Marketing Strategy and Tips

Have you been following the “overnight” meteoric rise of a Canadian indie band called Walk Off the Earth? They are currently experiencing fame over their viral cover video Somebody That I Used to Know. You’ll be massively entertained by the energy and creativity in their music videos. You’ll be even more fascinated by their marketing savvy.

The methods that make a video go viral are the same methods that you can use to make your business go viral.

Success in the music industry can be foreshadowed by a video that goes “viral”. And, if you are into videography, your business could be dramatically boosted by a viral video you create. But even if you never create any videos, you can use the same strategies promoters use to make a video go viral to promote your business.

The goal of creating a viral video is to blow up a business. This, of course, means that there can be a strategy to make it happen. And you can easily employ these same strategies to blow up your business. Contrary to popular notion, not all viral videos happen serendipitously. There are companies devoted exclusively to making videos go viral on behalf of businesses.

Since there is a strategy for making videos go viral, wouldn’t you like a little bit of that jamba juice for your business?

The greater part of a successful marketing campaign is first getting the attention of a large audience. How to get the attention of a large audience is what all businesses can learn from, whether they do it by creating a video or not.

Here’s how a little known Canadian indie band called Walk Off the Earth created a major marketing and YouTube sensation “overnight”.

Gianni Nicassio, the creative energy behind Walk Off the Earth, his band members and crew have spent the better part of a year doing “covers” — recording their own versions of popular music videos and posting them to YouTube. They’ve garnered hundreds of thousands of views for their covers and most intentionally for their own original songs by linking themselves to the hottest musicians on YouTube.

The strategy has worked. It has worked because of four key elements:

1. Raw talent honed over years of making music

2. Passion for making music translated into a sharable product

3. Marketing know how

4. Going to the office every day and getting it done.

Some might say they got lucky by having the actor Russell Crowe tweet about their “brilliant” performance on their cover video Somebody I Used to Know by Gotye. But in reality it was just a matter of time.

Walk Off the Earth has done everything right. They studied what worked for other bands/brands and they got busy. They’ve relentlessly followed the formula for success they had identified. If Russell Crowe had not discovered them, some other celebrity would have. The luck came, not in whether they were going to be discovered, but rather who was going to discover them first.

Social media has been a major factor in Walk Off the Earth’s success strategy.

Walk Off the Earth has made excellent use of social media. If you take a look at their videos, you will see how they creatively entice viewers to:

1. Subscribe to their YouTube Channel

2. “Like” them on their Facebook business page

3. Encourage viewers to post comments by responding to their commenters

4. Follow them on Twitter

In many of its videos, Walk Off the Earth creates a post-video piece that is just as entertaining as the music video itself. It keeps the viewer watching while it encourages the viewer to subscribe, like, follow and comment. Brilliant indeed!

Band leader Gianni listens to his audience. The band creates new covers based on YouTube commenters’ requests. And the band is rewarded with loyal fans and even more exposure when more and more fans repost their videos through social media.

Social media has worked for Walk Off the Earth. As of this writing, their viral video cover Somebody I Used to Know has garnered 23,901,428 views in just 11 days.

What does it take to make a viral video?

To become popular, “Like”-able and ultimately go viral, a video usually has a combination of a few key ingredients. People are drawn to things that are unique, new, provocative, edgy, passionate, entertaining and humorous. A “pattern interrupt” is often an important component.

In Walk Off the Earth’s video, the pattern interrupt is that five people are simultaneously playing one guitar and making beautiful music. It’s new, unique and entertaining. It leaves people wondering “How do they do that?”

Their genius did not stop there however. They astutely chose an original tune to cover that has itself been one of the most viewed videos on YouTube for some time. People discovering or going back to listen again to the original will also find Walk Off the Earth’s version. The viewer’s next step is to listen to more of Walk Off the Earth’s videos and become hooked on their music. And thus, a fan is born.

And Walk Off the Earth’s popularity and profits begin to rise. Mainstream media clamor for interviews. Publicists and promoters want to sign them. Advertisers want to advertise on their videos. Tour dates, a recording contract and more interviews are bound to follow. When will Ellen DeGeneres have them on? Creating a buzz is the first step.

Your business can go viral too. And for your business to “go viral”, you don’t need 20 million people coming to your website. You just need a few thousand to create the success you want. Take a look at what a couple of guys in this Canadian indie band have done. Follow their strategies for your business. Emulate their work ethic. And you too will create the success you deserve!

 

Tags: business, campaign, marketing