Seeking a second opinion for my viral condition

Axiom's resident videographer and special projects coordinator Dave Sniadak weighs in on the reality of creating viral videos. Watch this controversial viral video below and read on...



Viral videos. Everyone wants one. But how do you make one? Is there an easy formulaic process for producing a spot that will set fire to laptops around the world? Simple answer - no. Yet there are people, programs and companies that claim they can provide viral results with little to no investment. Really? That may be true for bloggers with webcams who have millions of followers - one in particular comes to mind, though this person will remain anonymous, since he got more than enough attention for a pointed question aimed at a certain West Coast beauty queen - but what about us regular folks? What makes a good ‘viral video’ and how do you monetize it? Two questions I’ll try to address as quickly as possible.

Defining viral
First of all, let’s define exactly what a ‘viral video’ is. Visiting the Encyclopedia Britannica of our generation - Wikipedia - I found that a viral video is defined as a "video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through e-mail or instant messaging, blogs or other media sharing websites." Viral videos usually are topical glimpses into society, covering recent news or entertainment events. But viral videos are also random acts of anything - I particularly found ‘Whack-a-Kitty’ (see above) to be modestly amusing - and are usually produced with nothing more than the camera on your cell phone or webcam.

While you can find just about anything imaginable in video form on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Squidoo.com and even Photobucket.com, how do you turn internet video magic into money in the bank? Ken McCarthy has a great take on this subject. He says that regardless of how great a video you have - on your site, a video hosting site or otherwise - video on the web is like playing the lottery.

“It's foolish to equate sheer volume of communication or that fact that the communication spready quickly or the fact it cost nothing to the original publisher with commercial value,” McCarthy stated in a blog post back in 2006. “The only communication worth anything in business is a focused message sent to a targeted individual that leads to that individual taking a commercially meaningful action (opt-in, inquiry, or purchase).”

I agree with him 103%. While it’s nice to think that your $1 video could result in $1,000,000 worth of views, the reality of the matter is that unless you’ve executed an incredibly compelling message and targeted your exact audience - and that audience is comparable to the Oprah Universe - most of your work will simply take up virtual space in a virtual landscape of forgotten videos. Don’t take it personally, your message probably just wasn’t that good.

Or, here’s a thought, it wasn’t directed to the right people. Just because 124-million people have watched Susan Boyle knock ‘em dead on Britain’s Got Talent, doesn’t mean 124-million people are going to buy DirectTV and request ITV so they can catch all the action this season.

Cashing in on viral
Monetizing viral videos is a slippery slope. JCPenney commissioned UK-based ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi to help get husbands out of the ‘doghouse’. BusinessWeek lauded the creative team for viral video done right. While this long-form commercial resonated with target consumers, it still had mass appeal and made men around the globe rethink gifts for their significant others. In addition to the video, JCPenney supported the message with a microsite and utilized social media networks through effective new-media strategies. The retailer also cited unanticipated success - servers crashed and incurred unexpected costs to reboot computer support systems - but in the end, “Beware of the Doghouse” is a brilliant case study in how videos, viral or not, can boost brand awareness in a positive way...well, for the intended audience at least. (Writer’s note - I know I’m a lot more conscious of what I buy my wife!)

If you set out with the mentality of making a ‘viral video’ for the sake of winning business, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. Take Agency.com, for example. You all remember this, they set out to produce a viral video in order to win Subway’s lucrative advertising campaign. And as everyone in the Blogosphere learned, made the pitch more about themselves that the clients’ desires. AdRants.com had a great take on the debacle, saying Agency.com attempted to “hipify (themselves) with viral goodness in front of the industry all in the name of cool factor and winning business.” Big mistake.

But who’s to say that producing a video for the sake of having video is a bad thing? If you’re setting out to produce videos that promote your product or service, that’s wonderful. More power to you! Just keep in mind that if you’re expecting a video posted on YouTube to translate into stacks of cash lining the walls of your office, you may want to reevaluate your creative process.

