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- It’s all about the creative idea. Just like Hollywood movies or games, which live or die on consumer affinities, the success of an online viral campaign hinges on an intangible "secret sauce": the ability to entertain, inspire and engage a mass audience. When setting off on a viral campaign, run your concepts not just by your professional colleagues but by your non-industry friends and see if it is easy to communicate, entertains and captures their imagination. Is it high concept enough to capture mass appeal?
- Viral outbreaks don’t happen by following a formula. Viral campaigns need to capture users’ attention in an innovative, and often unorthodox, way. Take a look at Burger King’s Angry-Gram. Hats off to the Burger King marketers who embraced Crispin Porter’s risqué idea: to have users generate speaking hamburgers shouting personalized angry messages at their friends. It’s risky, but it’s worth a peek and millions experienced it.
- Personalization is key.. It’s been repeatedly proven that, online, one-to-one communication is more effective than one-to-many. The value of a personal message (with my picture, voice, or text) is much higher than a generic communication. The most successful online viral campaigns, and literally every engineered viral outbreak since the 1996 dancing baby, is fueled by an application that allows users to personalize and share their message. Simply put, the application at the center of a successful viral campaign – like Elf Yourself, Angry-Gram or Monk-e-Mail – is first and foremost about facilitating user communication.
- Leverage existing brand equity. If you have a popular brand asset, like the Geico caveman, the CareerBuilder monkey, or the Irish Spring leprechaun, take advantage of it. It’s often a different agency or corporate division that controls the asset, mascot, or spokesperson you wish to leverage, but it’s worth getting higher-ups involved in securing them. Consumer recognition and affinity can only help when you’re trying to get users involved. You’re also looking after the bigger interests of the brand: consistent, integrated marketing across platforms.
- Nobody wants to be marketed to. Monk-e-mail, with over 130 million sent, became a messaging platform. Elf Yourself redefined online greeting cards. In each case the viewer receives a valuable message from a friend and is afforded a communication tool. Consumer perception is one of value, not of blatant brand advertising. While open rates on corporate communications to end users average only 15%, open rates from user generated viral campaigns average over 65%. It’s a communication from a friend and most recipients will open it. Let the users market for you and don’t flaunt the brand. Keep it authentic.
- Keeping it simple is the name of the game. Simple to understand, simple to personalize and simple to share. Don’t ask the users to do too much. Good, streamlined UI goes a long way. Let your mom test the app during beta; if your mom can’t figure it out, its time to simplify. A clear call to action helps. Capture the simplicity and the call to action with a good name: think Elf Yourself. It’s clear – it’s about uploading a photo to become an Elf.
- Users don’t want to work hard. The best applications require very little creative input (or talent, for that matter). Users can ‘create’ a well produced piece of media by making a simple choice, or inputting a word, or uploading a file. In TV, such short segments are called doughnuts. If the beginning and the end are properly produced and the rules by which the users contribute are well-planned, very little user talent is required to produce an effective piece of personalized media. In Crispin Porter’s Angry-Gram, for example, all users need to do is fill in a blank and a high production value segment of a speaking 3D hamburger is delivered as THE USERS’ creation.
- Get your people involved. Brainstorm openly with your marketing and advertising folks and think outside the box. No idea is too crazy. Have your smart technology folks participate in the brainstorm: they can introduce new dimensions to the concept and, after all, it’s an interactive/media technology campaign you’re embarking on. Get your boss involved so they’re inspired to take creative risks with you and don’t shoot down your crazy idea.
- Execute with love. A strong concept has a way of inspiring everyone on the team. There is additional magic to be created by those “merely” execute, so spend time with the execution team and listen to them. If there are holes in your concept, it is they who will be the first to know and it is they who can do something about it. Inspire and allow the execution team some room to improve and innovate during execution. Surprise users with aesthetics: texture, movement and detail that go the extra mile.
- Deliver ROI. There are two main things to keep your eye on. First, make sure the goal of the campaign – whether brand exposure, conversion, or lead generation – is clear from day one. From concept to execution and reflected in the UI, make sure you’re setting the stage for achieving your goal. Second, seed the campaign with good traffic. If you build it, they will not necessarily come. Give your app the best chance for success by crafting a strategy for how users will initially hear about it. Even the best Hollywood movie needs to get the initial word out. Plan to do so for your viral campaign. The most effective tactics include providing access to it from the brand’s home page (there could be no better target group to spread the word for you), including it in your newsletters, having the top brass at the brand, agency and even vendors proudly send it to all their employees and contacts, and doing basic PR. Note that these four methods are all grassroots and do not need to include huge media buys. It’s best to do them for a period of time, not just on launch.
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Posted by: John Beck Real Estate | October 16, 2008 at 02:15 AM