Social media and virality
MARK 490 Week 5
Overview
• What is virality and do we always want it?
• Can virality be predicted or reproduced?
• Tod Maffin’s Six Genetic Markers of Viral
Marketing
Before we start….
• Why videos go viral Kevin Allocca TED
2011
• So what is going on here?
The concept of the meme
• What lies at the heart of every living thing is not a fire,
not warm breath, not a ‘spark of life.’ It is information,
words, instructions”
• “If you want to understand life, don’t think about
vibrant, throbbing gels and oozes, think about
information technology.”
– Both quotes from Richard Dawkins in 1986 – the evolutionary
biologist who created the concept of the meme as a form of
replicator
Viruses and memes
• “Memes propagate themselves in the meme pool
by leaping from brain to brain via a process
which, in the broad sense, can be called
imitation”
– Richard Dawkins
• This is taking a biological concept (broadly that
of a virus) and applying it to ideas
•
Ah…a meme
• Hence…..memes +
social media
technology =
virality
Can or should we differentiate?
• Does all viral marketing rely on memes or can
we differentiate a meme from other types of
viral agents?
Viral marketing – what is it?
• A marketing phenomenon that encourages
people to pass along a marketing message in
such a way that it spreads like a virus or a
meme
– Compulsive reading, listening or viewing
• Can be text, image, video, sound file
– So amazing that people have the urge to share
with others
• Social media is the engine for viral marketing
because of the “network effect”
• WoM is trusted
Based on: eMarketing eXcellence. 2008. Chaffey et al. BH
Engaging in the conversation –
balancing control and credibility
CONTROL
Monologue
Traditional
marketing
communications
and PR
“a person like yourself”
CREDIBILITY
Spontaneity
Conversation
Advertising
Dialogue
Community
Based on ideas from Edelman’s Trust Barometer
Something to consider before
we go any further
• Do we as marketers want *everything* to
go viral?
Viral marketing (word-of-mouth direct
marketing)
• Viral includes any strategy that encourages people to pass on
your message to others
– Word of mouth is the most trusted form of communication
(because the message is coming from “a person like
yourself”
• Let the users of the Internet do your marketing for you –
traditionally by eMail, but now by using social networking
sites, blogs and video sharing sites
• Built-in mechanism to pass on to someone else
– It works (sometimes), and it’s free or low cost (sometimes)
– VERY difficult to plan for and do successfully – especially as it
has been around for more than 20 years – people become jaded
Based on: eMarketing eXcellence. 2008. Chaffey et al. BH
Viral marketing – having
“remarkable” products
• Seth Godin on How to Get Your Ideas to
Spread “sliced bread and other marketing
delights” - getting people to talk about
you and your products (17 minutes)
• TED conference, 2003
Using social media sites for viral
marketing – watch out!
• "While these sites may appear to be the most effective manner of
delivering a message regardless of brand appropriateness," he said, "by
failing to truly understand the audience, viral marketers stand to
alienate as many consumers as they interest."
– David Schatsky, President, JupiterResearch, on the pitfalls of social networking sites:
• Undercover or “stealth” marketing - be careful of customer perception
that they are being “used” – people are increasingly sophisticated and
cynical
– Fake bloggers etc (eg. Mazda commercials disguised as user generated
videos)
• Watch out for people to highjack your campaign with parody videos, or
highjacking of your hashtag
Elements of a viral marketing
campaign
1. Creative material – the viral agent (text, image,
video)
–
Consider meme-jacking?
2. Seeding – identifying websites, blogs, or people
(influencers) to start the message moving
–
Understand and exploit existing communications
networks – go where the people are
3. Tracking – to monitor the effect, to assess the
return from the cost of developing the viral
agent and seeding
•Based on: eMarketing eXcellence. 2008. Chaffey et al. BH
Can virality be predicted or
reproduced?
• Tod Maffin’s Six Genetic Markers of Viral
Marketing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
AAC Matching
Simple concept
Sentiment
Reward sharing
Embrace unofficials
Successive rounds
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
AAC matching
• The target Audience must match the
Creative, which must match the Call-toAction
• No mixed messages
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
Simple Concept
• Plots and developed characters do not get
traction
• Keep the campaign simple
• One idea at a time
• Stop over-thinking
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
Sentiment
• Your campaign should be either
– Serious
– Silly
– Stunning
• Don’t experiment with other tones
– Definitely don’t mix them
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
Reward sharing
• Incentivize people to share your content
and they will share it for you
• Don’t rely on freebies or begging (or
bribing)
• Give recognition
• How about gamification?
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
Embrace unofficials
• When a fan uses your brand imagery to
praise you, embrace them
• Don’t shut them down
• Enough with the cease and desist letters
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
Successive Rounds
• Keep a good idea going (because then it
might become a meme?) – build on
recognition
• Plan to have at least three “rounds” of
content which riffs on your first release.
Tod Maffin. Viral Marketing. The Six Genetic Markers
Then there is this….
• “DisneyCollectorBR is a faceless YouTube
channel giant that is consistently among
the site’s top most viewed per month. In
April, the channel was the third-most
viewed worldwide. During the week of
July 4, the DisneyCollectorBR channel
received more views in the United States
— 55 million — than any other channel on
YouTube.” Buzzfeed