How have you utilized video to promote your business? Had any videos go ‘viral’? Tell us about them - we’d love to hear your viral stories.

Pink Porsche CEO Knows a Thing or Two about Twitter Engagement

News is out that a smattering of CEOs are on Twitter, but are they actually holding to Twitter’s unsaid golden rule of engagement?

Seven of the eighteen CEOs mentioned in this article hold their update numbers to a miniscule double digit showing—with thousands of people following them. The question then is: What’s the point of following? Is it really for the tweets or for the fame and possible fortune of being replied to by a CEO?

That leaves us with 11 CEOs who do understand engagement on Twitter, and even though their follower numbers may be shoe-ins for the next Ashton Kutcher, we can’t forget about those up and coming rising Twitter CEO stars who offer quality conversations microblogging style.

That’s where my Twinterview with @AmandaVega comes in. Ms. Vega is a CEO on Twitter who operates and owns Amanda Vega Consulting. While her Twitter page just recently hit the 1,000 followers mark, she understands the purpose of transparency and engagement— and in this case, quality beats quantity. Among the things that I envy about her (besides the fact that she’s a CEO who manages 87+ workers): she owns a "pink" Porsche, though, I’d prefer "speed yellow."

But no matter if you own a pink Porsche or a ’99 white Nissan Altima (my car), @AmandaVega enjoys your company. Just because she’s rich, doesn’t mean she’s off limits to tweeting with you, which is more than I can say for the many unresponsive CEOs on Twitter). I asked Ms. Vega several questions regarding her reason for being on Twitter, and here’s what she had to say:

@AxiomPR: As a CEO, what are you hoping to accomplish by being on twitter?
@AmandaVega: I am hoping to extend brand and also provide education and ideas to everyone else trying to figure out monetizing social media. Idea sharing. I use my personal twitter share knowledge, help others extend their causes/brands, and push info to ppl that may miss otherwise.

@AxiomPR: Do you think microblogging is the next best thing? What 'next best things' will be coming to the social media realm, iyo?
@AmandaVega: I think next "best" things will be custom content delivery, extension of bus online thru social media, and more smartphone tools for life

@AxiomPR: Have you found ur being on twitter has led to business leads. If so, can you provide a ratio -- online (twitter) to offline leads.
@AmandaVega: No business leads. Some good PR, and sales for customers, but no leads for us. Those on here usually already have a team doing soc media

@AxiomPR: How would you say most company CEOs are using Twitter, and does the C-suite approach work?
@AmandaVega: Many CEOs are sadly using Twitter via a PR or mktg firm to push the same adv messaging, not really using social media as a 2 way convo. The small bus CEO's seem to be trying to extend brand and sell stuff, and reach out

@AxiomPR: Are ur employees on Twitter representing you or their own personal account, or r u one woman shop?
@AmandaVega: We have 87+. They are all on personally. We don't make them rep us through our brand - they make up our brand - so that's all that matters

@AxiomPR: What are the clients you specialize in and do you find their product/service types on Twitter?
@AmandaVega: We have clients of all types: organic, baby, nanotech, clothing, food. We use soc med tied into PR/mktg to extend brand and use transparent honest personas/brand zealots/moms/scientists/doctors on our team to help talk back and forth in many convos w/links

@AxiomPR: Are you forming what the new PR strategy is calls "Strategic alliances" to keep overhead and long man hours down?
@AmandaVega: Usually the agencies use us to do that. We have large contractor staff and been doing socmed for 15 years - so yes alliances, but flipped. The company has been built like that from ground up really to keep overhead low, profit high, and custom deliverables for each client.

Like Ms. Vega, I’m sure there are many up and coming Twitter CEO stars, and to help the little big CEOs, I’d like to create an ongoing list of CEOs you’ve come across on Twitter offering quality conversation tweets. While you're searching, check out what Amanda Vega Consulting can do for you here.

Thanks for reading!
Tim

Is Twitter Responsible for Typo-Filled Resumes and Poor Job Interviewing?

As microblogging continues to take a front seat for “hottest communication fad", it's also causing some stress among marketing and public relations employers.

