not forget about bandwidth);
Send content to friends - by reference or directly;
Publish it in various social networks - Digg, YouTube and so on;
Add it to your bookmarks.
Another important element is communication with the audience. Remember: you have already captured the attention of people, and now they are excited and want to discuss. Comments are one of the most effective means of communication.
Keep in mind that the best viral marketing campaign is one that causes strong emotions. This means that one may like it very much, and the other - angry. In the comments you should accept and kindly consider both points of view. At the same time, you should not allow war between the holders of polar opinions.
And the most important. Communication with people through comments implies answers. If you do not want to participate in the discussion, do not add your own comments.
One of the goals of viral marketing is for your campaign to have a life of its own, spreading like a virus. To achieve this, in order for it to become truly “viral,” it must be free.
Never impose restrictions on a mix of programs. Do not ask people to:
registration;
memberships;
special software downloads;
enter unlock codes;
... or some action to get the right link.
Viral marketing has nothing to do with exclusivity. It implies universal access to the discussion.
All these tricks have one general principle: if you come to do it, do it right. Or do not do at all. Only the best viral marketing campaigns succeed. The rest are doomed to failure.
If you have your own tips, I definitely want to know about them! I would also be glad to see any vivid examples of viral advertising that you know.
Viral marketing (word of mouth marketing) is a great thing. Just think ... instead of spending big money on advertising in print media, on TV commercials or banners, you do not spend anything - and allow your admirers to do all the work for you.
With viral marketing, your campaigns suddenly begin to live their own lives - and spread like a virus. Everyone wants to see them, but after seeing, they want to discuss.
')
Viral marketing is an extremely powerful weapon, and its effect is usually 500-1000 times stronger than from traditional types of advertising.
But how?
Viral marketing has many tricks. Here are the 7 most important:
- Cause people's emotions .
The most important trick in this business is to cause very strong emotions. You must have an opinion and express the idea with all responsibility and devotion. You need people to:
They were filled with love or hate;
Were very happy or insanely angry;
Were idiots or geniuses;
Were full of compassion or extremely selfish.
You need the blood of people to boil with excitement.
Forget about diplomacy, about trying to please everyone, taking into account the interests of several target groups and about other “neutralities”. Viral marketing is 100% emotionally based.
- Do unexpected things
Actually, this is the essence of the recommendation. If you want your campaign to be noticed, be different from others - be unpredictable. Forget about promoting your product only by reassurances about how good it is - everyone does it. Forget about trying to put it in the most favorable light - in this you will be unoriginal.
Remember how Dove advertising evolved? It was unexpected - and it was one of the most effective viral advertisements of all time. Almost 10 million views!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
- Do not advertise (it is doomed to failure)
One of the biggest mistakes made by companies is looking at viral marketing as if it’s just an advertisement that people exchange - and this isn’t true! Traditional marketing is a looping on product promotion by demonstrating its best qualities. At the same time, advertisers, as a rule, are incredibly egocentric, and for filming commercials they attract supermodels or movie stars. But you know what? Nobody cares about you!
The basis of viral marketing is a good story. In the BMW Films produced by the BMW Concern, the main ingredient was not cars, but history. Replace one car with another - and it will still be great. When Sony released its Bravia TV commercials, no one has yet seen the product itself - but we still remember the commercials.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bb8P7dfjVw&feature=player_embedded
Sony Bravia commercials should be attributed to the most successful viral video of all time (18,900,000 views!). The idea of ​​running thousands of bouncing balls through the streets of San Francisco should have sounded like crazy stuff in words, but in practice it had the exact opposite effect. It was hardly possible to discern what it was: an advertisement or a video clip for Jose Gonzales's “Crosses”. Never before has the concept of color been conveyed so brilliantly, and the creators of the video maximized the benefits of this crucial combination of image and sound.
Forget about yourself, your product and your company. Focus exclusively on creating a good, interesting story. Of course, you can add to this cocktail and your product. But he should not be his main ingredient.
- Make sequels
So, people just saw your campaign. It seemed to them interesting, unexpected, their emotions reached a high level - that is, you won their attention.
What's next?
Doing the same as most companies doesn’t care about doing nothing at all ... and this is a big mistake. Having caught the attention of the public, you need to act; and the best thing to do here is to create sequels. Under the sequels means a lot of things.
It may be the following films in the same concept as the first - so did BMW Films and Nissan. These can also be:
Films about making movies (commercials):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkdcnEwiW5M
Blogs to discuss the process;
Additional materials or quality product;
... or all of this together.
Never leave people with anything.
By the way, forget about accepting the expectations of a new release - that is, about releasing new episodes once every 2 weeks. Attention of the public can not be held for so long. Give her everything at once!
- Allow sharing, loading and storing data
Data sharing is the basis of viral marketing. Everything you do to make it easier will benefit your campaign. This means that you should allow people to:
Download content in a convenient format (video - in MPG, images - in JPG, etc.);
Easily place content on their own sites (Note: do not forget about bandwidth);
Send content to friends - by reference or directly;
Publish it in various social networks - Digg, YouTube and so on;
Add it to your bookmarks.
- Communication through comments
Another important element is communication with the audience. Remember: you have already captured the attention of people, and now they are excited and want to discuss. Comments are one of the most effective means of communication.
Keep in mind that the best viral marketing campaign is one that causes strong emotions. This means that one may like it very much, and the other - angry. In the comments you should accept and kindly consider both points of view. At the same time, you should not allow war between the holders of polar opinions.
And the most important. Communication with people through comments implies answers. If you do not want to participate in the discussion, do not add your own comments.
- Never limit access!
One of the goals of viral marketing is for your campaign to have a life of its own, spreading like a virus. To achieve this, in order for it to become truly “viral,” it must be free.
Never impose restrictions on a mix of programs. Do not ask people to:
registration;
memberships;
special software downloads;
enter unlock codes;
... or some action to get the right link.
Viral marketing has nothing to do with exclusivity. It implies universal access to the discussion.
All these tricks have one general principle: if you come to do it, do it right. Or do not do at all. Only the best viral marketing campaigns succeed. The rest are doomed to failure.
If you have your own tips, I definitely want to know about them! I would also be glad to see any vivid examples of viral advertising that you know.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/76423/
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