What is a Viral Video? Tips and Case Studies
According to Wikipedia,
A viral video is a video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or Instant messaging, blogs and other media sharing websites.
To put it in other words, if people want to spread the video, we can safely call it “viral”. The idea of creating a viral video campaign is appealing (no wonder, 70% of ad agency and media buying executives plan to increase budgets for viral video marketing in 2009), yet not as easy to execute. Today’s Internet is over-saturated with videos and it is hard to surprise or amaze anyone.
Judson Laipply, the creator of very popular “Evolution of Dance” video explains his success as pure luck, and really luck is a very important component of a successful viral campaign, but not the only one.
According to two filmmakers struggling to become viral video stars, the keys to a video success include:
- Make it funny: most successful viral videos are are funny and spontaneous.
- Get to the point: viewers must be drawn in within the first 10 to 15 seconds of video.
- Add some awesome music: sound adds to a video’s entertainment value.
- Make it short, actually, the shorter, the better.
- Make it relevant: most sensational viral videos target a niche audience and include nostalgic or pop culture references.
Nothing speaks so eloquently as examples, so let’s take a look at most successful viral video campaigns:
Video is an effective way to promote a site or a campaign. Dove’s video downloaded to Youtube turned out to be 3 times as effective as the company Super Bowl commercial. In 2006 Dove’s spot for Super Bowl generated 500 million impressions, while one commercial seeded on YouTube has generated more than 1.5 million views. “Dove Evolution,” a 75-second viral film, resulted in millions of views and a traffic spike for the Campaign For Real Beauty site. The bloggers’ reaction was overwhelming: the video became one of the Top 15 most-linked-to videos among bloggers.
The numbers that will definitely grab advertisers’ attention is that a 30-second spot for the 2006 Super Bowl cost $2.5 million, but there was no cost for Dove to upload “Evolution” to YouTube.
Another example: when Dr Pepper wanted to get the word out about its newly introduced flavor, it didn’t turn to its advertising agency, but crafted a viral video to shake the Internet. The Cherry Chocolate video garnered more than 300,000 hits in the first 24 hours, and reached more than one million hits in under five days.
Video is the way to be heard. When mainstream media dismissed allegations that Lockheed Martin sold the U.S. Coast Guard $24 billion worth of refurbished equipment with significant security flaws, De Kort (the company former employee) posted his claims on YouTube, via a 10-minute video that was picked up by major news outlets such as The Washington Post and NPR. It’s a solid proof that while viral video is a great way to sell products, it’s also an ideal tool for spreading information.
“Video has dramatically raised the stakes for companies, and now the government, because it tends to be more viral,” Pete Blackshaw, CMO at Nielsen BuzzMetrics, says. ” And like television advertising, it’s far more persuasive.”
This is a guest post by Annie, a viral mom helping business find voice online. She blogs for HomeLoanFinder, the best free Australian-based refinance home loan comparison tool. Check out our infographic listing most expensive cities to live in. Follow Annie on twitter as @ViralMomTweets
Category: Affiliate Marketing, Online Business
About the Author (Author Profile)
Shiva Chettri is the editor and owner of Netchunks, a premier blog about Webmaster and Blogging Tips. He intends to make the web a friendlier place by sharing stuffs and articles which will help other webmasters and bloggers to becomes successful. His other interests includes Web Designing, Wordpress and Music of almost every genre. Send +Shiva an email at admin@netchunks.comSubscribe
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Sites That Link to this Post
- The Secret Ingredient of Viral Videos - film315 | May 25, 2011
- Everyday Viral Videos: Dove Ruins Cat Nap | The Wealthy Dentist | July 23, 2011
Shiva, that was really an awesome read!
Now I know what a viral video is.. 
Thinking of creating one.. 
Saksham recently posted..Capability Manager WordPress Plugin Review
Saksham, I am sure you will be succesful in creating a “Viral” video. Do notify if you create one
Shiva Chettri recently posted..Blogging Tips for New Bloggers
Who knows??
I am not a that good graphics designer! 
Blogging Tips recently posted..3 Ideas To Help Brand Your Blog
Twitter: Roger_Abramson
says:
Free traffic with viral videos. It’s a dream scenario, isn’t it Saksham? Only about 1% of videos make a splash. Then what? It turns out, you don’t need great graphics and it doesn’t have to be hit-or-miss. I didn’t know it at first, but there’s a formula that’s worked systematically for me. At first, I didn’t realize what I’d created. Then I went back and analyzed the serial success of other viral video guys commenting on celebrities… Shiva, Luck is not a factor when you have a working system. My cousin asked me how I got 300 thousand views. Just by adding a few of the right ingredients. The top videos of all time are not about the history of dance or dramatic chipmunks. They have a few key things in common. Break it down like I did and you’ll see why I use music and story the way I do. I agree you should Keep it short, get right to the point, have great music… My real secret is to add the right celebrity story, thumbnail, and a great headline.
