Viral Video- the Newest in Social Media Marketing

by admin

Social media has become the most popular way to express yourself, and now America is using it to market brands and companies.  But, with all the hype on social media, it’s hard to be recognized out of the millions of companies creating fan pages and websites to generate followers.  Some companies, however, are finding a new way to market on social media: viral videos.  No, it’s not a virus that you’ll spend months trying to rid your computer of. Viral videos are videos that become popular through internet sharing.  So how could that help a company?

While the internet is good for promotions and awareness campaigns, we’re really interested in the funny videos of off-tune singers scantily clad, Charlie’s biting habits or auto-tuned versions of news interviews.  And some companies have caught on to that.  Take Toyota, for example.  A company that had somewhat of a media crisis (to put it mildly) with an increasingly bad reputation on social media.  If you typed “Toyota” into a Youtube search 11 months ago, the first thing to pop up would be a v-log commentary on the malfunctioning brake issue.  Now we get a fun and engaging video, made by Toyota that has over 8 million views.

You may have seen the “Swagger Wagon” duo of a middle class mom and dad that are convincing audiences around the globe that the Toyota Sienne SE is a cool, hip, and somewhat “gangster ride”.  Their viral video took off, and viewers can now watch multiple videos of “the Sienna Family” and their excursions in the Swagger Wagon.

Other companies are taking it to the next level, and encouraging their fans to create the viral videos.  Doritos launched a “Viralocity” campaign where they invite Doritos fans across the globe to create their own 60 second videos featuring the new Doritos brand and promote it on their social media sites for prize money.  What better way to gain recognition then to have your fans do all the work?  Doritos put their social media tactics into the hands of America, and America ran with it.

Youtube is no longer for funny home videos or music productions by aspiring artists.  It’s now home to some of the biggest marketing campaigns, disguised by America’s talent of creating funny videos that are quotable, shareable and likeable.

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