Topic of Choice Blog: Going Viral

 

 

We’ve all seen them, maybe even some of us have created them: viral videos. Going viral has become a worldwide phenomenom, but there is no easy formula for guaranteed success. One could argue that going viral began with that dancing baby video from the 1990’s, something that started on a small scale but then, for some unknown reason, resignated with millions. This is how most viral videos start, is it not? Someone doing something that is not meant to be seen by more than friends and family, then suddenly takes off and is potentially seen by millions around the world. It is not uncommon for people to become famous this way, even if just for their fifteen minutes. Marketers took notice and decided to get in on the viral action. “ For marketers, one of the coolest things about the web is that when an idea takes off, it can propel a brand or company to fame and fortune for free. Whatever you call it-viral, buzz, or word-of-mouse marketing-having other people tell your story drives action.” (Scott, 2013, p.116)

“There are people who will tell you that it is possible to create a viral campaign, and there are even agencies that specialize in the area. But when organizations set out to go viral, the vast majority of campagins fail. Worse, some companies set up fake viral campagins where people who are employed by the company are in some way compensated to write about a product. The web is hyperefficient at collective intvestigative reporting and smoking out trickery, so these campaigns rarely succeed and may even cause great harm to reputations.” (Scott, p. 117)

The question then becomes: if there is no guaranteed formula for a successful viral video or companign with regards to marketing, are there at least some finite components and ingredients that most viral videos share? Scott believes that there is not a direct answer to this question, so much as there are some “Rules of the Rave” that should be kept in mind. These rules may help to create “something worth sharing” (Scott, p.121). The rules are as follows:

·         “Nobody cares about your products (except you)”

·         “No coercion required”

·         “Lose Control”

·         “Put down roots”

·         “Create triggers that encourage people to share”

·         “Point the world to your (virtual) doorstep” (Scott, p. 122)

 

“Viral marketing-creating a World Wide Rave by having others tell your story for you-is one of the most exciting and powerful ways to reach your audiences. It’s not easy to harness the power, but with careful preparation when you are sitting on news and with clever ideas for what has the potential to create interest, any organization has the power to become famous on the web.” (Scott, p. 130)

Having other people market your products for you for free is a great tool. Being able to successfully accomplish this task is another thing. Following the rules outline by Scott, along with knowing your audience and having a product that is worth sharing with the world, are the first steps towards viral success.

 

Reference:

Scott, D. (2013). Going Viral: The Web Helps Audiences Catch the Fever. In The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Week 4: Social Media Targeting

If a company wants to effectively and efficiently gain consumers, it must say goodbye to the old days of TV, radio, and magazine ads, and hello to social media advertising via audience targeting, specifically “hypertargeting” and “nanotargeting.” Dave Kerpen explains the difference between the two techniques:

““Hypertargeting,” in which a company gears a marketing and advertising effort toward   a specific group through individuals’ social media profiles, activities, and networks.” (Kerpen, p.25)

““Nanotargeting,” a concept similar to hypertargeting but with search criteria so narrow that you can target one individual among hundreds of millions.” (Kerpen, p.25)  

Kerpen explains that targeting on Facebook is an example of hypertargeting, as audiences can be narrowed down based on age, gender, education marital status, interests, and job titles, while nanotargeting would be helpful if a company wanted to “engage with the CEO of the largest company in town or investment manager of a venture capital firm or marketing director of a key vendor or partner.” (Kerpen, p.26) Targeting strategies are the wave of the future, companies no longer have to mass advertise, they can narrow down its target audience to a much smaller age range, interest type, marital status etc. The main idea is to target people who are already interested in or in need of your product, rather than pushing a product on people who potentially have no need for it.

“Once you find your target audience, listen to them, find out what they are looking for, and provide your product or service to meet their needs. You can build a relationship with your audience and even allow them to directly buy goods or services, all using social media.” (Kerpen, p.27)  

In addition to Facebook, Kerpen explores the benefits of other social media such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Kerpen explains that Linked in is used by 160 million professionals and business users. He goes on to say that LinkedIn can be particularly beneficial if you are looking for senior professionals who do not have Facebook, because if they are present online at all, they will likely be on LinkedIn. When talking about Twitter, Kerpen says: “By utilizing Twitter, your target audience becomes based around what people are actually saying, not simply what you gain from demographic research.” (Kerpen, p.32) The idea is that people are actually writing about wants, needs, and likes on Twitter, resulting in knowing exactly what they want, rather than assuming they want, need, or like something just because they are single or fall in a certain age range. “Focus on a narrower but much more potent audience.” (Kerpen, p.35) This notion is meant to help prevent wasting money on people who are not interested. Finally, Kerpen tells us to think and act like our consumers, and ask ourselves if we like being interrupted by ads. (Kerpen, p. 39) We should ask ourselves the following questions before advertising:

·         “Will the recipients of this message truly find it of value, or will they find it annoying and disruptive?

