Create a Traffic Monster—The Thrill of Going Viral
Ultimately, you will never earn “big” traffic unless one of two things happens: you get a big following after years of building a loyal customer base, or two, you go viral and get a little instant fame fast. Remember what Andy Warhol said about everyone getting their 15 minutes of fame? Well, when you create “viral” content online you can actually get multiple sessions of 15 minutes. You can get literally thousands of unique visitors within a few days, or perhaps even within a few hours if you hit it big.
Just how does one create “viral” content, the type of content that creates a media sensation and causes the “snowball” effect? The snowball effect is essentially what happens when friends share content, and alert more people to do so, and then eventually everyone wants to see it because the world starts discussing it. And it has happened countless times before, whether we’re talking about an adorable baby video, a great article, a swell interview or even an urban legend that spreads all over the world!
Of course, it’s not so easy to simply create something “viral” and wait for the snowball effect to happen. Very many pages have been created, sometimes according to the formula of viral content and with every intention of creating a storm of controversy…but then they were ignored.
It’s hard to predict what the Internet (and what a million of friends of friends) will find interesting and what they will deem worthy of sharing. Bear in mind that no one feels compelled to share anything, just because the content is there. In order for someone to want to share interesting new content with other people, that person has to emotionally respond to it.
To some extent, it’s reasonable to say that people want to share “unique content.” Something that is new and hasn’t been seen a hundred times before does sometimes get a big reaction. This is precisely why many people choose to create video content in hopes of branding their image.
The majority of business sites don’t have video and audio content, unless of course you’re talking about corporate sites. As recently as 10 years ago, small to midrange businesses usually never thought in terms of visual presentation or virtual face-to-face sales. This is precisely why many businesses are now creating video content online— because of the idea that no one else is doing it. Well, that was the attitude when the big viral boom first began.
Nowadays, a lot of small business are getting into the act and are producing their own instructional videos, their own video presentations, and even their little comedy skits and short films. It all makes for great publicity. Even if you don’t “go viral” and get millions of hits in a week, you may still make a lasting impression on your leads and that may very well convert these leads into paying customers. A lot of paying customers will make for a traffic increase, even if you’re not the next Dramatic Chipmunk phenomenon.
Audio presentations are also very big right now, especially if you plan on reaching targeted customers on Smartphones, PDAs, eBook players, multimedia players and the like. Some businesses have found great success in hosting a radio show or podcast, and speaking on issues that are directly related to their business. Not only can an audio show (or audio clips) help to improve listening traffic on your site (though you will likely have to store content offsite…more on this in the next section), but you can also direct the show’s listeners back to your website to push merchandise.
The most important things to remember when preparing video or audio content is:
This is an easy step, right? Not necessarily. Many people actually do want to host heavy video and audio content on their main site…they will definitely benefit from all the traffic if the content goes viral. However, this will take up huge amounts of web space and “bandwidth” (trust me…you don’t really have “unlimited bandwidth”) and you may end up having to opt for a dedicated server (big bucks) sooner than later.
No wonder many business owners prefer to work through a free storage site, or perhaps a social networking site that allows the storing of very large files. Some of the most obvious sites for storage include YouTube (you can even create your own channel and links and store all of your videos in one location), Facebook (you can store videos on your own page) and a handful of other sites like DailyMotion, MetaCafe and so on. (For some reason though, MegaUpload doesn’t seem to work anymore…)
Besides these two options, you have a third one: host your large content on a storage site and then simply link to it with your social networking page or your official website. The good news is that a few cloud storage services (the biggest thing in online business today) are free. Cloud servers are a great idea, as they allow you to remotely back up your content so that data damage is never an issue anymore.
Some servers even have auto update features (meaning you auto save new files on the cloud server just as soon as you save it to your hard drive), and the ability for a user to access his content from anywhere and using any device. Some even allow video playback!
Free cloud servers include:
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words…and sometimes a simple picture can go on to outstanding viral success, perhaps earning a website or an individual’s Facebook page thousands of shares, likes and reads. Just think if you could associate your brand name with a popular picture that goes viral.
The million-dollar question is; how do you create an image that really captivates attention and boosts traffic? First and foremost, make sure you have the proper avenue. Do you notice that many of the pictures you find on Facebook have the same “group” name? These are actually groups created solely for the purpose of gaining a following through picture sharing. They are found through Facebook’s search engine, though they also link to one another and are shared among friends.
So, the first secret to using pictures is to find an audience that appreciates your images, whether they are inspirational, funny, dramatic, controversial or witty. Rather than waste time developing something that is brilliant, spend more time developing an image that your customers will appreciate. Sometimes a picture can be something as simple as a high quality photo of a new car (great for building an automotive readership) or perhaps a witty saying that supports your company’s values.
Be sure that all of your images are optimized, in that they accurately reflect the keywords you want to target. You can verify image SEO integrity by saving the file name as the targeted keyword you want, and by providing alternate text that is a keyword. You can also a caption stating the keyword. Last but not least, type the keyword out in the article or on the social networking page, clearly stating what it is. Prober labeling will ensure that your picture is either found on a search engine or distributed across social media with proper identification. The same applies for all videos; label them whenever possible.
Last but not least, try to tell a story with the video content you use. Sometimes a story can be conveyed in images; a subject, a situation, a problem or a resolution. This is how commercials on TV are formatted and it’s also how print publications approach advertising.
