Viral Video 201: Organic Infection Theory

I recently returned from an amazing trip to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive and Film festival in Austin, Texas. Despite the perfect 80 degree weather, I was able to suffer through and enjoy my time there. I was completely inspired by the experience and was lucky to be among the best and brightest minds in the interactive space – enjoying sessions from viral videos to designing on a grid. For a net.geek like myself, this was Internet-Mecca. If anyone else is considering a pilgrimage next year, I highly recommend it.

2007: Year of the Video

Coming away from the conference, I learned that 2007 is going to be the year of the online video. No doubt about it, broadband has reached the tipping point and quality video production capabilities are pretty much available to anyone with a mouse and a keyboard. The question then becomes: how do I make my video become viral? I asked this question during many panel discussions only to be met with a common response: you can’t make a viral video. Poppycock! You can. But it doesn’t happen by itself.

The key element of making a viral video is ensuring that it’s infectious and/or contagious (just like a room full of coughing and sneezing kindergarteners). Without going into the details of DNA and cell splitting, I will simply say:

Viral Videos Must be Contagious:

Successful online videos are just like successful plagues and viruses. They mutate and travel outside the host body and pass from one organism to the next. There are no cures, no treatments and no controls. You might be able to mask the symptoms, but the viral infection is still propagating and growing until it works its way successfully out of the population or the inhabitants develops an immunity to the condition (i.e., get bored). Yes, you want your video to become a plague. And who doesn’t cheer for the plague to make a comeback?

Here are the steps that a biological virus spreads:

1. Absorption
3. Entry
4. Replication
5. Assembly
6. Release

I’ll spare you the scientific analysis; even if it would permit me feel smart for a few minutes. How often can you use words like Etiology (the study of causes) and Pathogenesis (diseases development) while talking about Interactive projects? Allow me to jump into the details.

Marketing Your Contagious Video:

The first steps in marketing your video online (beyond last week’s suggestion of begging your friends to watch it) are:

Enter contests. There are several of them out there and they’re begging for people to submit videos. Sometimes you have to re-write your project, other times you can simply upload your current content. These contests might actually pay you something if you win. If not, you’ll at least expose yourself to the marketing that the contest is providing to encourage user participation.

Post on multiple sites. YouTube is the king, but there are hundreds of sites challenging that reign. Just like the explosion of photo hosting sites over the past couple of years, this year you will no doubt see a massive growth in video hosting. Just remember: MySpace was second to the prom, but ended up … ok, I’ll spare you that analogy too. Here is a partial list (I’m sure there are others):

EyeSpot
Google Video
Grouper
Jumpcut
OurMedia
Revver
Videoegg
Vimeo
vSocial
YouTube

Include your URL. I know this sounds simple, but for those of you that are creating episodic features, this is a really key element. Depending when people start watching your video (episode 5, for example) they might want to catch up all at once. You should be able to point them to all the other episodes on your Web site or on your YouTube profile. For bands and other folks that might have multiple songs or sessions, this could be the first step in your quest to be the next American Idol (er, or something)

Know Oprah. Seriously. Does anyone know her? Video of the month club?

Post previews. Hollywood has mastered the preview. From the 30 second spot on Thursday night to the epic pre-roll spots during the summer blockbuster season … they know what gets people hooked. A series like iGlory can rely on this strategy to encourage people with shorter attention spans (i.e., All of you) to tune in. By making some short clips or best-of previews, you can bring users in for a more intimate experience (and then totally infect them). I hope that all of you have caught a case of iGlory once in your life. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Digg it. Get out there and use services like Digg.com, fark.com and other tagging sites. You never know where that next carrier might be hanging out. Just be sure that you’re not crossing the spamming line.

Multiple formats. Before YouTube, the only way to spread a viral video was via email. For some of us, that would mean downloading a 5 meg file and cursing our friends if it turned out to be lame. Let’s not forget this fundamental distribution channel. Make your video available to the masses to download, spread around, post to other sites and take with them on their portable media devices. One of these days I’ll get me an iPod Video Player and/or a phone that does more than drop calls. When that happens, I’m taking my videos on the road. I’m relying on all of you to make content that I can bring with me while I wander.

Local Media. Don’t forget that your local print media. You know, those guys that throw a paper on your step every few weeks. If you build up enough online credibility, you might be able to have them write a story about you. For iGlory, we got several papers to do stories on our project. And we didn’t even need to post the incriminating photos of them online (yet).

Bookmark ThisBlinkList del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Netvouz RawSugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Yahoo MyWeb

This entry was posted by Michael Kraabel on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 9:49 am and is filed under Interactive Marketing, Online Video, Viral Marketing.
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