·         Would I want to receive this message as a consumer?” (Kerpen, p. 41)

It is imperative for us as marketers and advertisers to think like consumers (which should not be difficult because we are consumers outside of work) if we want to be successful. Kerpen provides an excellent and insightful roadmap to victory in advertising. I know I will be looking at advertising in a much different light from this point forward.

 

Reference:

 

Kerpen, D. (2011). Way Beyond "Women 25 to 54": Define Your Target Audience Better than Ever, Think-and Act-Like your consumer. In Likable Social Media. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Week 3: Likable Social Media

Social media has indeed made an overall improvement in the effectiveness and success of marketing, PR, and advertising initiatives. As with everything, there are pros and cons, but in the case of social media, the positives far outweighs the negatives. According to David Kerpen, some of the major advantages of using social media in business, are as follows:

 

“You have a front seat to spontaneous chatter of interest to your business. You   have the ability to check in on prospective customers or prospects discussing problems your company solves or listen to existing customers talk about unrelated issues just to get to know them better. Checking in on your vendors, partners, or even your competitors’ customers has never been easier. The amount of data you can gather and the number of conversations you can tap into through social media is nothing short of mind boggling.” (Kerpen, 2011, p.14)

 

Another pro of social media is “Social media is the first communication channel that allows for such listening in large scale, no matter what you sell or market, your customers are definitely talking.” (Kerpen, 2011, p.15) The idea behind this method is that you can get to know your customers before talking to them or rather, talking at them. There is such much advertising that is unsolicited and aimed at the masses with the hopes of catching random attention, rather than really listening to the needs of consumers prior to releasing any marketing, PR, or advertising initiatives; the importance of listening cannot be overstated. In order to compile and sort all of the information, many companies use Major Enterprise Listening Systems so that a company can see in real time what people are saying about it. Kerpen uses the analogy of a professor teaching in a giant lecture hall v. a small, intimate class with a workshop to explain how social media builds trust and communities. (p. 67) In short, another pro of social media is that it is interactive, consumers can talk to the company and to one another about their likes, dislikes, questions, comments, and concerns; it creates online communities. From this, another benefit naturally arises, customers helping other customers, rather than going through the company, it’s an external support system that in turn, creates trust and loyalty. Yet another pro of social media, is quick feedback from a company, which may not have been given prior, because social media makes it incredibly easy for a customer to make their issue known to the general public. Just as was the case in 2009, with country singer Dave Carroll and United Airlines. When putting a claim into United Airlines about his broken guitar went unanswered, the singer took to YouTube, and received so many views that United Airlines quickly responded to solve the problem. (Kerpen, p.69) There are so many similar stories of unsatisfied customers going public with their complaints and then receiving the response they deserved in the first place. This brings us to a potential con of social media: social media sites can also cause a lot of problems for any company, as negative comments are made visible to anyone, anywhere, anytime, and the companies cannot control what is seen. Kerpen stresses that even though a company cannot control certain things as a result of social media, they can respond accordingly and appropriately in order to mitigate the damage, such as the “do-not-delete rule” and taking “quick public response, then take the issue private.” (p. 76, 77) I agree with Kerpen when he insists on authenticity and getting to know ones consumer base, but also understand that the idea of being authentic and responding to all posts, even if they are negative, can be a bit daunting for any very large company. (p. 97) Although I think social media has made it easier for companies to target specific audiences and allow for two-way dialogue as means of meeting the needs of consumers, it has also made the job of marketers, advertisers, and PR professionals slightly more difficult, in that they must now keep up with trends, comments, and feedback of all kinds, all while keeping their business authentic and trustworthy to the most amount of consumers possible.

 

Reference:

 

Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable Social Media. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.