Viral Video Marketing the Super Easy Way

Viral marketing is a goal for virtually all Internet marketing experts. Finding or creating the next big viral marketing video can be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Your goal should not be trying to come up with the next YouTube sensation. Think smaller -- and you can succeed!

1) Consider having a YouTube contest!

A YouTube Contest will enable you to harness the collective creativity of the contestants. If you offer a great prize and promote your contest well, then you should get a good number of entries.

The contest should be set up so that contestants submit their entries to your website (make sure they do NOT post them on YouTube). This will enable you to check the quality and appropriateness of an entry before it appears on YouTube.

The contest can be the creation of a 30-second commercial for your company or a product demonstration. Establish rules to protect your copyrights and brands and make sure it is clear that you own all rights to any videos submitted.

After reviewing all the entries choose the finalists (try for at least 10 finalists) and post the videos on your YouTube channel.

2) The Voting Equals Viral Marketing

Each finalist video will be on your YouTube channel, plus you should create a separate blog entry on your blog for each video. Voting is based on the number of views multiplied by the rating of the video on YouTube plus the number of social bookmarking votes on the blog (from Digg, StumbleUpon, etc).

Basically you are setting up a voting system that will prompt the contestants to market their entry for you. They will send out the video link and ask that their contacts keep forwarding it off to their contact lists and so forth. This is creating 10 viral marketing campaigns or more depending on how many finalists you have.

Keep the voting period to about 60 days before announcing the winner.

3) The Results

The results need to be tabulated carefully. Once you have tabulated the votes you should announce the winner or winners and the prize they received.

A YouTube contest is an easy way to create multiple viral marketing opportunities based on the creativity of your contestants. Make sure you market the contest well to maximize the number of entries and the quality of them. This is a great system for Internet marketing you can consider.

4) The Web's Funniest Videos

Funny videos are something YouTube surfers love. They are more than happy to send out links to YOUR videos that they find funny. If you have or can have a funny video made that is appropriate for your business, it is a great way to spread the word virally about your company while also helping people feel more comfortable with you and your business.

Consumers like to relate to the people they are doing business with. Make someone laugh and there is a near instant connection and rapport.

5) Some Thing are Just not Funny

No matter how funny you think some things are, there are some topics that should be off limits, even in self-deprecating humor. These topics include: age, disability, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation. It is also not advisable to make jokes about your competition as they may be seen as being petty.

Offensive humor can trigger significant backlash online so be extra careful with the humor you choose to use on your website. If you have any doubts then err on the side of precaution and do not use that particular piece of humor.

6) Humor in Viral Video Marketing

The bottom line is that humor in a video is an effective viral marketing strategy. You do not have to be a comedian or comedienne to add humor to your viral video. If you are not naturally funny you can hire a writer or ask a friend for help. Do not try to be slapstick funny and avoid inappropriate humor.

The proper use of humor in a video can make it go viral across the Internet, as well as increase consumer confidence as your viewers (who may visit your website) are put at ease and feel a connection with you after sharing a good laugh.

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The Rebirth of the Video Jockey: Viral Videos and Comedy

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you'll know this stark truth: the 'M' in MTV does not mean music anymore. Because of a change in public perception, music video are no longer an acceptable format to run between advertisements. First, if there's a video you want to see, you no longer have to wait for it, thanks to YouTube. You can also see covers of that song ad infinitum, remixes, mash-ups, live performances, and probably cats falling off of tall objects perfectly timed to said music. Second, with the music industry crumbling, the labels and record companies no longer have the same influence to make national stars with the same clout, like a Madonna or N'sync (I always forget where that apostrophe goes). Everyone's taste in music is very different and as time goes on, it's becoming more refined and succinct. Sub-genres of wizard rock and crunkcore have millions of hits online, yet a poll would reveal that an overwhelming majority of the population have never even heard of these musical offshoots. This has left little interest in the Top 40 and pre-teen stars of yesteryear, and therefore have left video jockeys (the hosts who would guide you through these videos on television) in search of other professions.

But in the past few years, a resurgence of video jockeys have made their way through another form of entertainment: laughter. With the 24 hours of video that are uploaded every minute to YouTube, a need for an editor to find funny videos that will go viral and become the next topic at the watercooler has emerged. And shows like Tosh.0, Web Soup and Ridiculousness, along with internet sensation Ray William Johnson, are filling the void that America's Funniest Videos solely clung to for two decades. These shows are very popular; Tosh.0 is currently the highest ranked show on Comedy Central, and RWJ's YouTube channel gets over a million hits per video. Some cable shows would kill for those numbers, because the more eyes you have, the higher you can charge for advertising.

This leads to the question: why have these video clips of failures and cats become so popular, while the music video has declined so far? Well, it all boils down to a simple fact: laughter is universal. You don't need to understand what Daniel Tosh is saying to understand why someone falling from a table they shouldn't be on is funny. And while we could all sit at a computer and search through countless hours of video to find gems, who has the time to piece it all together in a montage, with funny commentary? These people have teams of researchers and writers, who do this as their daily job, scouring the internet for the next 'chocolate rain'. Over time, they build trust in knowing that what they ultimately showcase will be worth the audience's time, solidifying themselves as experts in a new frontier of editorial glory (sidenote: if you've ever been an editor, you'll know that there is absolutely zero glory. Just lots of muck. And coffee.)

Though currently the competition is low, as is the entry bar, for becoming one of these vjs. All one needs is a camera and some editing software, or even just a blog. One can monetize through AdSense and other affiliate products, and become a new sensational gatekeeper of comedy. In a few years, this new frontier of video jockeying will become saturated and we will split off into new factions of groups who will base their humor on their most trusted host. But for now, let's all sit back and laugh at more cats. Meow.

Nanashi N. Nogombe is a pop culture enthusiast at night, while getting hammered during the day as a bartender. His other talent is finding funny videos for his friends to watch at http://allfunnyvedios.com

He also likes cat videos. http://nanashinogombe.hubpages.com/hub/Funny-video-clips-of-cats