Beyond Viral: How to Attract Customers, Promote Your Brand, and Make Money with Online Video

Introduction

A great author, especially a marketer, would spare no words before telling you why this book is so vital to you. Alas, I’m not a great author. Unlike those behind the other books adorning your shelves, I am perhaps more like you. What I lack in raw talent I make up for in voracious curiosity and persistence. I don’t exercise or floss daily, but I thrive on disruptive change and have a passion for lifelong learning.

I have written this book because I feel that most books about online video have missed the mark. I’ll offer four theories: (1) The medium is changing so rapidly that none of us understand it entirely; (2) the majority of YouTube books are simply dull how-to instructions; (3) many books focus on video production and not business implications; and (4) some are written by writers. We have already established that I am not a writer, and if you decide otherwise, the editors deserve credit. I am a career marketer, a dad, a video enthusiast, and someone who happens to have fooled millions of online-video viewers into thinking I am a celebrity.

Online video offers profound opportunities for people and businesses, and I hope this book can be your shortcut to seizing them. As both a career marketer and online-video creator, I have participated actively in this new medium since 2005 (the year YouTube launched). I have watched, studied, and analyzed this ecosystem somewhat compulsively, as my family might observe. I regularly speak at industry conferences, educate marketers, and write about it via my blog (WillVideoForFood.com) and in trade publications. My journey, which was chronicled in a documentary titled I Want My Three Minutes Back, is something I hope can save you time (Figure I.1). I also have engaged in online video as a full-time marketing director at Johnson & Johnson and Merck, and with such clients as Coke, Microsoft, General Electric, Fox Broadcasting, Starbucks, Holiday Inn, Mentos, and MTV.

Figure I.1 A YouTube documentary, I Want My Three Minutes Back, chronicles the author’s misadventures, seen here with his 14-year-old prankster, Spencer.

I tell you this not just to brag, but to let you know you are holding a compressed file representing thousands of hours of research and experience. Unzip it to save yourself time, catch up, avoid pitfalls, and zoom past competitors. Or read it cover-to-cover if you feel so inclined. But please at least read the first chapters, and then dive into practical insights that can specifically help you in your business, artistic, volunteer, or other pursuits.

In addition to setting your expectations about my writing, I need to make two additional disclaimers. First, I am not the brightest marketer (although at least I am enlightened to that fact). Second, I am far from the most talented or popular online-video creator. I am, however, the only career marketer today who is also one of the most-viewed personalities on YouTube. My more than 1,000 videos have been seen hundreds of millions of times. They’re lowbrow humor—Doritos™ for the brain, if you will. But surprisingly, more people watch them each day than some of the television shows you know well. My videos range from sophomoric candid-camera-style pranks to heartfelt family moments. My mom takes little pride in knowing they can find my opus video (Farting in Public) by simply searching Google for the word fart. (See Figure I.2.)

Lest you think my YouTube fame has gone to my head, let me be clear it does not carry many special privileges or bring me great fortune. I playfully call myself a viral video genius, or weblebrity. Of course, I have only been recognized in public a total of three times (each time more thrilling to me than the viewer). My 15 minutes of fame has lasted longer than I might have anticipated, however; it has allowed me to meet some real-life stars, and that’s been a real treat. But you won’t see me on red carpets or at the Hollywood parties. My income as a YouTube Partner, while not trivial, is not enough to substantiate a family of six.

Figure I.2 YouTube is the second-most popular search engine after Google. A Google search of the word Fart reveals the author’s Farting in Public video on YouTube.

I make comedic-like videos. I can’t call my videos comedy any more than Kraft™ can refer to its cheese products as actual cheese. Fortunately, my wife and family have tolerated this hobby because it does create nontrivial income. More important, studying and practicing online video is what I would be doing even if I won the lottery. I am combining two of my strongest passions (besides family, of course): marketing and online video.

There is great irony in my writing a book that includes viral in the title. Viral is a term that originated to refer to a biological agent (an infectious agent that can replicate inside the cells of other organisms). It was later used to refer to computer programs (usually harmful) that could infect a computer through reproductive processes. Marketers in the mid-1990s borrowed the term to describe marketing and advertising that would go viral via word-of-mouth or through preexisting social mediums. As videos became easier to share via e-mail and online-video web sites in the late 1990s, certain video clips became widely circulated, and the term viral video was born.

Leave it to us marketers, who refer to customers as targets, to turn an infectious agent into a noble pursuit. Most viral videos are funny or bizarre clips created by individuals. One of the first examples of a viral video featured a crude webcam video by Gary Brolsma, a New Jersey teenager. Brolsma lip-synched to a song called Dragostea Din Tei by a Romanian band O-Zone, which contained the refrain Numa Numa. He submitted the clip to Newgrounds.com in December 2004, and it was widely circulated and featured on many popular television shows.¹ (See Figure I.3.)

Figure I.3 Numa Numa boy takes the stage.

One of my first viral videos was, in fact, a mockery of viral. In a self-deprecating video called Viral Video Genius, I parodied the pomposity of celebrated artists as if going viral actually mattered. (See Figure I.4.) I have since proclaimed viral dead, at least for advertisers. I should add that being viewed millions of times is a bit less satisfying than you might expect.

