Newsletter #704: The "Making Your Stuff Go Viral" Issue

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1> Make it discoverable
2> Run a contest
3> Use preexisting online groups
4> Spread it on every social network
5> Get the whole team involved

1> Make it discoverable

When people search for a topic, they have to find your stuff. Tags, titles, and descriptions make your stuff searchable. On YouTube, your video should have lots of tags, a detailed description, and a great title. Downloads on your website should have great key words in the subject heading.

The Lesson: If people can't find it, it won't get shared.

2> Run a contest

Contests are a great way to get people talking about you. TurboTax (http://youtube.com/TurboTax) ran a contest called "TaxLaugh," encouraging users to come up with a way to make taxes funny. Heinz ran a YouTube contest asking for user generated commercials, which now have thousands of views.

The Lesson: Contests are a win-win: customers can enter to win something cool, and you get people to talk about your brand.

3> Use preexisting social groups

Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace have user-created groups which let you reach a large group of people in one shot. The Guitars group on YouTube has over 17,000 members; the "I Love Sushi" group on Facebook has over 20,000. When you post your video to these groups, you connect to a audience who already wants to watch videos about your topic.

The Lesson: The fastest way to reach an audience is to find one that already exists.

4> Spread it on every social network

Take advantage of all the places where you can post your video so many different people will see it and share it. Upload it to YouTube, link to it or embed it in Facebook and MySpace, and put it on your blog -- anywhere your readers already are.

The Lesson: The more social networks you use, the more your video will be shared.

5> Get the whole team involved

Don't be afraid to use your coworkers to help spread your new video. Have twenty employees e-mail your video to five of their friends to start your viral phenomenon. If they upload the video to their social networking sites, your reach is multiplied.

The Lesson: Involving your entire office will help your new video get viewers.

Comments

Mike Lizun said... (Jul 21, 2008 11:05:06 AM)

Great post! Here's our version (eBillme) of how we created a campaign around shopping confessions.

http://tinyurl.com/6lhlzn