How
to create a Crazy Viral Marketing Video over the weekend
By John Alexander
We recently
were invited out to my wife's brother's home on the weekend
for a pleasant backyard barbeque.
Paul and Jan are delightful hosts who really know how to do a
family gathering up right. It was just an ordinary Sunday
afternoon out on the patio with family (which included our
various pets too.) My wife brought along Christy our Jack
Russell Terrier, just to liven things up. Understand of course
that Jan and Paul already have a house full of pets including
a couple of dogs, several cats and some exotic birds. Also
along for the afternoon was my son Curtis, who has recently
been doing a lot of photography around town. Before we talk
about one of the highlights of the afternoon, I wanted to
encourage you by showing you just how quick you can easily you
can put together a viral marketing video.
What is a
viral marketing video?
Its not so
much SEO related, although still effectively about bringing
traffic to your Web site the easy way (through word of mouth.)
For example the term viral is thought to have originated from
the reference to a "virus like" means of spreading
from one person to another. The whole concept of viral
marketing is to create a "buzz" about Web page, Web
site or a product or even an idea.
To create a
viral marketing video, we are talking about publishing a video
with the idea of having it spread widely and very quickly. It
might be through social network marketing using a network like
Utube. On the positive side, the viral marketing video may
require little effort on the part of the promoter. With a
viral marketing video, each of the recipients watches the
video and then they become the means of "spreading the
word" to other people. On the negative side (if there is
a negative side) it can be hard to measure or hard to control
once it takes off. Numbers can literally double or triple huge
traffic volumes as the word spreads, depending on how wide it
spreads.
Benefits of
creating your own viral marketing video:
1. Video is
very easy to create.
The example I'll show you took place in less than 60 seconds
while we were enjoying a barbeque on a Sunday afternoon. My
son Curtis grabbed his camera took a short video and added the
sound track in that evening.
2. Viral
sounds like it is rather nasty or "disease related"
but really the benefit is simple. You are creating something
that others find very watchable, entertaining, humorous or
even just plain fun. If your video makes people smile or
laugh, chances are they'll pass it on to friends or let others
know about it, right?
3. You can
use existing social networks to help put the word out.
4. Its not
dependent on high quality or expensive equipment but often you
can create something with your average digital camera. Of
course it helps to have an eye for an event or something worth
photographing, but its not technical at all.
Meanwhile back at the Sunday
barbeque...
Okay, now
back to the barbeque on Sunday. One of the highlights was when
my Sister-in-Law's Parrot named Simon, decided to do a little
dance for everyone. Perhaps it is not that unusual if you are
an avian fan and familiar with a parrot's behavior, but Curtis
grabbed his video and simply captured Simon's Dance Party.
Once he had the footage of Simon, he did a little editing that
night adding in some fitting music. By next morning he e-mail
me the video and I added in a simple title and some
captions.
To create
the following video, Curtis used:
- His
Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart Camera 6 Megapixel
- Windows
Movie Maker (which comes with free with Windows XP
- Music
clip is "What is Love?" by Haddaway
- Title and
captions were added with Camtasia Studio
Simon the
Parrot says....you are now invited to his dance party: (Clip
runs in 59 seconds)
Click here to check this example
viral marketing video called "Simon's Dance
Party."
Its amazing what fun you can have
creating a quick little video that makes people smile. Keep your video
camera charged up and handy next weekend and see what you can
create in the way of a viral marketing video.
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About John Alexander
John Alexander is Co-director of Training at Search
Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his
partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first
comprehensive online search engine marketing courses. John is author of an
e-book called Wordtracker
Magic and has
taught SEO skills to people from 87 different countries world
wide.
John's articles can be read in publications like REALTOR
Magazine, Search
Engine Guide, WEBpro
News and many others.