When I speak, I often beg marketers to go beyond the roulette game of a viral advertisement, since there are many smarter ways to tap online video to reach target customers and drive sales. If you picked up this book hoping to go viral, I hope to walk you down a road less traveled, where the grass is most definitely greener.

Figure I.4 The Author’s Viral Video Genius" spoofs a documentary interview of a self-important artist boasting of his viral-video success. When it was featured on YouTube’s home page in 2007, those not watching the complete video took it seriously.

My passion, combined with my unique role as a hybrid career marketer and weblebrity, gives me a unique peek into how small companies and large brands can engage successfully in online video. Certainly, my marketing skills have given me an edge over more talented video creators (and to appease my guilty conscience, I once published a free e-book called How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent). I lost money on each copy, but made it up in volume when TechCrunch, a group-edited blog about technology start-ups, featured it.²

This bilingual nature—my ability to speak about online video as a marketer and as an entertainer—has helped my employers and clients. But for years, I have wanted to more broadly influence the online-video strategy and tactics pursued by businesses, marketers, advertisers, studios, and agencies. Last year, I resigned as a product director at Merck and Co., Inc., in what Cracked.com called one of the ballsiest resignations ever.³ Before working at Merck, I was a leader at Johnson & Johnson, interactive agencies, and Big Five consulting. Now, I am merging my passions via Nalts Consulting (www.NaltsConsulting.com).

That’s enough about me (at least for now). If you can absorb this book, and apply its strategies and suggestions, you’ll be better off than the majority of businesses and my fellow marketers, who seem doomed to repeat the many failed attempts of others in this medium. I wish I could upload my experience in its entirety for instant download. Since that is not yet possible, I have done my best to distill what I’ve learned the hard way, and give you useful tips to engage your target audience, market your business or service, and increase sales. If you do, please let me know. My e-mail is [email protected], and I would be thrilled to learn how this book helped you.

CHAPTER 1

The Least a Marketer Needs to Know

In this chapter, you will learn:

• Why a marketer needs to know about online video.

• Pitfalls to avoid and ways to save yourself time and money.

• How to target customers in ways you may not have considered.

• How video can help you from awareness through loyalty.

Presumably, you would not be reading these words if you had not recognized that online video can help drive businesses. However, I feel compelled to point out why I think this is the most interesting thing happening in our time:

• Online video generally refers to viewing that occurs at a computer, and that remains the prevailing mode today. Over time, however, the convergence of the three screens (television, computer, and mobile devices) will further complicate the definition of online video and perhaps eventually make the term antiquated and obsolete.

• This medium is disrupting industries and traditional networks, and content producers have so far fumbled and lost relevancy in online video. While most video viewing is done via a television set, the audience has continued to fragment. In the early 1950s, more than 30 percent of households watched NBC, and today it’s around 5 percent.¹ As television audiences fragment and shift to online viewing, marketing dollars are following them.

• Today, online video is the only advertising medium with a growth rate estimated at 40 to 60 percent per year,² while such traditional areas of marketing mix as television and print are flat or declining.³ (See Figure 1.1.)

• YouTube remains the dominant player in online video, so this book gives it disproportionate attention. By the time you read this book, we’ll likely see a reduction of the approximately 37 percent share difference between the leading video property and its distant follower. ComScore, a market research company that tracks one of the largest panels of online users, reports that Google/YouTube leads with nearly 40 percent share, followed by Hulu with only 3 percent.⁴ Still, approximately 25 percent of Google search queries are conducted on YouTube, making it the number two search engine (above Yahoo!).⁵ YouTube also has more content and active viewers than any television network.

Figure 1.1 U.S. online advertising spending, 2008-2014 (billions and % change).

Source: eMarketer, October 2009.

Online video—like radio, television, and film—has created a new type of star. Individual one-man band amateurs are being watched more frequently than most television shows. Brands have a near-term opportunity to partner with these stars for cost-efficient ways of reaching large audiences. Many of these individuals are earning six-figure annual incomes via advertisers.

Online video is changing the way we market, and requires insights they don’t teach in business school (at least they didn’t a decade ago, but now I’m dating myself). On the one hand, we have marketers believing their unique selling proposition is as interesting as the Numa Numa kid.⁶

On the other hand, we have today’s attention-deficit video viewers (which I will explain in depth later) demanding hyperpaced video entertainment, and ready to skip or close a video otherwise. So the rules of creating videos are fairly simple: Keep your clip or video short, interesting, edgy, and give us a surprise that makes us want to forward it to our friends. It’s not a viral video if people don’t want to share it. The rules of marketing within online video are more complex, but you will soon be capable of distinguishing a successful program from the road kills along the viral highway.

Eight Things Marketers Should Know about Online Video

I like lists, so allow me start with an important one. There are eight things every marketer should know about online video. To fully understand these, it has taken me several years of experimenting as a marketer and video creator. You, however, will learn much more quickly. Read these closely and you will save months of frustration, reduce your costs and risks, impress your colleagues, and possibly even lose 20 pounds in two weeks.

