…it’s advertising. Or maybe PR. And there’s a lot of luck involved.
“Viral marketing” has become such a buzzword, with so many vendors promising “viral results”–ugh. Would it be great to create the next Pink Gloves Dance and be featured on national news outlets? Sure. Would it raise a ton of awareness? Yes. And if that’s what you’re trying to do, than great.
But it’s not marketing. Not really. I talk a lot about word of mouth marketing and community-driven marketing (homage to Jeremy Epstein). Using WOM is a discipline. It takes a commitment to community building, 2-way communication, and clarity over control. There’s a lot more to it than creating an awesome video and spreading it around on YouTube, though that may be a piece of the bigger picture. There’s a lot more to it than throwing a button on your website that says “share this with your friends,” though that may be a piece as well. Great WOM cultivates relationships that lead to measurable results over time.
And maybe that’s the distinction I’m trying to make. What does “going viral” really do for you, other than put you in the spotlight for a very short period of time, until the next big thing comes around to take your place. Word of mouth marketing, on the other hand is a long-term movement that has the potential to flourish over time with the right nurturing. And by the way, word of mouth isn’t confined to the web.
Most associations will never create a viral phenomenon. And why bother? Focus on the fundamentals of word of mouth–give your members something worth talking about and an easy tool to do it. Measure, adjust, and repeat.
PS – Check out Maddie’s comment on this Associations Now article, “How to go viral.” Amen.
- Bit.ly URL for this post:
- http://bit.ly/6dDKC5
48 responses to "Going Viral isn’t Marketing…"
{ 5 trackbacks }
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deQnR
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://bit.ly/5d70S3 #socialfish
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deR72
via uberVU
rt @lindydreyer Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deR72
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deQnR RT @maddiegrant
via uberVU
I agree with you that it isn’t marketing. It’s just on tool that allows you to spur interest. It’s like any good advertising campaign. The perfect example of great viral campaigns are Super Bowl commercials. (I love the Budweiser series.) You want to share them and show them to your friends.
The important thing is that you need to take it one step further. Just creating viral campaigns without actually connecting with people is only half the job. Without engaging the user on a personal level, they do not create an emotional attachment to your product.
Thanks for the post.
RT @maddiegrant Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deQnR
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://bit.ly/8KRUUg #news #socialmedia
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://bit.ly/91C3pS #news #socialmedia
via uberVU
RT @maddiegrant: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deQnR
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deR72 via @dcb23 @lindydreyer
via uberVU
RT @BuzzEdition Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deR72 << I disagree Viral is much like WoM, both require discipline to be good
via uberVU
Exactly! Well said RT @lindydreyer: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deR72
via uberVU
great read: RT @desabol: Exactly! Well said RT @lindydreyer: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ff.im/-deR72
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://bit.ly/76lBEW
via uberVU
The pink glove and wedding dance videos are not the norm (the average YouTube video receives less than 75 views in the first month). You can’t build a plan around wishful potentials and outliers. Even if there is a spike in traffic, what does that bring your non-profit six months or a year down the road?
A "must read" for NP "Going Viral isn’t Marketing" http://bit.ly/5X6di1 by @lindydreyer
via uberVU
RT @johnhaydon: A "must read" for NP "Going Viral isn’t Marketing" http://bit.ly/5X6di1 by @lindydreyer
via uberVU
A "must read" for NP "Going Viral isn’t Marketing" http://bit.ly/5X6di1 by @lindydreyer via @johnhaydon #wm403>>excellent post, thanks!