Going through a number of informational interviews, career development sessions and my own family’s reflections on my resume, I learned the zero tolerance policy of “typos.” Yet, we are seeing it more and more on resumes. Could it be that this has something to do with how tweets on Twitter are composed? True, SMS or text came long before Twitter was introduced – though people have been chit-chatting it up and sharing information for centuries in coffee shops, sports arenas, office environments, and the online version of this is called Twitter.

The bottom line is this: Twitter wasn’t meant for typos; that’s just what happens when you have 140 characters to get your message across. But “Plz”, “thx”, a miss of the word “the” are not only seen on Twitter feeds. They’re in resumes and cover letters. The lack of consideration or professionalism is also manifested in the utterance of a young/Gen Y job candidate saying, “This is sweet!” instead of “Thanks I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me.”

What’s more evidence of this concern? This article, and a number of university reports showing communications students graduating with poor writing skills, which has been an ongoing concern. Honestly, what is the other side of this argument? (I’d really like to know in order to be better informed on this issue).

If you are looking for a job at a communications firm, please remember that just because you are ripe on social media in your resume doesn’t make it a guarantee that you are good at communication. “Traditional” still stands, so avoid the typos and lack of consideration for grammatical missteps.

Thx 4 ur consideration!

The social media point of differentiation: A must read for anyone Twittered out on followers or so over Facebook friend additions.

Earlier on in the year, I commented on Jason Baer’s blog about the harsh reality of too many marketers and PR practitioners flocking to one social network or blogging space in order to claim it a results-driven specialty for new business. While fail whales are now even more common on Twitter with its overall visitors’ base reaching 100+ million, Friendfeed remains “unbeached” with its stellar ‘rooms’ platform. But let’s not talk about the many marketers online who arrive in droves at the next best thing; rather, let’s talk about what so many aren’t doing and should be—in order to provide a social media point of differentiation.

Conceiving your own social media tool, much like Fallon has recently done with Skimmer—with the help of Adobe Air (hat tip to @bbellx for showing me this). This application is “designed to streamline, beautify, and enhance the experience of participating in your most frequently used social networking activities. It improves upon your day-to-day interaction with multiple social networks, removing distractions and providing a rich experience that is particularly suited to multimedia content.” Sounds nice, huh? That’s because it is. And what’s really great is Fallon can go into a new business pitch with this trusty, owned and operated tool.

Fallon hasn’t been the only agency of record who has jumped on board with being the "firsts.” Waggener Edstrom announced earlier in the year its twendz application. This budding technology allows for the exploration of Twitter conversations and sentiment. "As the conversation changes, so does twendz by evaluating up to 70 tweets at a time. When new tweets are posted, they are dynamically updated, minute-by-minute." You can choose to make the API work even faster by simply moving the bar over on the tracking meter. That way, you see updates every second. What a great thing for businesses worldwide!

Monetizing your agency’s custom groups or social network sites. With the amount of FREE tools used to build your own social network, aggregate video content, blog comments, discussion threads, and posts—it’s easier than you think to cash in on what you’ve created. If I told you what Axiom has up its sleeve for several of its LinkedIn trade groups, I’d probably have to tar and feather you. But if you’re curious on self-monetization, here are some ideas:

• Using Ustream.TV or Justin.TV to host a chat room with industry specialists or analysts talking about your client’s product. Leverage your existing fan base that you’ve already created via conversations on microblogs or discussion boards as your first “Sign me up!” numbers. You might also think of getting your chat backed by some corporate sponsors that nicely supplement what your client is doing and how they’re positioning themselves. That way, everyone gets Web exposure.

• Invite fans of your Facebook Page to be part of your street team where they’ll go out and promote products and services for the clients you work for. Invite new business prospects into the venture with a small fee. Yes, this may be a reality sooner or later, if not already… Olson + Company does something similar in-house with its street teams.

