Cures for the Viral Craze

September 20, 2011

Viral marketing campaigns have a certain allure. You simply give the customers the message, and they do the work for you, right? Sadly, it doesn’t happen like that. Viral marketing campaigns take a lot of effort, but if you do them right they can pay off. However, the risk is that there’s no guarantee that they will.

Let’s start with the basics. Viral marketing, quite simply, is getting a message to spread rapidly, just like a virus does. Viral marketing campaigns are trendy right now—remember the Old Spice Guy? There have even been literal viral marketing campaigns (yuck). Viral marketing doesn’t work for every business, but paired with a strong traditional marketing campaign and aimed at the right audience, viral marketing efforts can take off.

If you’re thinking about such a campaign, take the temperature of your campaign before making a decision. Here are some points to keep in mind:

Consider return on investment. Will your viral marketing campaign help you sell your product or spread your message? If the answer is no, it’s not helping your business and it’s not worth the effort.

You still have to plan. It takes ample thought and strategy to make any campaign successful, especially a viral marketing campaign. Strategizing on how to spread the message is an integral part of the campaign, and making a misstep could mean the campaign doesn’t produce the desired results.

Sharing must be built-in. Customers need the tools to quickly share your campaign with others, or its not going to spread. During a South Dakota Department of Education campaign aimed at high-school students, we provided students with sidewalk chalk and wording to spread the message themselves. Built-in sharing can be as simple as links to share on Facebook or forwarding the message to friends.

It doesn’t work for every business. It’s hard to predict what goes viral. While not a marketing campaign, this video of grandparents trying to figure out their computer has more than 7 million hits on YouTube. Having a thorough understanding of your audience and your company’s goals can help you determine if viral marketing campaign is a good fit.

You can’t control what customers say. You can, however, start the conversations and see where they go. Interaction with your customers during these campaigns can help propel the campaign further.

All your campaigns should be shareable. Sure, it’s appealing to think your viral campaign could spread like wildfire, but don’t you want all of your campaigns to have a strong message for people to share? Any campaign, traditional or otherwise, should have a strong message and value for your customers.

By amie

Filed Under Marketing

Live Your Passion

September 6, 2011

It’s easy to just go through the motions from day to day. Go to the weekly staff meeting: check. Make a phone call: check. Respond to emails: check. But when was the last time you checked on your passion for work? Ideally, joy for the work you do supersedes all those mundane daily tasks and makes you excited about waking up every weekday.

Passion for creativity is the foundation that HenkinSchultz was built on 20 years ago. We strive to be inspired every day and to inspire our clients, too. After the jump are some fun ways we promote creativity and passion for work among our employees.
HenkinSchultz anniversary party
An actual HenkinSchultz party. Yes, they get can a little theatrical, but that’s because we’re passionate about throwing parties.

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By amie

Filed Under HenkinSchultz, The Process