More to the point, not only should you tell your audience a story visually, but you should also try to address the “needs” of your audience in the image. Usually, when you think of “needs” in marketing, it’s all about the sales pitch. However, it’s good to remember that you can actually poke your customer’s needs in incidental marketing, such as in creating images, videos or just through typical social networking interaction.
For example, consider the average “millionaire marketer” personality. He doesn’t really sell his company when he visits bloggers, or comments on people’s pages. However, he does talk about his lifestyle. You see, he is very subtly calling attention to the fact that he’s happy and living the big life—something that others will definitely pick up and want to know more about.
You can use the same concept when you create viral video. Tell a story and address— however subtly as possible—the needs of your customers. Better yet, you could use a site like Pinterest to link all of your images together and tell a continuing “story” of your values, your company directive—the things, the images that matter to you. Even though you’re blatantly advertising, you are saying quite a lot.
If you don’t have any ideas for video, or don’t see any use for video, then don’t bother making any video clips. There are way too many boring, amateur and pointless videos out there. If you would rather write, then write—but focus on creating outstanding creative text pages that can go viral and earn you lots of traffic.
Oh, your work is cut out for you, all right. Basic texts and even fairly good articles don’t go viral…they simply get occasional traffic. If you want to get loads of free traffic then you have to focus on making your content thoroughly unique and dynamic in concept. You want your audience to think that they cannot and will not see anything like this ever again—and this will move them to share it with their friends.
That emotional reaction is pivotal. Not we’re not saying you have to write something that’s going to get everybody misty-eyed. (Might not work very well if your goal is selling beer) But the emotional reaction you are looking for can result from anything that the audience sees as useful, including content that:
Of course, you have to be sure that the unique content you’re developing is both relevant to your industry, and that it identifies a “need” that already exists. So be careful about introducing new ideas that are not proven to have a need or a market yet. These can oftentimes amount to time-waster pages. Great ideas…but no audience for them.
Next, consider the topic of social bookmarking, a new trend in web surfing that is the link equivalent to file sharing—an application that allows you to share website links and website content, and also organize it, store it, manage it and search for similar content. This form of social bookmarking, also called tagging, can help users search for niche content all over the web and promote themselves, as well as others. It is similar to a social network, as far as sharing goes, but is more focused on promoting good text pages than merely interacting with others.
Descriptions are added along with bookmarks via metadata, so that context is immediately understood upon loading the link. Users can also comment on the content, vote on the subject, or vote on the quality of the article. Some sites even allow you to keep track of all changes and statistics, including how their bookmarks are shared and tagged by others. Bookmarks can also be emailed integrated with social networking.
Some of the top social bookmarking sites include Delicious, Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. These are excellent traffic boosters as they can help you to go “viral”. They are also content-centric, meaning they are less concerned with images, and more concerned with articles of high caliber and of unique content.
You can submit your own writings to such sites to consider, but ideally, (and just like with all the Web 2.0 applications we have been discussing) you want to help promote other people’s content as well. Don’t blindly recommend things as a chore. Help to promote content that you believe in—ideas your company can stand behind.
What is the most common reason why articles fail to go viral on these sites (which are meant to draw huge traffic to individual web pages)? It is usually because:
Lastly, consider that social bookmarking and having a text page for “viral” can often times be a deceptively easy task to accomplish. Many webmasters are excited to see when a story receives thousands of hits in a day. However, if he doesn’t capitalize on that success with a series of similar topics, all that traffic is just going to drop. It will be 15 minutes or fame. So decide if you want just 15 minutes or hours and hours in the spotlight!
Applications, Games, Tools and Other Multimedia
If you’re all out of text and picture ideas, or perhaps you just want to diversify your viral strategy then think about a developmental approach—creating applications, games tools and other multimedia projects exclusively for your customers. This yet another form of incentive and many, many companies are willing to invest hundreds or even thousands of dollars in creating a tool that will be useful to their customers.
After all, if you host this tool on your own site, your customers will flock to it, wanting to use the tool. Along the way, they will see your brand, your web design and your prices and may be convinced to give your company a try. Giving just a little bit extra upfront is a great way to recruit interest.
You’re probably thinking… “That sounds all well and good…but I am not a programmer!” Of course you’re not. Most of us aren’t…but that doesn’t mean you can’t outsource the job to a programmer or perhaps even download a public domain tool that you can install on your own site and brand with your own name. This is truly outside the box thinking, as it can cater to the short-attention span of many Internet viewers, or capitalize directly on their stated need. (i.e. someone is looking for a calculator made just for home financing…and bingo, they find your tool. )
The Secret to Creating Viral Pages
Lastly, we come to the secret of creating viral pages. The only secrets are consistency, and having a pulse on what the world is thinking…a few days early. You have to be consistent, because for every page you create that does go viral, you will have many others that never find a massive audience. Keep sending them out there on a regular basis and do your research. That way, you will know what “type” of content grabs hits, and thus what type of future projects you should be planning.
It also helps to read up on the news as to what is happening around the web, including viral sensations, as well as general interest news. Understanding what the world is thinking about, looking at, and how they’re laughing it up at the moment, is always a good thing to remember for when you create content of your own.
It is definitely recommended that you make time to develop viral content because this is a great way to boost traffic without having to pay.
In our final chapter, we are going to consider some other great and not so great ideas that might be free to low cost. Of course, we’re pushing the “free” in this book so just be warned…