KEY POINTS:
The Energizer Bunny does something most bunnies don't. It keeps going, and going, and going and ... going.
So is your business' viral campaign like the E-Bunny?
Chances are the campaign doesn't resemble the Energizer Bunny at all. Chances are your campaign wouldn't go far before it groaned to a halt.
So the question arises: what makes a viral campaign effective? And not only what makes it effective, but what makes it effective for business?
You see, most viral campaigns are simply entertaining. And even if they have a next step, the step isn't linked to the original viral campaign.
Take a look at this link. As you watch the video, you'll chuckle. And laugh. And you'll work out that you were chuckling and laughing. And that is only part of the key to a business-based viral marketing campaign. Any old campaign can make you chuckle. But it takes structure to build a business-based viral campaign.
So just what are the elements involved in this structuring?
Here we go - three core elements: blatant entertainment, information element, incentivised next step element.
ELEMENT 1: BLATANT ENTERTAINMENT
If you can get someone chuckling, you're pretty much igniting a viral campaign. If it causes you to roll on the floor with laughter, then you've got a sure winner. And there's a reason why blatant entertainment stirs up the viral juices.
You see, it's impossible to keep something funny to yourself. Even as you read the newspaper every day, the moment you find something funny, you want to share it. You want to tell your colleagues about some really funny incident on the street. You want to tell a funny joke that you heard last night at the pub.
You want to pass it on, because it makes you feel good, but more importantly, because it makes you look good.
When people laugh at you ... uh, huh, you want to morph into Darth Vader and strike them down. But when people laugh with you, that makes you the extremely likeable star of the show.
However, blatant entertainment only goes so far. Once you've worked in the blatant entertainment (and you should work on this aspect before anything else), then you move to the second part: bringing valid information. Because unless you're a comedian, there's got to be an element of information, or else you've made someone guffaw and they're gone.
ELEMENT 2: INFORMATION
So how does information come into play? The video you create must have a factor of information, especially if you want the video to be useful to attract customers to your business.
However, the information can't be blatant. It needs to be woven into the video. So, two parts of entertainment plus one part of generously sprinkled information, and you're away.
Let's take an example: if you go to www.willitblend.com you see a powerful example of infotainment. This company is selling a blender. What's so exciting about the blender? Oh nothing, you say. Until you see these videos of an iPod, Rubik's Cube, golf balls and dozens of other objects being reduced to itty-bitty pieces. So you watch one video, and the next, and the next. But all the time, while you're being entertained, you're also being informed.
But don't fret if you don't have video. You can create drama and infotaintment without video. At www.psychotactics.com/blog, we created a whole bunch of cartoons on the topic of web analytics and testing. And guess what? It created a viral cycle of sorts.
So what made the blog viral? It was the mixture of information and entertainment. Which takes us to the third element _ that of purpose.
ELEMENT 3: INCENTIVISED NEXT STEP
If you're going to take all the trouble to create a business-based viral campaign, you know you're going to have be more than just funny and informational.
You're going to have to get customers to another level. You'll need them to subscribe to something, buy something, sample something. And here's where you'll goof up big time.
You'll say words like "subscribe" or "buy now", when the customer is looking for words like "fill in this information and get this prize" or "buy now and get this special gift worth $50".
They're not looking to play your game, so you have to play their game.
And the biggest rule of their game is: incentivise me. Make me want to take the next step. And they will take the next step, if you provide the incentive. Not only will they do what you ask them to do, but they'll pass on your viral marketing campaign.
And you'll have your campaign "going and going, and going, and going ..." Just like the Energizer Bunny.
Sean D'Souza is chief executive of Psychotactics and is an international author and trainer.
www.psychotactics.com
