I also found that there is more to YouTube than trying to get your video to go viral.
Whilst I do believe that 'going viral' is great for low involvement products that have a broad target market and where reach and frequency needs to be high (and if it's the earned media type - even better), but where a brand is targeting a somewhat more niche market then I don't think viral is the be all and end all - but that's not to say that online video still can't be a great tool for your brand.
Video can be a great platform for your brand whether it be about providing information e.g. show your product in action
making announcements e.g. launch new products
or simply an alternative or additional channel for your advertisements (ok so this example isn't exactly niche but I couldn't resist after last week's discussion)
The tough part is driving people to your videos/channel in the first place and ensuring that it is relevant and engaging enough for them to want to share it - not necessarily with everyone but those who count. Here is a great post that recently appeared on MarketingMag.com.au - I found the part about understanding your objectives and more importantly distribution particularly interesting
Finding the magic formula for your online video strategy
What are some other ways your brand, or brands you know of, have used online video as a media channel?
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ReplyDeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDeleteBrands often use online videos to launch competitions, which I think is a great idea. This is a good example of inciting engagement with a brand - a competition launch by XXXX Gold beer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgACkCOngzI
(You might need to copy and paste the URL into a new window as it doesn't seem to be coming up there.)
Great post, Anna. I agree with you (and the Marketing Magazine article), there is no simple "formula" to success with viral video content. In the past, a lot of advice was all about "keeping it short and snappy", however as I am sure we all remember, one of the viral hits of 2012 was a video that was 30 minutes long (remember Kony 2012, with nearly 100 million views?).
ReplyDelete