1. They’re Watching. Your customers are watching exponentially more videos online than they were even a year ago. A marketer cannot survive without some skepticism, but trust me on this one. The early adopters of online video (technical enthusiasts, teenagers, video gamers) are giving way to a broader audience that will, eventually, closely represent the population. Americans continue to spend as much as 10 times more time in front of their televisions than surfing the Internet or watching online video. But three trends are capturing the attention of advertisers: (1) Time-shifted television viewing is increasing rapidly (with the proliferation of digital video recorders), (2) there is a significant (35 percent) rise in simultaneous use of the television and Internet, and (3) online-video viewing is increasing rapidly across all demographics.⁷

2. Your Brand Isn’t an Online-Video Entertainer. It is a rare marketer or brand that can also entertain. It is the role of a marketer to identify a target market with a need, position a product or service into the minds of its customers, and grow sales. Those tasks often are at odds with the job of an entertainer, which is to engage and delight audiences. I happen to wear both hats, and it is challenging to balance these roles. Many marketers, often with help from creative agencies, have created branded entertainment flops like the now-defunct Bud.tv, the first attempt by a consumer product company to launch a full-scale TV network with original long-form programming online.⁸ (See Figure 1.2.)

Budweiser makes beer, and would have been better served by introducing its products in the context of popular existing shows and audiences. Assume, even if you believe otherwise, that nobody cares about your brand but you. Find content that already attracts crowds, and develop creative ways of working with the creators and distributors. Instead of trying to launch a Broadway show about your product, slip down the street into a standing-room-only theater. You would be surprised how receptive the creators can be.

Figure 1.2 All that remains of Bud.tv.

3. It’s a Buyer’s Market. The ROI (return on investment) of reaching customers via online video is surprisingly high; like most new mediums, it is a buyer’s market. There are plenty of eyeballs with wallets, and an abundance of made-for-Web video content. Yet advertising dollars have not yet adjusted. In many ways, online video is like what search engine marketing was in 2000. Too many companies are stuck in a repetitive ready, aim mode, and only a few industries (entertainment, travel, and consumer packaged goods) are beginning to harness the power of online video. If you spend the next six months making the first step, you may lose opportunities, and also likely discover that the medium has changed again.

4. You’ll Need a Sherpa. A calculated investment in online video means: (1) being prudent about spending, (2) respecting the rules of social media, (3) engaging audiences in interesting ways, and (4) analyzing results carefully. Many brands awkwardly apply the interruption-advertising model from television and online marketing.

The best way to be prudent and stay within social media is to find a sherpa who has learned the trails of the mountain. Most of them, myself included, will be annoying. Just as social-media gurus are sprouting like dandelions, everyone claims to be an online-video expert. But there are individuals who have achieved success, have made mistakes along the way, and know where the land mines are hiding. The best way to know how someone will approach online video is to understand what he or she did previously. You’ll get different perspectives, depending on if someone came from marketing, advertising, creative, online, production, television, or film (or last year happened to be a guru of SecondLife.com, a once popular virtual world).

5. ROI Soup. Every list has a measure-and-improve step, but let’s get specific. Very few brands can truly measure the direct impact on sales of online video, and that makes it surprisingly consistent with the rest of the marketing mix. Still, it is not hard to cook up an ROI soup made of behavioral data, test-control research, and educated assumptions. Even better, the targeting and metrics—provided marketers and advertisers demand it—are getting almost as good as paid search, and certainly much better than print or television. As a product director I doubled my paid-search budgets nearly every year, despite not having a precise indicator of resulting sales. I used a solid assumption-based ROI model, and it impressed me more than television, radio, print GRPs (gross rating points), and studies on consumer awareness and attitudes. If you can’t track sales directly to online video, you can at least ensure you are not budget bleeding by doing a simple test-control or pre-post study using the proxy measures or drivers of sales (enrollment, site visit, intent, awareness).

6. An Impression Isn’t an Impression unless It Makes One. Television is still bought based on gross rating points, and online advertising is purchased by cost per impression (CPM). In another life, I must have been a direct-response junkie because that makes me very sad. Views or impressions can be horribly deceptive. They can give a brand the false pride of going viral with no sales consequence. A well-targeted video could be inadvertently scorned because it was seen only 100,000 times—but these viewers could be the target buyers. The question is not how many views? but whether a target saw it and changed his or her behavior. Most online marketers know that the vast majority of banner ads are not even seen (based on eye-tracker studies). Videos, by contrast, tend to engage a person actively—even if it is just for a minute or less. What we marketers really want is behavior change, and that happens when prospects give us time, attention, and engagement. But the CPM ad model tells us little about those vital signs. We want reach, but we need engagement to lift intent to purchase or generate sales. Just as a piece of junk mail can’t do the job of a good salesperson, a cheap display advertisement can’t perform like online video (and even those adjacent ads, to a lesser degree). I believe online video is the most visceral, engaging, and persuasive form of mass entertainment and marketing. This is amplified