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1> Make it discoverable
2> Run a contest
3> Use preexisting online groups
4> Spread it on every social network
5> Get the whole team involved
1> Make it discoverable
When people search for a topic,
they have to find your stuff. Tags, titles, and descriptions make your stuff
searchable. On YouTube, your video should have lots of tags, a detailed
description, and a great title. Downloads on your website should have great key
words in the subject heading.
The Lesson: If people can’t find
it, it won’t get shared.
2> Run a contest
Contests are a great way to get
people talking about you. TurboTax (http://youtube.com/TurboTax)
ran a contest called "TaxLaugh," encouraging users to come up with a
way to make taxes funny. Heinz ran a YouTube contest asking for user generated
commercials, which now have thousands of views.
The Lesson: Contests are a
win-win: customers can enter to win something cool, and you get people to talk
about your brand.
3> Use preexisting social groups
Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace
have user-created groups which let you reach a large group of people in one
shot. The Guitars group on YouTube has over 17,000 members; the "I Love
Sushi" group on Facebook has over 20,000. When you post your video to
these groups, you connect to a audience who already wants to watch videos about
your topic.
The Lesson: The fastest way to
reach an audience is to find one that already exists.
4> Spread it on every social network
Take advantage of all the places
where you can post your video so many different people will see it and share
it. Upload it to YouTube, link to it or embed it in Facebook and MySpace, and
put it on your blog — anywhere your readers already are.
The Lesson: The more social
networks you use, the more your video will be shared.
5> Get the whole team involved
Don’t be afraid to use your
coworkers to help spread your new video. Have twenty employees e-mail your
video to five of their friends to start your viral phenomenon. If they upload
the video to their social networking sites, your reach is multiplied.
The Lesson: Involving your entire
office will help your new video get viewers.