• Or, you could create a massive e-mail distribution service akin to HARO, charge buckets for pay-for-say advertisement, and reap generous rewards from those you’re helping out AND those who are fans of your media service. Have you seen lately how Shankman has been cashing in on HARO?! “What’s Hot on Haro”, multi-faceted sponsorship, and a whole slew of partnerships. (Yes, you too can be Peter Shankman. Well, maybe not.)

Go BIG or go home
While it may be strange to start thinking this way, start thinking BIG. Why? Hasn’t it occurred to you that the innovators of these social networks are nothing but BIG thinkers and dreamers? Who ever thought there’d be a way for online users to connect so quickly with their personal and professional interests in real-time, what’s really on your mind? “Get to the point!” fashion? Twitter has made what we’ve always wanted to say to long-winded friends and acquaintances a reality. Who ever thought that I, Tim Otis, would get to hear your comment on the Daily Axioms blog the minute you said it? Disqus (pronounced "discuss") did.

If you’re not into BIG social media ideas and monetization principles, you'll be hard-pressed to land a client interested in social media exploration—and that’s a reality for the future – if you don’t move away from conventional and traditional approaches now. Go ahead and jump on every social network, but where are the results in that—if not for a couple of solid, will-stand-by-you-to-the-end relationships? Turn your focus to thinking BIG in terms of monetization rather than a propensity to accrue 10,000 followers on Twitter or 500+ connections on LinkedIn.

Remember, your clients are looking for new ways to drive visitor traffic on their site that will result in consumer trial or purchase, or sales leads in general. How are you differentiating yourself here? Not there.

What’s your level of Twitter involvement?

If you’re like most people on Twitter, you revel in awe over those tweeps who have 10,000+ followers; and if you’re a newby, you’re just in awe over a cool 200. Now that you’ve seen a whole slew of celebrities’ impact on Twitter, the jealousy comes in the form of gawking at 100,000 or more. Are you tired yet?

Honestly, I ask, what is the point of all this tweeting?! Celebrities don’t have to tweet; they just produce because of the viewer and envious masses. And when they do actually tweet, like @mrskutcher—look out world, a fail whale will now commence in the form of 10,000 or so @ replies. I do have to hand it to non-celebrities, though. How do you all do it? Is the label of ‘Twitter whore’ appropriate (where incessant tweeting gives you a guaranteed maximum of followers per day)? Or is it the fact that you build community over multiple platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Ning and you use Twitter as leverage? I’d say the latter. If you’re a smaller outfit like us, you’re just simply not big enough to keep up on all the shared links, gossip, and people to follow on Friday. So how does your organization manage tweeting?

Here are some methods that have worked for the @AxiomPR account:

• Offering 5-10 good tweets a day. By good, I mean juicy stuff. The stuff that is a hot topic on Twitter, such as #SusanBoyle, #twoonday, and like one Twitterer mentioned—the iPhone. That is followers-guaranteed.

• RT-ing tweets that have substance, and by that I mean the tweets that many have already RT-ed and you just have to get in on the action. Sometimes you’ll get a “thanks for the RT!” and when you’ve received that from a person who has 10,000 followers—you’re definitely in.

• An entire eight-hour day devoted to tweeting. That’s right. We stop all of our work and devote our time to reaching the almighty 100,000 followers of influence, where DMs count up in mass numbers and there are so many @ replies, we start seeing the Ctrl 2 symbol appear on our foreheads…

Now if you haven’t figured it out already, this is all a big joke, BUT… so many PR and marketing agencies are coming up with strategies like these for small business clients and beyond. The problem with strategizing Twitter involvement is that it’s entirely built upon contrived interaction—a deadly way to conduct any social media venture, in fact.

While your followers may not see your strategy, you certainly do… and it stinks. If you really care about using Twitter appropriately, you’ll hold to this “Twisdom”: Do what comes naturally. And don’t worry about being a Twelebrity. If you’ve driven one consumer to your product Web site and it resulted in trial or purchase, that’s far better than having 100,000 fans of your jovial tweets, which is no way substantiate your reason for being on Twitter in the first place.

Happy Tweeting!
Tim