It’s a fact of life: the weirder or funnier the video, the more hits it generates. The more hits it generates, the more it is palmed off to other Internet subscribers. The more people who see the video, the more hits it generates. It’s a win-win scenario that entails a bit of creativity, a bit of posting, a bit of word-of-mouth advertising and viola! You’ve got (what else?) a hit.
This is the theory that backs the promotion of viral videos on websites.
A viral video is really any video clip that spreads a virus on the Internet. It is usually passed on through blogs, emails, instant messages or other media sharing websites like YouTube. The most successful viral videos are the funnier, if not weirder amateur clips, although there are some noteworthy (and copyrighted) commercials, and excerpts from TV series and movies. Many online advertisers are now seeing the potential of the viral video phenomenon, and some of them are opting for this as a new marketing strategy.
Why? The answer is simple. Some videos are calling so much attention that they cross over to the more conventional arenas of the tri-media: the newspapers, radio and TV shows. It provokes a domino effect that gathers a lot of momentum with very little expended energy.
For the more hard-nosed net marketers, videos can be used to jack up traffic to a projected website, provided that it is done in connection with the products and services available on the website itself. Making them funny or weird is one way of making the video stand out among the thousands of new videos being uploaded on the Internet daily.
There are two ways of placing a video on your website. One: you take an already popular video and upload it to your page. Two: you create your own video and upload it to your page.
If you are opting for option number one, it might be best to judge first if the content of the video is even remotely associated with the theme of your website. If not, it would be best not to post it. That video can be downloaded from other sites, and you just as well may be getting more competition you can handle. Sure, it might generate traffic for some time, but is it quality traffic? And for how long will the interest hold out?
Besides, posting any video for the sake of posting something just might have a negative effect on you and your website. Site visitors might assume that you are as disorganized as your page and as a marketer, you would not want that.
The second way is to create your own video, which is more advisable if you are seriously considering the quality of traffic going through your site. It does not need to be a funny or weird video. The trend these days is leaning towards informative “how-to” videos. If your video or videos complements the other graphics, banners and articles of your site, you will not only have an increase in quality traffic, but an increase in the “expert-reputation” as well.
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