We are officially launching How-to-Blog.tv this week! So, as with any Grand Opening, this comes with free stuff (just leave a comment!). But first, let’s talk about viral videos.
The Viral Video Effect
Have you ever been RickRolled? Until this year, I wasn’t unfortunate enough to know what RickRolling was until one of the guys in my office, who shall remain nameless (Jerod Morris – @jerodmsf), decided to start RickRolling us… once, twice, three times a day. As is the lesson of the ever-popular children’s story, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, we now have trouble trusting Jerod’s links and the struggling blogger (joke) continues on in probation.
However, today we are talking about viral videos and there is no doubt that our dear Rick Astley produced one of the most successful viral videos of all time.
With over 30 million views online, Erictric explains what a RickRoll means exactly:
If you’ve used the Internet for more than five minutes of your life, chances are you’ve been “RickRolled” a time or two (or more). Simply put, it’s on of the Internet’s most popular memes — and generally comes in the form of a link that you’re expecting to take you to wherever it is you’re going — which instead points you to a video of pop sensation Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” They can be commonly found on web forums — and victims quickly become irritated, despite the fact it’s comedic gold.
Can a Viral Video Be Manufactured?
Viral video is here to stay and we all know that a good viral video can launch a brand quickly. Often times marketing agencies will market their ability to launch a viral video, however, as the old saying goes “the proof is in the pudding,” and formulas rarely (if ever) work for viral videos. Ze Frank, the creator of a viral video sensation that reached fame overnight with his video “How to Dance Properly”, had no intention of launching anything. Now a popular speaker, Ze Frank says:
“…I would say viral is not (even) a tool. Viral just defines a particular way that traffic builds. And I think that if you do have something that goes viral it’s really great to understand that that’s happening and respond to it in a very, very particular way. But I really think looking at the growth as it happens is an important thing.”
His points are incredibly relevant. You can try to create a viral video, but whether or not it becomes viral is unpredictable as it really is a word-of-mouth phenomenon. What you can do is prepare your response if a video does go viral.
Here are some examples of successful viral videos:
- Jerod’s list of the 10 most underrated viral videos of all-time
- Viral Video Chart
- Top 20 Viral Videos of All Time
- Susan Boyle’s Talented 2009 Surprise Video (This is my favorite. I love seeing people succeed!)
A Chance for Free Maggiano’s
We want to hear from you. We’ll be drawing from your comments below in order to present the winner with a free $50 gift certificate to Maggiano’s. Here is a selection of questions we’d love to hear your thoughts on. The only rule for your comment is that it needs to have a little bit of substance related to the topic (i.e. just commenting “Yo” will not enter you in the drawing.)
- What is your favorite viral video?
- Have you seen viral videos work for your business?
- How part can viral videos play in successful blogging?
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* – Rick Astley video screenshot credit: SFWeekly.com blog
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t think a Rick Astley video can work for businesses, but certainly a well executed viral video can help a business build buzz or promote a new product. Just look at how companies approach the Super Bowl now. Commercials get released well before the actual game to build buzz, and sometimes companies purposefully create commercials that will get banned so they can get a huge following online.
Good point. GoDaddy seems to do that all the time now.
Never gonna give you up!
Viral videos can definitely be manufactured. And they can be the cheapest and quickest way to get your brand noticed. You honestly don’t even need TV to advertise anymore.
Excellent point. The ability of videos to go viral, and the Internet as a whole, has really placed a premium on creativity and pure entertainment value, whereas before those who controlled the means of distribution controlled everything. There is obviously still some of that on the Internet, but the playing field is much more level.
I actually just heard of this term a couple months ago when my sister was telling me that her friends would prank each other. They would randomly send the link. Talk about annoying friends!
Haha! Yeah, there was even a news station that RickRolled one of their Anchors. Viral video is an awesome thing!
My favorite would have to be the Numa Numa video (because one of my friends was in the original). If you look at all of the “sequels” to the popular ones, they were all lame. I think it’s pretty hard to manufacture a viral video no matter how much money you dump into it. Several large companies have proved this tons of times.
One of your friends was in the original Numa Numa? That’s cool! I agree on manufacturing. If you look at the top viral video lists it’s pretty clear that most were just a fluke… I think that’s the beauty of it.
That wedding video with the bridal party dancing up the aisle was one of my favorite viral videos. But I haven’t ever been RickRolled, thank goodness.
Yeah, I like that one too. They did a rendition of it on The Office as well. =)
Excellent article! I feel the way a Viral Video can be successful is when you create the video and the audience feels a connection. Think about it, the “How to Dance Properly” video probably wouldn’t of been an overnight success if there wasn’t some sort of connection built. Oh and Susan Boyle..we all desire to connect with that success story. The woman is a phenomenon! With all that to say, I think it’s important to create great ideas but making sure there is some form of relationship being built through the message. Again, fantastic post!
I completely agree and like how you made the connection between the relationship between the viewer and what the video conveys. We’re always looking to connect with something. That’s the blogger and marketer’s world –to connect with the audience. Great food for thought!
I agree with you that a viral video is hard, if not impossible, to manufacture. Most are done spur of the moment and just put out there and end up going viral. The one that I don’t understand is Chocolate Rain…how did that get over 45 million views!?
Yes, Chad that is the million dollar question… Have you seen cookie monster’s rendition? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJsJ5dW7jHo
I hadn’t before, but I have now! Haha. Here is a video that is going around that could be considered viral and that was manufactured. Probably only went viral because of the fan base that surrounds the muppets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY
Haha! Love the muppets!!
I love this blog, this post, and Rick Astley. That is all.