The energy at a company when one of their assets goes viral is… well, contagious 😉 and it’s easy to get caught up.
Almost since the phrase was coined and long before Remedy was started here in San Diego, clients and potential clients have asked PR and marketing firms to help take a video or infographic viral. And usually, the firms sigh…
In reality, we do feel you compelling web videos and infographics are worth creating. But before you add one into your marketing plan with the hopes of breaking a million views on YouTube, you need to be realistic with what your content is and if you have the resources for it to be done the right way (Spoiler Alert: There is no right way, but there are guidelines that can help).
With all the buzz around the #XMASJAMMIES video from the Holderness family, we thought it’d be appropriate to use them as an example if you’re looking for your own brand’s video or image to go viral in 2014.
But first, if you haven’t seen the actual video from the Holderness family, you definitely should check it out here.
As of right now (a week after it was uploaded) this video has more than 8 million likes and 25,000 ‘thumbs up’ on YouTube, in addition to incredible editorial and Facebook impressions we don’t care to count.
When creating a video or infographic you want people to watch or share, as yourself “will people outside my company and core user group really care about this?” and if the answer is no, reconsider. This is a good rule to consider for any marketing campaign when going outside of your industry’s endemic media.
The Holderness’ video was fantastic. It was professionally produced, well written, funny by most people’s standards and had great visuals. It drew you in and waited until the end to even mention their new video production firm. They’re selling their brand, but paying attention to what an audience on the web wants first.
What didn’t it have? A true celebrity endorsement. While the family has been in the media before, they’re not Hollywood A-listers. They’re attractive and their kids are cute, but they by no means have the pull or network of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Again, web videos are great tools and a fantastic way to help spread key messages about your brand and their success should not be judged by views alone. However, if the end goal for your video IS to have a massive amount of views by a broad audience, ask yourselves the following three things:
1. Is our content compelling? Honestly… is it? Or is it just selling? Go back to the tips we posted here for ideas.
2. Will people outside of our core user base find this interesting and worth sharing?
3. Do we have the financial resources to afford a creative agency that can produce a video or the in-house capabilities?
Most agencies will tell you, regardless of if they’re a San Diego PR firm or an ad agency, allocating enough resources to the firms budget is imperative if you want the job done right. This isn’t because these agencies simply want your business (although we all do) and can’t work on shoestring budgets (many of us can). It’s because when you rely on shoe strings for heavy lifting, sometimes the results are disappointing.
