Contrarily, Bodyform’s equally hilarious professionally filmed video response “The Truth” was an obvious viral endeavor and, with over two million views the first week, a successful one at that.
Obviously intent to go viral isn’t a key factor in what influences viral sharing of content, so what else goes into it?
Truth #1: Often it’s the unexpected that goes viral
YouTube’s trends manager Kevin Allocca says that one of the main reasons a video goes viral is because it’s unexpected. This certainly applies in both cases. Not surprisingly, a quick glance through Bodyform’s pre-Richard wall posts yields few (okay, no) surprises. A comment about packaging here, a compliment there...but there is nothing predictable about a man coming to a feminine hygiene product Facebook page and posting a 200 word tongue-in-cheek rant.
And while it’s generally expected that companies respond to posts on their Facebook pages, it’s never a hyperbolic video production. Corporate social media specialists are trained to tread on the side of brand safety—providing polite, professional responses and avoid using humour. But Bodyform blew that out of the water with its flatulent faux CEO dryly summarising the points Richard hit in his Facebook post. Which leads me to my next point...
Truth #2: People share hilarious content
Humour is the most obvious common thread between these two pieces of viral content, but it’s important to note that Bodyform ‘s response still fell into the tasteful realm of humour. Effective use of humour in marketing can be tricky as Huggies learned earlier this year with their controversial “Have Dad Put Huggies to the Test” campaign depicting incompetent fathers leaving their children’s nappies unattended while they watched sports.
But rather than belittling a segment of their target market for their punch line, Bodyform directed some of the laughs at their own advertising in a subtle way with the blue drinking water and the posters of remarkably active menstrual women. It was like Bodyform was saying, “Yeah, we acknowledge our ads are little silly, but we’re not the ones taking them so seriously.”
And of course, you can’t beat Richard’s British humour. While Richard’s post offended some women, he wasn’t speaking on behalf of an organisation and therefore had far more flexibility and zero risk.
Truth #3: Viral content generally does not exceed the average attention span of the average modern human being
According to the New York Times, the attention spans of 44% of video viewers ended after one minute of video. Yes, we know there’s a ten hour video of nyan cat with over twenty million views, but how many people clicked out before the twentieth loop? Bodyform’s video clocked in at 1:45, and the content was immediately engaging enough to keep audiences hooked. And in terms of written content, Richard’s post at 187 words was easily digested (though we would recommend to Richard that he improve his formatting for his next viral endeavor to make it a bit more reader-friendly).
Truth #4: You won’t know the impact of your viral marketing endeavor unless you figure out a way to measure it.
The question we have for Bodyform is what sort of impact this publicity had on their revenue. Did brand awareness translate into enough business growth to make this video worthwhile? It’s difficult to measure online campaigns without some sort of call to action followed by a landing page for lead conversion. Yes, that video was hilarious, and if I’m a guy I’ve had a good laugh and I’m clicking out before someone sees what I’ve been watching. But what if I’m a member of Bodyform’s target market and I’m feeling so tickled by their engagement efforts that I’m willing to fill out a form for a special offer? Bodyform should have come up with a clever call to action and hyperlinked it at the end of their video, providing viewers the option to continue engaging with the brand if they desired.
Upon clicking the call to action, the viewer should be taken to a landing page with a form to fill out in order to receive a coupon for Bodyform products, or another special offer. The visitor fills out the form with some basic details, hits submit and BOOM! Bodyform has a better idea of how many people became genuinely interested in their products after viewing the video, and the audience has a takeaway for their next trip to the pharmacy. For more information on landing pages and how to make them an effective part of your marketing campaign, whether it goes viral or not, check out our free e-book “How to Create an Effective Inbound Marketing Campaign.”