We’ve done it, just like most of our friends have done it to us. We’ve come across a viral video that either made us laugh out loud, cry like a baby or think about something we’d never really considered before; and we’ve passed it on – usually with a comment like “lmao” or “This is going to make you cry.” And some of them are just so simple: a little kid getting his finger bitten by his younger brother or a three second symphonic clip introducing a wide-eyed gerbil. These videos are getting millions and millions of views and it seems like almost no effort went into the production. Why can’t you do that and use it to promote your company at the same time?

Sadly, there is no magical equation for making the perfect viral video. A lot of it has to do with good timing and just the right people picking up on it. But there are some things you can do to help your viral video on its way to viewer stardom.

Identify Your Audience

Depending on what your company sells, you’re probably going to want to craft your ad so that it appeals to a desired age range. Are you looking to grab the attention of 40+ year olds or the teen market? Are you trying to engage the 30s group? According to an April 2010 article by eMarketer, statistics predict that the majority – 93 percent – of 18 to 24-year-olds are watching videos online at least once per month in 2012, followed closely by the 24 to 34 group at 91.1 percent. Grabbing the attention of these age ranges takes a fair amount of research into what’s popular, but luckily, there are a lot of ways to find out what’s hot these days. Just check out the top viral videos lists updated daily at ViralVideoChart.com and on YouTube, or visit social media sites such as StumpleUpon, Pinterest, and of course, Facebook.

Keep it Short

While video viewership is going up, attention spans are going down. Average videos are typically around 15 to 30 seconds long, and they usually start with a quick “hook” within the first few seconds. It could be a good joke, a seemingly impossible sports trick, or even an adorable puppy trying to howl for the first time. No matter what, make sure it happens within the first few seconds or your audience will assume there’s no point in watching the rest, no matter how long it is.

Make it Catchy

Think of a commercial, any commercial you’ve seen in the past few days. What comes to mind? Three guinea pigs rowing a boat? A singing falafel? Whatever it is, the reason that commercial stuck with you is because it’s catchy. According to the founders of the viral video production company Seedwell in a recent interview by Mashable.com, a good viral video is usually either incredibly cute, shocking/seemingly impossible or a parody of something recent and well-known. Whatever it is, you want it to be something that catches your audiences’ attention and sticks with them well after it’s over. And hopefully, it will also be something they’ll want to pass on to their friends.

Good Title and Thumbnail

A lot of your viewing audience is out there trolling through the almost endless pages of videos available on the web for something to watch, and they aren’t taking the time to watch every single video in turn. Instead, they’re looking for interesting titles and intriguing thumbnails – the little freeze frames from your video that give the viewer an idea of the content. When preparing your video for the internet, make sure you pick a thumbnail image of your video that makes you think, “I need to watch that.” To get an idea of good thumbnails, flip through a site like YouTube or Ebaumsworld and see what other people are posting. These are also good sites for finding catchy titles. You only have a second or two to grab your audiences’ attention, so you want the first things they see – title and picture – to be as attention-grabbing as possible.

Promoting Your Product

Throughout this process, you’re probably wondering how you’re supposed to promote your business with this video. The answer is with subtlety. While watching any of the videos on the links provided above, you’ll notice that products typically aren’t mentioned directly in the film. Instead, they usually appear in small boxes at the bottom of the screen. Some companies choose to have the ads pop up in a contrasting bar at the bottom of the screen, while others might already have their video in letterbox format (a black bar across the top and bottom of the screen) and the ads appearing in the dark frame. It’s easier to integrate your marketing message this way, and your video avoids the stigma of being tagged as a blatant commercial. And if your video really catches on, you could sell additional space on the video to other companies.

Above all, remember that viral videos are all about entertainment. If you aren’t entertained watching it, your potential customers probably aren’t either. Just be sure to keep it short and catchy, geared toward your audience, and your products subtlety advertised. Add a good title and thumbnail and you’re on your way to viral fame.

iRobot wants to see you “robot”. The creators of the room cleaning Roomba have developed a sweet new contest. Check out this video with pop and lock sensation Marquese Scott, who’s been featured in Forbes magazine and on The Ellen Degeneres Show:

Armed with the Roomba theme song, do your best robot dance, then submit the result at their youtube site. The public will choose the winners. Top three votes get a special iRobot trophy, and all 20 first prize winners get their video featured on the site, and their very own Roomba which can be programmed as a sentry that can protect your home from invaders. Ok, the programming part is a lie, but getting your own Roomba is pretty awesome. Ready? Set? Robot!

I love electronic music; whether it’s glossy house beats or skull-shattering dubstep, I can’t seem to go a day without it.  I recently decided to dedicate an entire weekend to live stream one of the largest electronic music concerts in the world, Ultra Music Festival (“UMF”).

Sponsored by Google Play, UMF was accessible to consumers for the entire duration of the 12 hour-per-day, three day event.  Not only was I impressed with the accessibility and quality of the stream but also the sheer magnitude of user participation; an average of 15K viewers was watching the stream throughout the event, peaking at over 45K during popular performances.  Though these numbers are small compared to the 2012 Oscar’s 39 million viewers, the size of the stream essentially doubled participation and accessibility of UMF.  Being a self-identified digital marketing nerd, I found myself wondering what live streaming says about us as consumers and what it means for video watching in the future.

