Get Exposed to Viral Marketing: A Quick Guide

When most people hear the word “viral” nowadays, they probably think of popular YouTube videos and not that embarrassing time during college (we hope). At the intersection of marketing, entertainment, business, and social media, Viral Marketing is a breeding ground for the explosion of brand awareness and sales. (If you can’t handle the explosions, there are special creams for that). In this age, Viral Marketing may be one of the most effective methods of achieving a marketing objective, though it is also one of the most difficult techniques to perfect. Events like the upcoming Oscars and Academy Awards are prime opportunities to make substantial promotion for new films, shows, and/or products. We’re excited to see how they inject the virus into the social stream.
The trick to Viral Marketing is trying to make a campaign or advertisement for a product that is not recognized as a campaign or an ad. Sneakiness, disguise, humor, cleverness. These are the new faces of viral marketing campaigns that attract people to a certain product or service without having them feel so crudely lured into an obvious marketing ploy. People enjoy feeling like they’re smart (like is the key word here, people). Check out how Cracked.com used this photoplasty contest to simulate the ridiculousness of making a viral marketing ploy for Classic films. You can see how the unexpectedness of the ad placement promotes an interest in figuring out or researching the content of the ad (you can see that, can’t you?).
With the 84th Annual Oscar Awards coming up, the chance for viral marketing to make significant brand promotions is like looking for a drunk chick at a frat party. Jackpot. It’s the same phenomenon with the Super Bowl and social media, (check out our post on that)except a little more tact is required for successful viral marketing. Don’t make things so obvious. The 7 Best Viral Marketing Campaigns In Movie History describe the stealth of promoting a film, or any product for that matter, without doing such blatant, direct, or traditional promotions. You can’t just do it on TV commercials, man. You need to infiltrate video games and soical media bases, but keep real cool and mysterious. People are always intrigued by trying to dig up a secret, not having it spilled out to them in excruciating detail.
Viral Marketing becomes successful by maintaining a balance of things. At first, trying to be informative while still keeping public intrigue may seem difficult, but the clever section of your brain will get stronger the more you exercise it. And if you need a little help, a Cheat Sheet always works. Two of the major points you will derive from this awesome cheat sheet is 1) Stay Interesting. The ones who are always making a scene and moving people to think, react, and respond are the ones that get attention. Whether it’s good or bad, or even irrelevant, marketing that provokes is effective marketing. (One of the most effective viral videos for a blender company worked because of its simple and interesting objective) And number 2) Keep Open Access. Let people share your stuff, allow for movement of information through social media and comment on consumer responses. This is how things actually go viral. They get passed like from person to person like bodily fluids in a public pool (Wow, that was gross. Gross but effective, right?).
So there you have it, viral monsters! Go ahead and start thinking about how you can generate curiosity with your product, or how others effectively generate awareness for their own brands. Starting with the Oscars is a good spring board. Don’t miss it! Lots of bugs looking for some sweet juice at an outdoor fruit stand.
 
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