Successful video content campaigns

Currently, the Internet has become one of the most successful windows for companies that have been able to take advantage of social networks to publicize the brand and the products they offer. Especially through video content strategies that are much more effective in capturing the attention of users, as they present the product in a much more entertaining way and are able to appeal to the emotions of the audience. This also makes them more likely to be shared on social networks, so we can reach thousands of users in a single day if our video becomes a viral phenomenon.

According to the Bell Labs study (Alcatel-Lucent’s famous research center and division that has helped it transform its services and research from telephony to data, high-speed digital information and video services), European users today watch an average of 4.8 hours of video per day, and according to them, the progression will result in this average increasing to 7 hours on average.

In global data, Bell Labs tells us that Youtube (Google’s video channel), has more than 1,000 million different users per month who consume more than 6 million hours. 100 hours of video are uploaded to this channel per minute. This is accelerating due to the possibility of uploading and consuming videos from the new mobile devices in a comfortable, fast and good quality way.

This study also shows us data about changes in users’ viewing habits, as we will move from the current models of video streaming content to video-on-demand services (HD movies, video sharing sites…etc). These will grow to 70% of daily consumption. This growth will imply an evolution in Internet services, so they will have to increase in parallel to demand.

For this reason, videos have been the content that has grown the most in recent years, and will grow even more in the following years; and today for many brands it is almost unthinkable that their marketing campaigns are not accompanied by a good video, since otherwise, for them it would be a loss of opportunities for their target audience and their competitors. This does not require millionaire investments, but creativity, talent and impact.

How to make a video viral?

There are three factors that explain the success of a video: trendsetters, users with a certain influence on social networks and who can make something that went unnoticed a real revolution in the network; creative communities of participation, which in addition to disseminating the video, interact with it by creating versions, remixes, responses; and finally, the surprise factor, the appearance of something unexpected, outside the usual canons.

Undoubtedly, the videos that succeed become a succulent source of revenue and impressive advertising for the brand that publishes them. However, every day thousands of videos are uploaded to the network and not all of them become viral. There is no magic formula that guarantees success. Companies that have had great success with a particular video have tried again and have not achieved the same figures.

If we think about the companies that have viral videos, there are very few that have achieved it without the help of an audiovisual production company with experience in the creation of videos. But in any case, it is often chance that plays a fundamental role in this phenomenon.

Users’ tastes change rapidly, so instead of obsessing about our videos going viral, we should be concerned about optimizing them so that consumers find them and we can reach as many viewers as possible.

For this it is important to know SEO positioning techniques, to provide valuable content to the user, to be brief and to differentiate ourselves from the competition. The Internet is a very competitive world and in order to stand out from the rest we must devise strategies that make us better and to give users compelling reasons to follow us and not others.

Examples of video content campaigns that have gone viral

1. “Live Young” by Evian

This campaign achieved a great alignment between the message that the brand wanted to convey and the fun and entertainment. Undoubtedly, the video invites you to have fun and feel young. All of this was spiced up with a well-known and catchy melody. Thanks to it, the brand managed to reach more than 69 million users.

2. Samsung’s “All eyes on the S4”.

Another of the best viral videos that have been seen in recent years has come from the hand of the Samsung brand that achieves its goal by integrating its offline and online efforts. Samsung organizes an event in which it gives away the product to the person who is able to keep looking for 60 minutes and while recording everything that happens, getting very funny and striking scenes that have resulted in a very attractive video.

3. Movie “Carrie”

This proposal was even more innovative, getting more than 52 million views on Youtube. The video was recorded in a coffee shop fully prepared to perform the prank. In the video a young woman gets angry with a customer for throwing a glass on top of her laptop. To everyone’s amazement she reveals her telekinetic powers. Evidently it is a farce, but the impact of the people who witnessed it was incredible and was collected in this original viral video.

4. “Wren’s “First Kiss

This was one of the biggest surprises of 2014. Its creator, Tatia Pilieva, wanted to conduct a human experiment, bringing 20 strangers together to kiss each other. Thanks to it, the Wren brand managed to reach 95 million people. And despite being a black and white video, its theme is universal, arousing emotions in the audience.

5. “This Girl Can”

A campaign by the governmental organization for the promotion of sport in the United Kingdom Sport England to encourage exercise in which real women are shown exercising without worrying about sweating, their faces getting red, or disheveled, and in which these women of different ages are seen enjoying the exercise. It is a viral video campaign that already has three million views on Facebook.