Roger Abramson recently posted..Download the Viral Hit Formula Here
next you should write about a viral image and its characteristics
Ipad 2 recently posted..Smarty Pants to Hold your iPad2
I think Sourish, we had already talked about that on Facebook is not it. About the “Viral” photos
Shiva Chettri recently posted..How to Be a Female Affiliate Marketer
Yeah images that can make the watchers go VIRAL!!
Blogging Tips recently posted..3 Ideas To Help Brand Your Blog
How I wish I knew how to create videos… then I can create a viral video to promote my blog.
Jasmine recently posted..Why BlueHost Web Hosting Rocks
Same here Jasmine, I would love to create a viral video because it has lot of marketing value
Shiva Chettri recently posted..How to Be a Female Affiliate Marketer
Thanks for the info about viral videos. I agree that in order for a video to be effective and stand a chance of going viral – besides being lucky as you say – it should be short, compelling, interesting, funny, and from what I have seen, sometimes the very absurd ones go viral very quickly. Funny story. We in business try so hard to get our videos even close to going viral. My daughter recorded a song with a band she is friends with. I took a look on YouTube and almost fell off my chair when I saw how many hits it got. I was incredibly impressed yet she thought it was no big deal LOL. I actually wrote a blog post titled “What Do Our Children Know that We Don’t About Marketing? (http://blog.newhorizons123.com/what-do-our-children-know-that-we-dont-about-marketing/). At the time I wrote the post they only had 9,409 views. Uhhh that’s OK – I would be happy with that!
Julie Weishaar recently posted..How do You Make Your Videos Visible on Google
Hi there Julie,
You are right, when it comes to things to get viral, it really must be unique. it must have that quality with can capture the viewer’s mind and make them spread the word about how “awesome” the stuff is. 9,409 views is quite a great amount
Thanks for the comment
Shiva Chettri recently posted..How to Be a Female Affiliate Marketer
Twitter: swamykant
says:
Hi Shiva
What about the video – Charlie bit my finger and Shakira’s Waka Waka, Sintel – a short movie. All these videos got millions of views overnight.
Yup Swamykant, those are viral videos too….any videos which can capture the viewers attention and have the ability to be recommended to other people are viral videos. In marketing if one can make a video which can go viral, it helps a lot
Shiva Chettri recently posted..Theme Junkie Discount Code – 25 Discount Exclusive – New
Although viral sounds a bit strange I think that it can make a revolution in online marketing. It’s not a secret that many video clips become popular and distributed all over the Internet in no time. Video can be even more catchy and touchy, especially with some tragic or funny moments.
True Anna, Viral videos have great marketing power and yes if a video has funny or entertaining touch it easily becomes viral
Shiva Chettri recently posted..The Role of a Webmaster
Twitter: rohitbatra14
says:
really a good intro to viral videos..they look appealing to catch a good amount of audience if done.. i have even heard about viral advertisements..
Rohit Batra recently posted..PhotoPaper App for iPod Touch 4G
Yup Rohit, Viral videos can help marketers get a lot of customers.
Shiva Chettri recently posted..What is Blogging What Are The Different Types of Blogs
Well dude viral advertisements are also viral videos….those video advertisements that are too entertaining and go viral
Cool Shiva, This is my first time noticing this kind of information regarding viral video and great! Your point is totally awesome. Good to know that a video is an effective way to promote a site or a campaign. Now I finally know what this topic all about thanks for sharing it to us and for giving me lots of ideas regarding this matter. Like it so much! Good job.
Rolly Foster recently posted..Do It Yourself Tax Returns vs Hiring A Tax Pro
I totally agree with you Rolly, me too it is my first time knowing regarding Viral Videos and great! It is fantastic and very useful enough for those people needed most in terms of videos fanatic. Upon reading the writes up I finally understand the real concept of this topic and luckily I’m so thankful enough because now I know what viral video is. Thanks for the post this blog is very appreciative enough. Nice blog Shiva keep it up.
Thanks for the info about viral videos. I agree that in order for a video to be effective and stand a chance of going viral – besides being lucky as you say – it should be short, compelling, interesting, funny, and from what I have seen, sometimes the very absurd ones go viral very quickly. Funny story. We in business try so hard to get our videos even close to going viral. My daughter recorded a song with a band she is friends with.
Although viral sounds a bit strange I think that it can make a revolution in online marketing. It’s not a secret that many video clips become popular and distributed all over the Internet in no time. Video can be even more catchy and touchy, especially with some tragic or funny moments.
Nice to know about Virtual Video. Thanks.