The Power of Viral Videos
It’s no wonder that the big three network broadcast stations: ABC, CBS and NBC are all suffering drops in ratings. Everything has changed because of the Internet. Why be forced to watch some brainless sitcom while constantly interrupted by commercials when you can watch something far more interesting on YouTube any day of the week whenever you want to?
People are looking for something new, authentic and real. Television has tried to answer that with reality TV shows but nothing takes the place of real experiences as photographed and shown on YouTube.
If any of the big three networks tried anything like the following video they would get sued. Don’t try this at home. Don’t even think about trying this in any fashion! This is one of the stupidest, most dangerous things I’ve ever seen (but because someone else did it, we get the benefit of watching it). There is quite a bit of debate whether it is real or not but I am putting my vote that this is real because its just too real looking to be fake (lol). I could be wrong.
Here’s another video that has got to be one of the cutest cat videos I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely worth watching.
Here is a video that shows the power of viral videos when companies don’t live up to their word or take care of your possessions when they are supposed to. Apparently United Airlines had broken this man’s guitar while in the luggage compartment of the airplane and refused to do anything about it. This guy decided to write a whole song about it and believe me, it cost United far more than the cost of the guitar because of their incompetence! After 50,000 views of this video, United relented and said it was a “learning experience” for their company and they would be giving him $500 for his guitar. It’s possible this video cost them well over $100,000 (my guess) and far more in a damaged reputation.
Here’s another one that I still can’t decide whether it’s real or not. It certainly looks real but I’m not sure it can actually happen like this. But it’s still great entertainment.
But what does this have to do with Internet marketing? I believe there are several things that must be considered. First of all recognize that people are going online to view entertainment. Advertising budgets are switching to the Internet because many people are going to the Internet for their entertainment. For me, I can hardly sit still watching anything on TV without a laptop in front of me. I get bored so quickly that if something doesn’t interest me, I’d rather be searching online for something of more value. Now please understand, I like to learn things and I’m not bored because I want more excitement, I want something of more value for my time.
The second thing you have to realize is that if you can possibly create a video for your company or product that is done in such a manner that it becomes viral, you can reap millions of dollars of advertising if done correctly. But whatever you do don’t do it incorrectly so that it looks fake. It will do more harm than you can possibly imagine.
The third thing to recognize is that you will notice that every video now on YouTube has advertisements associated with it. If you can find the video that will benefit your product or service in some fashion, you can actually pay to have advertisements attached to those videos. This can reap a huge windfall if done the right way.
This latest trend toward videos is continuing to shift toward cell phones as they become more powerful and capable of showing whatever the people want on demand. Infrastructure still isn’t capable of creating videos for people when they wanted on their cell phones but it is definitely moving in that direction. It would be wise to start preparing for that now.
The last thing I want to mention regarding these videos is the fact that these are not scripted well-planned products, but something done on the spur of the moment with a handheld camera. There’s something about that combination that makes it more real so it’s not a big budget decision. But videos placed on your website regarding what you do and what you sell created in this fashion for people to get to know you. And it’s that unpolished reality that is becoming so appealing to so many people.
I highly recommend you start planning for creating viral videos, or at least videos that go on your website, to promote your business.
