Creating a video with the intention of it ‘going viral’ isn’t the easiest of things to accomplish but if you use your imagination and stay clear of Gay Asian Kittens then even a modest amount of interest can aid your marketing efforts.
Using a channel
When most people think about YouTube success they often think in terms of individual videos but the truth behind real YouTube success is having a good channel. Your YouTube channel can be just as powerful (perhaps even more so) than your blog.
Creating your video
I’ve already talked about creating a behind the scenes video but try and think a bit more out of the box. I’ve picked out a few examples to give you a bit of inspiration.
Have a bit of fun
One of my favourite videos has to be the Joey L. Nikon Girl. It fits perfectly into the rock star photographer persona that Joey L. embodies. Catchy song, simple production and over 800,000 hits to date.
This is a good example of using a YouTube channel to post a variety of different content. There are promo videos, tutorials and even a blooper reel. In fact it is the blooper reel which has some of the most hits.
Know for the infamous camera toss, Kevin’s Emotia channel at blip.tv has lots of other interesting content. I talked a bit about Having a Thing in my article last week and Kevin shows how your channel can showcase your ‘thing’.
It doesn’t have to be related photography
Julia Boggio and James Derbyshire’s infamous wedding dance is a perfect example of how a viral success can be built upon and used in the future. Obviously you need a few other things in place to emulate the sort of success that the Julia Boggio Studios has had. Julia’s sense of style in her studio’s imagery is perfectly coupled with James’ marketing and sales knowledge (I should point out that Julia does also have a marketing background).
The dance isn’t beaten to death and as far as I can tell there are very few references to it other than in Julia’s latest project www.icarriedawatermelon.co.uk where she adds the subtitle Tales of motherhood from the Dirty Dancing Bride
What the big brands have done
In the past few years we have seen a massive increase of videos created by big brand names almost exclusively for YouTube. Of course they haven’t resisted the temptation to put these videos on TV but they do have the budget for it after all.
The T Mobile and Old Spice ads are good examples of this but there are some small brands like Blendtec and their Will it Blend? videos who have really embraced the online potential.
Whatever you choose to promote or showcase in your videos it worth noting that subtelty seems to be the key to success. Subtlety and creating something that is pretty cool and fun to watch.
I must share one word of warning that I’m sure Sarah Black will argree with…… Not all feedback is positive so grow a thick skin!
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Michael has been working as a photographer for the last ten years. In that time he has shot over 100,000 peoples’ portraits and worked in four different continents. In 2001 Michael graduated with a degree in photography from Manchester Metropolitan University.