A recent study that reviewed about 3,000 viral campaigns through 800 advertisers found that viral video is growing strongly and a lot of that growth is through big companies you wouldn't think would be doing it. For example, there are banks, insurance companies and companies selling all types of products for the home getting involved.
Bob Moss, president ad tracking firm Competitrack, which conducted the study said, "What's most amazing to us is to see insurance companies, banks, and makers of dish soap actively getting into viral advertising."
The viral study only included sponsored ads, not user-generated mash-ups and altered video that are offered up on sites like YouTube.
The company also estimated that around 60 percent of viral ads created by advertisers are video. "These tend to be longer, more narrowly targeted, and very often, more outrageous than any commercial you are likely to see on TV."
In the study, they separated viral ads into videos, microsites, games, social networks and multi-media categories. Of those, the best and most creative were those that were offered through microsites.
Microsites are small sites that focus on a targeted brand. These are nothing new, but offering viral ads through them are.
The microsite focus on viral ads is something definitely worth looking into, as microsites have been extremely profitable for a number of years when they are done right. Another thing to remember is that not all viral campaign are video campaigns, as about 40 percent of them don't include video at all.
But just because someone calls an ad campaign viral, doesn't mean that it actually goes viral. What it in reality means is that it's an attempt to go viral - a big difference!
Competitrack is set to launch a new viral video tracking service in April that will offer access to archived video ada and daily alerts on compaigns in progress. The price for access will be between $5,000 and $10,000 yearly.
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