via uberVU
RT @johnhaydon: A "must read" for NP "Going Viral isn’t Marketing" http://bit.ly/5X6di1 by @lindydreyer
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… — SocialFish: http://bit.ly/85Doje via @addthis
via uberVU
RT @johnhaydon A "must read" for NP "Going Viral isn’t Marketing" http://bit.ly/5X6di1 by @lindydreyer
via uberVU
RT @PowerfulHER: RT @HildyGottlieb RT @johnhaydon A "must read" for NP "Going Viral isn’t Marketing" http://bit.ly/5X6di1 @lindydreyer
via uberVU
@lindydreyer -great work on exploring the difference & discipline in Going Viral and Marketing http://bit.ly/6dDKC5 #socialfish
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://j.mp/5WmCii
via uberVU
RT @maddiegrant: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://j.mp/5WmCii
via uberVU
Tx RT @maddiegrant: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://j.mp/5WmCii
via uberVU
RT @maddiegrant: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://j.mp/5WmCii < would love 2 c good case study on this. Volunteers? I will post on blogs
via uberVU
Amen! RT @scottoser RT @maddiegrant: Going Viral isn’t Marketing http://j.mp/5WmCii
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://bit.ly/5Jdc2y #postrank #nonprofit
via uberVU
RT @maddiegrant: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://j.mp/5WmCii
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing http://bit.ly/5XdNoP
more buzzword thinking here from @lindydreyer
via uberVU
Going Viral isn’t Marketing http://bit.ly/76Ruz0
via uberVU
Lindy, I totally agree with you, though I think there are a few things that this so-called “viral marketing” has in common with WOM that I find a lot of people ignore in traditional marketing…
- Doing amazing things
- Giving people something to talk about
- Portable, repeatable & emotional
- Making people happy
I think sometimes marketing can get so serious and we focus on why such & such is SO important. It’s nice for your members (& you) to take off the serious hat every once in awhile & show some love. For me, viral marketing is a way of thinking about how I want people to share the awesomeness that is produced, it’s one component of the whole plan. In my head, viral = sharing/spreading.
Going Viral isn’t Marketing by @lindydreyer http://ow.ly/TndR
via uberVU
Not usually, and neither is a "World Wide Rave": RT @JeffHurt Going Viral isn’t Marketing by @lindydreyer http://ow.ly/TndR
via uberVU
Lindy, your post is music to my ears. Viral videos are a tactic that at best are PR stunts. Much more valuable to big consumer brands than B2B, associations, and other sectors. (That’s because these brands are often really”blands” that sell commodity products that need to rent a personality.) The thing about stunts is they’re a) very difficult to pull off and rare b) not very sustainable usually and c) suffer the same downsides as plain dull sponsorships. By that last point I mean, it seems like more than half of viral tactics or videos have no actual tie-in or connection to the idea or product being marketed. They are just entertainment with no relation to the product. That’s fine if it’s useful somehow, but it’s just not broadly applicable. I mean, sponsorship goes WAY back to the days of Ronald Reagan hawking 20 mule team Borax on TV’s Death Valley Days (and beyond that even), which was (a-HEM!) about 60-70 YEARS AGO. (What an advancement.)
Amazing how we forget the time-honored principal that things worth talking about will get talked about, sometimes in spite of the limited options individuals are presented to share them.
We need more WOW that spreads and less HOW to spread it.
Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ow.ly/U97U
via uberVU
RT @benwfox: Going Viral isn’t Marketing… http://ow.ly/U97U
via uberVU
I don’t think I ever thanked you for this shout-out.
Please accept my apologies.
I’m still trying to decide if I agree with the idea that viral videos aren’t marketing. Sort of feels like a cause and effect argument more than a terminology argument, really.
Viral isn’t a tactic or advertising or marketing or PR – it’s an effect from one of these things. You can promote something (marketing), but the ripple that happens after execution is the result, right? Not the thing you did to get the result?
So is it true that the potential results of marketing a video are either flop or viral? How many views make it viral? I heard the Butch Walker remake of Taylor Swift’s song was viral, but when I went to view it it only had 200,000 views.
For an association that number might seem amazing, but to Fred on YouTube that’s a flop.
Lastly, in this dynamic world of ours where things are fluid and we’re all learning in real time, I’m less concerned about what people might call their services “viral marketing” and more concerned about getting services that improve my business. Call it what you want. Why does it matter?
http://www.socialfish.org/2009/12/going-viral-isnt-marketing.html
via uberVU