pixability presentation futurem 2013 mythbusting: engineering a viral video
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at FutureM Boston 2013. Spoiler: We don't recommend trying to do viral. It's not good for your brand, your marketing dollars, and your career.TRANSCRIPT
Mythbusting: Engineering a Viral Video FutureM 2013 October 18, 2013 #futureM #viralvid
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What is a viral video? !
Wikipedia: "A viral video is a video that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email.” Why should marketers care?!!
!FREE Awareness?!FREE Views?!!
!
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The Whole Hog of A Viral Video!
Underbelly!Heart!
Brain! Ribs!
Tail!
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Agenda!
The whole hog of a viral video • Heart: creating good content • Ribs: social outreach and sharing • Underbelly: robots and incentivized views • Brain: engineering it with data • Right Feed: paid YouTube ads • Tail: luck
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Brilliant commercial that went viral?!
84% of views from paid views
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Brilliant commercial that went viral?!
59% of views from advertising
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The Heart: Good Content!
Underbelly!Heart!
Brain! Ribs!
Tail!
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Sometimes things just come together!
3,243,299 times shared on Facebook
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Good content is often a steady view earner!
• Know your targets intimately • Example: Build Direct from Canada
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Steady view earners deliver better ROI!
• Know your targets intimately • Example: Build Direct from Canada
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The Ribs: Social Outreach and Sharing!
Underbelly!Heart!
Brain! Ribs!Tail!
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Real virality is often smaller!
541,296 times shared on Facebook
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The ribs: social outreach and sharing!
Connecting to your real target audience 4 Make relevant content 4 Lobby tastemakers and find passionate enthusiasts 4 Build subscribership 4 Encourage participation 4 Use cross-pollination of email, FB, Twitter, Pinterest, G+
Relevance Passionate Enthusiasts Subscribers Participation Cross-
pollination
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Seeding promises!
“Get your video seen by the right people.” “We generate millions of monthly opt-in views on social networks, mobile devices and YouTube.” “We use proprietary technology to turn target audiences into engaged viewers and engaged viewers into customers.”
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Caveat emptor: Seeding can be seedy!
A supposedly “organic” blog post generated by a seeding campaign.!!!!“…XYZ — the viral video house behind this clip. XYZ knows. Shop at XYZ.”!
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What are you getting when you seed?!
Click-through rates for a seeded campaign: Views: 284,894 Click-throughs: 17 CTR: 0.006%! Compare to average YouTube ad CTR: 3.5%!
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The Underbelly: Bots and ‘Incentivized’!
Underbelly!Heart!
Brain! Ribs!
Tail!
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Buying robot views: 1M views for $800!
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Why this is a bad idea: Google will catch you!
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Slightly better cuts: incentivized views!
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The Brain: How to Engineer It!
Underbelly!
Heart!
Brain! Ribs!
Tail!
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How many people are watching? What?!
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What is your target audience watching?!
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Understand the audience and competition!Look at metrics on: • Audience size • Most popular content
types and sub topics • Social media
reactions • Viewer sentiment • Traffic Sources
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Metadata: what matters and why!
• Titles • Tags • Descriptions • Target links • Annotations
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Track YouTube search and social rankings!
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The Right Feed: Paid Ads!
Underbelly!Heart!
Brain! Ribs!
Tail!
Feed!
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Paid, owned and earned media work together!
Promoted Video Ad
Social Sharing Build a community around your video
content
YouTube Ads Much more cost-‐
effec8ve than TV and online display ads
YouTube Channel A video channel that you own and
control fully
Website Driving conversions
through highly qualified website traffic
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YouTube ad placements: Choose carefully!
Best practices:!1. Use varying formats (search,
in-display, pre-roll)!2. No need to stick to 30-
second spots!3. Use time of day according to
target!4. Geographic focus if
necessary!5. Don’t always optimize for
direct website clicks !
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The Tail!
Underbelly!Heart!
Brain! Ribs!
Tail!
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LUCK!
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Serendipity can happen!
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Engineering results: It all works together!
Channel subscriber growth
Organic YouTube Traffic
Pre-campaign Campaign
Pre-campaign Campaign
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Summary!
• Heart: Know your audience before you
create • Ribs: Share the passion and seed carefully • Underbelly: Don’t do it • Brain: Track and clone yourself to success • Right Feed: YouTube ads done right are
worth it • Tail: Be ready when luck happens
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Get this presentation?!
• Bettina Hein, Founder and CEO
4 Email: [email protected] 4 Phone: (617) 710 5772 4 @bettinahein
• Rob Ciampa, EVP Marketing
4 Email: [email protected] 4 Phone: (617) 774-9600 4 @robciampa
Go to pixability.com/futureM2013!
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YouTube Advertising: How It Works!
1. Select:Choose one or several of your YouTube videos as ads.
2. Place: Put ads where your target audience already is.
3. Call to Action: Users can click through to your website for more information.
§ Value for money: Charged per engaged video view, not per click or impression!
§ Extremely flexible: Various cost per view (CPV) ranges available depending on format and targeting!
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Does it have to be Gangnam Style?!
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When should you buy incentivized views?!• Never to inflate
views • Awareness only
– do not expect any action
• When there is a good match of demographic
• Example: promotion of video game launch on gaming site
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Factors that matter: YT’s changing algorithms!
• Viewing time • Total viewing session initiated • Channel layout
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YouTube TrueView Ad Formats!Skippable* Pre-Roll (in-stream)
Keyword Search (in-search)
Display ads (in-display)
• Value for money: Charged per engaged video view, not per click or impression
• Extremely flexible: Very different cost per view (CPV) ranges available depending on format and targeting
* Skippable after 5 seconds
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Placement Analysis!
• Discover detailed data on relevant channels 4 audience size 4 social engagement 4 traffic sources 4 search rankings
Example: 4x4/Off-Road Cars
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It’s magic…?!
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It’s magic…?!