Sometimes the best examples of consumer interaction are hidden in the simplicity of the result of successive and collaborative actions. Yet, when you offer consumers the opportunity to open up the dialogue, it can occur the feedback channels are not always serving the purposes they’ve been created for. Even worse, the examples of brands with failed efforts to start the conversation are hic et ubique. You can invent and plot an entire ’social’ masterplan to engage with your audience and still find yourself left with empty boxes just because the initial spark that had to set things in motion was missing. Most of the times though, when looking at the popular memes on the web, the global succes of a viral effect originates quite often from ‘accidental fame’.
Accidental fame can be the cumulative result of something funny, epic or just plainly remarkable which a lot of people can relate to. Something you instantly want to share with others. Something unbelievable, something unique or maybe even something downright silly. The hardest part being a strategist is to sometimes convince some brands that in their specific campaign, or for their specific product, for their budget,… the hopes for a social viral should not be nurished, simply because their product isn’t inviting enough for the larger section of ‘the internet people’ (the target audience segment is too narrow), or the message of the campaign is not inviting enough to start a grassroots revolution. Looking at the most popular memes around, very little of them have been invented by advertising people. Most of them are not related to a brand or company, nor do they serve a marketing purpose. And still…
The challenge to create something remarkable that will travel around fast and virally is exactly hidden in the gray zone, where good creatives come up with ideas that get traction. Because sometimes a good campaign goes viral exactly because it’s a good campaign. A great idea, perfect visuals, the perfect scenario. Every once in a while you find that ultimate concept, that superb tune or catchline. But the combination of the circumstances that lead to this successful action are not part of everyday life. It might be hard to grasp it, but seriously. The world would be a boring place if everything was equally popular. Standing out means being remarkable. You can’t be remarkable all day. There seems to be an idée fixe at brand representatives and companies that has put then in the comfortable position of expecting to receive the pot with gold everytime they poop out a rainbow.
Let’s take a look at some of the misconceptions brands have when they contact an advertising agency:
- The briefing contains the words ’social’, ‘viral’ or ‘like brand x but better’, so the results will be alike.
- Social Media (networks, services,…) is free, or at least very cheap.
- People all over the world love my brand already anyway, because I’m the best.
- Social channels return instant brand popularity.
- My brand will become the next hot thing overnight because I’m on Facebook.
- Posting a YouTube clip, comments or content under a phony name will not backfire.
- Omnipresence on all available social media channels equals instant revenue.
Social is the new viral. True. But just wait a minute before you jump out of the frying pan. As the song goes, there might be a fire too, and songs rarely speak false truths. So here are some rules of thumb to help a brand or company along the way:
- Social media is part of your regular media plan and should be treated like so. It needs budget, it needs attention and careful consideration. Yes. It needs a strategy and a concept.
- ‘Do something social’ is an empty assignment. Copying from a successful competitor will not work the same for you as it did for them, because you can’t stage the circumstances in which the competitor launched his campaign.
- It’s better to have a solid presence on one or two networks and maintain it for a couple of months than to wildly flood all social channels with your message. If you start from scratch, learn to crawl first before you start running. Positive brand perception takes a while to grow. It’s like credibility. You don’t have it just because you say so. You have it because others recognize you do.
- If the thing you launched isn’t working, it might be your timing’s off, the message isn’t strong enough or what you try to do is lame. Or maybe something else is stealing your thunder because it’s better. Instant and overnight success are like winning the lottery. It happens, but rarely to the same people and pretty much always unscheduled.
- A good campaign strategy is well-balanced. Cropping budget and cutting out things that seem useless because you don’t understand it completely will disturb the overall impact of the campaign. If you go for it, be prepared to go all the way. Cutting funds half-way the process jeopardizes the entire operation and will most likely result in disappointing campaign stats.
- Being present on a social network is more than just pushing content. It means participating in conversations, facilitating conversations and above all: listening to what people say. There is nothing more shameful for a brand than dying social groups and pages that get their only traffic from an occiasional tumbleweed that drifts by. If you, as a brand or company decide to go social, that means someone inside your team will have to pick up this job and integrate it with other daily activities. Or you have to out-source it to your agency, if you feel like they understand your brand.
