Forget about Viral. Think Strategic.

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If you want to create online content that will propel your business or organization, stop thinking viral and start thinking strategic.

First, let's be clear about something. Online content refers to videos, case studies, white papers, photos, blog posts, tweets, and anything else you post online (on your website or elsewhere) to market your business, school or organization.

Part of the inspiration for this post has been John Moore’s Talkable Brand video series. It’s really well done - informative, entertaining and inspiring. If you have any responsibility for marketing in your organization, you should watch it.

The third video in the series makes the case that Talkable is Bankable - if people are talking about your brand, they will consider buying your product. That’s pretty hard to disagree with.

But in the process of proving the effectiveness of word of mouth, I believe he has dispelled any promise that marketers may hold out for their content going viral. Citing a variety of sources, John presents the following data:

• The maximum number of people with whom we can have stable relationships with is 150

• 80% of our conversations are with the same 5 to 10 people.

• 62% of our conversations are with our strongest ties – spouses, family and close friends

• 80% of cell phone calls are with the same 4 people

• The average Facebook user has 130 friends and the typical Facebook user directly communicates with just 4 friends each week

What I see in those statistics is that people communicate in small circles. While this deals primarily with personal communication, my sense is that business communication isn’t much different. Our network of trusted sources is fairly small. The only hope then for any online content going viral is in the overlap between these circles of influence and I wouldn’t bet on that happening very often.

It also tells me that I may have 500+ Linked In contacts and over 1000 Facebook friends but the number of people who are going to really take action based on what I say or post is relatively small.

Add to the mix some research that was posted last month by Emarketer that showed most most consumers don’t mention brands on Facebook or Twitter. Perhaps even more surprising is that most internet users say they first learn about new brands, products and services from offline print media or word of mouth. Only 24% said they most frequently or often hear about them on Facebook or Twitter.

All of these stats say the same thing to me – don’t even think about content going viral. It’s not going to happen.

Instead concentrate on creating content that is strategic. Your content should be:

• Targeted – speak to the needs and interests of the segments most likely to buy your product

• Valuable – give users something (perspectives, information, creativity) that they can’t get anywhere else

• Original – your content should distinguish you from your competitors

• Believable – it’s got to be a genuine reflection of your organization and make promises that are deliverable 

• Brand aligned – content must enhance the experience you want users/customers to have when they interact with your company

• On message – make sure the language and positioning inherent in your online content is consistent with what’s on your website and in offline material.

If that’s not enough, my colleague Ruth Zive has 67 Content Strategies for you to consider in her new e-book. It's a great resource.

In the end, the promise of a million hits may be sensational, but the results driven by strategic content are far more attainable and ultimately more valuable.

Viral Video

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What makes a video go viral?

Clients often suggest that we post a video from their organization on YouTube and then wait for the thousands of people that will watch it. Not so simple. Consider this information from viralmanager.com:

In the first month on YouTube:

• 70% of videos get at least 20 views
• 50% of videos get at least 100 views
• Fewer than 20% of videos get more than 500 views
• Fewer than 10% of videos get more than 1,500 views
• 3% of videos get more than 25,000 views
• Around 1% of videos get more than 500,000 views

Most organizations have more than 1500 contacts on e-newsletter or mailing lists but yet fewer than 10% of videos posted on YouTube will be seen by that many people. (Granted these numbers are for the first month but I think its fair to assume a video will garner maximum buzz in the first month).

For an organizational video to be something people are prepared to pass on to others it must have value in one of three ways:

• It is entertaining - funny, zany, outstanding performances, unexpected outcomes
• It is informative - essential information, not available from other sources, applicable to a broad range of people
• It touches the heart - emotional, authentic, inspiring

I'm not sure that there's a formula for creating video that will go viral but here's a great example. I haven't even been able to verify the story that was part of the email that accompanied the YouTube link. Supposedly, the person who created this video works for a medical supply company in Portland and the deal was that if this video received over a million hits (as of today its at 2,750,877), the company would make a huge (but unspecified) donation to the hospital involved and offer free mammography to the community. Regardless, you'll see that its spirit and authenticity give it both emotional and entertainment appeal. And I can almost guarantee you that you'll pass this on to at least one other person. Perhaps there's something we can all learn from this.