Although live streaming is relatively old (Skype, founded in 2003, can be considered a primitive form of live stream), it has recently become mainstream to the point that consumers consider it necessary.

Everything from the Super Bowl to this month’s Golf Masters can be streamed as it happens.  This is intuitive: we are consuming more and more videos whenever we want with whatever is most convenient.  But more than that, we are becoming increasingly public with our lives, broadcasting what we ate for lunch on Twitter, hairstyles we find inspiring on Pinterest and pictures we took last Friday night on Facebook.  It isn’t a perfect science, but the rising obsession with videos and the increasing need to put our lives on display clearly points to live streaming becoming a force in the future.  As Wired’s Steven Levy states, “now (we) are about to move from our more fluid, DIY and YouTube-infused paradigm into something different: an explosion of video as its happening now”.

If I can watch Glee on Hulu and stream UMF on my laptop, why do I need TV?  The concept of cord-cutting is debatable; whether you believe that TV is seriously threatened by online video or whether it will always have a place in the home, marketers can’t deny that the idea is taking hold.  I personally believe that TV is here to stay. Even though consumers are spending more and more time online, there is nothing quite like the “sit back” mentality that we get with TV.

With a live stream, consumers are sharing, tweeting and chatting with one another so that it is a much more engaging and “sit up” experience.  Although the rise of live stream is another component that’s driving time from TV to online, the two different ways in which we engage with the media guarantees the perpetuations of both forms.

It’s clear that live streaming is going to have an increasingly strong presence in the future and there is a large, gaping opportunity for marketers.  With the right collaboration (YouTube or Google Play for instance) and some well-placed media dollars, live streaming significantly increases viewership, participation and exposure of your event.

I’m set to attend UMF in person next year, let me know if you want in.

The debates were a tossup. The campaign ads were fairly even. The negatives of each candidate were well-highlighted by each opponent. In 2008, two things contributed to the easy victory that President Barack Obama had over John McCain.

The Obama campaign had a stranglehold on ideas and spreading them through social media.

The first, of course, was what ended up winning it for him, but the second was a contributing factor. Social media was still in its infancy 4 years ago in that most who were on it were still geeks and young people. Things are different, today. The vast majority of Americans are on some sort of social network, get their news from social news sites, or at the very least get exposed to what’s happening on social media through coverage on traditional media.

Obama’s team dominated social media in 2008. With 4 years of practice and a more-vocal following embedded on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Digg, it’s very likely that they will expand on that domination this year.

The difference is in the ideas. Some of the concepts that the President won on back then have not worked out the way he planned. Healthcare reform was to be his crowning achievement in his first term and enough to push him through easily to a second term, but recent polls in the all-important swing states show support of Obamacare is fading.

The economy was another element that is still up for debate. Some of his statements in the early days of his term may come back to haunt him as he has been unable (so far) to fulfill the promises. This is the part where social media can hurt; it’s hard to escape videos like this one:

That challenge may highlight the potential negatives that Obama faces through social media, but it also points to the fact that the GOP has yet to come up with a solid plan for social media. This video could be very damaging and appeared on popular sites like Digg and Breitbart, but it still has far-fewer views than most of the pro-Obama videos.

At this stage, Ron Paul is the only GOP candidate who has proven successful on social media. An argument could be made that the candidate who “never had a chance” has been able to maintain poise and positioning in the contest because of his campaign’s (and more importantly, his followers’) abilities to promote his ideas on social media.

Will any of the other candidates recognize their flaw in relying solely on television and robo-calls in to make a difference in the primaries? Will the eventual nominee have the foresight to put more effort into social media than to post Tweets and grow their Facebook page?

Does the GOP stand a chance against a well-tuned social media machine like Obama’s?

When one thinks of TED, they normally picture the brainiest speakers on important topics filling the world with 15-minute to 2-hour presentations that are utterly profound. They don’t normally expect talking bear rugs or Chipotle commercials, but that’s exactly what the crowd at the Long Beach, CA, TED2012 Conference on Tuesday.

The winners of the 2011-2012 “Ads Worth Spreading” competition were released and the ten videos are below.

“We sought out ads that were driven by ideas,” said TED Curator Chris Anderson. “At TED, we’ve seen the power of imagination and innovation. We want to reward companies that have invested in longer-form, beautifully crafted campaigns that value human attention and intelligence, and take the time to tell a thought-provoking story.”

Submissions came from 39 countries were whittled down to 10. Those winners will get massive exposure for their creativity through YouTube and TED’s own website.

In case you weren’t 100% completely aware that social media is a grouping of storms that rage with massive levels of activity every moment of every day, here’s an infographic to reiterate it.

Pinterest is the new hotness with a rapidly-increasing userbase. Now that it’s getting over a thousand visitors every minute, we should expect to see it continue to blossom (assuming it can get around its copyright woes).

Tagged is bringing together people through “social discovery” and with 3500 new friends connections per minute, the discovering of new people is thriving.

