When thinking of viral marketing, some of the big agencies still have difficulty grasping what it really is. Oh, they know the end result: their message being sent all over the Internet by an enormous amount of people. The problem is that many companies create the same or similar thing they would offer on TV, present it over various web sites, and wait for the results to come pouring in - most of the time they're pretty disappointed with the results.
As an old saying goes, "you've got to put new wine in new wine skins." In the case of viral marketing attempts, the problem is that there are new wineskins having old wine put in them. This will never work.
Some companies are even announcing their viral package to set the campaign in motion. There is no such thing! This isn't something that you can just get an idea about, package it in a video format, and send it on its way. This is an area that we marketers have to completely think of new ways of doing things.
In the case of offering online video campaigns, we need to come up with something amusing, funny, entertaining, challenging and compelling. We need to think in terms of semi-professional, rather than professional. Something between family fooling around videos and an ad on TV.
People can smell that so-called professionalism way of doing things. Most of the time it is done in an intrusive way; not only interfering with the experience going on, but taking you right out of it. Viral won't happen if that's how it is presented.
The great thing about the internet is that these things can be created and tried really inexpensively. So if you try something and it doesn't catch on quick, you can always create something else quickly and cheaply to offer again.
One encouraging thing to think about in this is that there are thousands of web businesses looking for neat stuff to offer on their sites to give their visitors a great experience. Produce the right campaign, and they'll jump on the bandwagon fast and get it to their visitors. In many case those with ezine lists will include it as something cool to visit or see.
Viral marketing is here to stay. Don't hesitate to enter into the field. People are waiting to find the next thing that they can share with their friends. That thing can be yours. All we have to do is create something that will motivate them to do it.
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