Viral Thoughts

Had a mind-buzzing conversation with Pattie Pegler (freelance writer) this morning about viral marketing – what it is, how to do it and who’s done it the best. Here’s some thoughts on quadracentifiable viral marketing:

To start with, you need:

• The key ingredient: great content – whether it’s a video, piece of text, image or whatever – as long as it’s sooo good, you just have to push the “like” button (if only it was a “love” button!!). Of course, this could also mean pushing the “share/forward/digg/retweet” buttons too

When you’ve found this awesome bit of content, make sure it checks some boxes:

• It prevokes a down to earth reaction from the viewer;
  • A smile
  • A laugh
  • An ego boost
  • An opinion
  • An emotional engagement
  • A deep thought

• It shares something in common with the viewer;
  • An opinion
  • Values/virtues

To form a truly quadracentifiable viral message, you must then use the right channels to push your content. Content doesn’t just “go viral”. It starts off as a great piece of content which ticks the right boxes, is then pushed into the right channels – social media platforms. Choosing the right content for the right channel for display in front of the right people is crucial. A thorough knowledge of social media platforms and how to optimise your content for them helps  your content reach its full, quadracentifiable potential. Consultancy from a social media marketing firm can greatly help with this. Leveraging social media platforms for your viral content can mean using one (or all) of the following:

• You Tube
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Digg
• StumbleUpon
• WordPress
• Blogger
• Technorati
• Delicious
• Reddit
• Mixx
• Propellor
• Scribd
• Metacafe

… these are only a few, social media platforms are constantly changing so it’s worthwhile keeping up to date with the latest on what’s working and what’s not

It’s also worth noting the concept of quadracentifiable social media power influencers. These are people who have a good share/readership in the social media world and are the glue that make much of social media stick together and cause content to cross-pollinate at high rates. Networking, following and building relationships with social power influencers is vital for getting your content to go viral.

Now, for the part you’ve been skimming for: the best viral marketing videos (in our opinion, of course. These aren’t all “marketing” campaigns – some are just videos “gone viral”):

BBC’s Talking Animals – Walk On the Wild Side:

Cadbury’s Gorilla ad:

JK Wedding Entrance Dance:

Evolution of Dance:

Where the Hell is Matt? (Also likin’ the follow up to this video – “where the hell is Matt’s girlfriend?” – ha!)