Facebook is becoming more than a networking tool – it’s the preferred communication tool of so many that messaging through Facebook is a more common activity than calling or texting to some.

Storm might not be powerful-enough of a metaphor to use. A better one might be to say we’re getting sucked into the maelstrom.

Thanks to Social Jumpstart for the graphic.

Facebook celebrated its 8th birthday this month. How much has it changed? How much has it changed us? Are we all a little more batty now that Facebook has become a prominent part of so many of our lives, giving us insights into friends and family that we never had before and offering a venue through which we can exclaim the nuances of our lives for the world (or simply our world) to see?

This fun and somewhat creepy video by Daniel Koren, a NY based musician, touches a little too close to the truth for most to bear. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

Something blew my mind last night. I was discussing a product launch strategy with a friend at a local Starbucks when I said, “Sometimes, you just have to go Leeroy Jenkins-style and charge into the room.”

He was bewildered. Despite the crowded coffee shop, I let out a hearty, “You know, Leeeeeroooooooooooooooooooooooy Jenkins!”

He averted his eyes and pretended like I hadn’t just drawn the attention of the entire crowded room onto our table. Thankfully, a 20something barista saved me by replying, “At least I have chicken!”

As I scanned the room, I realized something. Most had no idea what the barista and I were quoting. I turned my friend’s computer around on the table and quickly called up the video below. A couple of people came over to hear and see the explanatory video. At the 1:28 mark, the 4 or 5 of us watching erupted in laughter, drawing more people to the table. We replayed the video with the same results, only amplified.

It earned me a free refill of my 5-shot espresso over ice.

For those who have never experienced the combination of “World of Warcraft is serious business” and the Leroy Jenkins technique, here’s the video that has over 30 million views when all of the variations are combined. If you have seen it, consider this a time to reminisce.

Now that you’ve seen it, what can we learn from it? Two things pop out as important. First, there’s always a risk with jumping in head first and not knowing what’s on the other side. Planning can go a long way but there are wildcard factors that can arise. Don’t let them sink your plan.

Second, there are times when you just have to be aggressive and apply the Leeroy Jenkins technique. Fear can lead to inaction and missed opportunities. Just because you may have been burned in the past trying an aggressive technique doesn’t mean that you should let it go altogether.

This video was staged. I’m sorry to burst any bubbles, but that doesn’t change the hilarity of it nor the underlying messages.

What would it take for you to be a Leeroy Jenkins?

Nobody.

If you check your analytics, you’ll find that an extremely small portion of your website visitors are pushing the buttons you worked so hard to position on your website’s homepage. A recent batch of data that I saw (that I, unfortunately, cannot reference yet) shows that those Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social buttons are being completely overlooked by most of your visitors.

By most, you might as well call it “all” of your visitors because it’s an activity that occurs normally after someone has already submitted a lead.

Moreover, it’s a sign of the “kiss of death” — once they click away, the chances of them visiting your site again drop dramatically.

Logic, not Alarms

Before anyone freaks out and starts removing those dreaded buttons, think about why this is happening and what it means. People who have purchased a product or submitted a lead are more likely to push those buttons than those who have not filled out a form simply because they have accomplished their mission. They found what they were looking for and are now wanting to see who they may be dealing with in the near future.

People who have not submitted a lead or bought something are still on their mission. They’ve moved on to a competitor’s website or back to search. They’re not in social-media-mode yet, so there is no reason to click on them.

Does this make the buttons worthless? Absolutely not.

Warm and Fuzzy

This data tells us that the people visiting your site and putting in a lead are looking for humanity. They’re looking for the warm and fuzzy that they hope to find on the other end of the click.

Social media is about driving traffic and forming engagements. The sheer fact that they are not going from your website to the social sites isn’t a bad thing. It simply means that the gut-instinct many of us have had for a while is correct, that social media happens away from your website and the value can be found there, not through buttons. People have seen the buttons so often on nearly every site they visit that they’ve become immune to them. The people who click on them are wanting to find them (and you) and as a result, they hope that they’re getting cuddly social stuff once they leave your site and go to the magical realms of Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

Keep The Buttons, then Do More

When they want to find you on social media, they will. To be proactive, you have to give them a reason to go to your social presence, like/follow/subscribe to it, and still venture back to your site for more. Banners describing events or other benefits of liking/following/subscribing can be very effective – just make sure they open a new tab and do not take the visitors completely away from your site.

There is a book waiting to be written about the roles of social, search, and website marketing and specifically how they are an integrated function of each other rather than separate activities, but that book will not be written today. In lieu, think about how your buttons are positioned and think of new ways to be more aggressive with your social promotions on and OFF of your website.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If a video gets posted to YouTube and nobody can find it to view it, does it really get played at all?

The goal of making a video for a car dealership (or any business, for that matter) is to get viewed. Using video for marketing can be an extremely beneficial practice, but so often dealers are out there making videos but not doing what it takes to get the video found on YouTube or through Google searches. The solution – optimize it.

Here are 5 ways that car dealers can optimize their videos without being search engine optimization experts. It’s part of our weekly webinar series at TK Carsites.