1. Short, Sweet, to the Point – Attention spans are only getting shorter nowadays, so it’s even more important to get your point across in a shorter amount of time. Viral videos should be somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds, definitely no more than 3 minutes. People won’t sit there and watch your 10-minute video; they don’t have the time or the patience. Keep it simple and reap the benefits.
2. Doesn’t Have to Advertise – A lot of people talk to me about what they want in their hopeful viral video. However, after listening to many clients, what I get is that they want an advertisement, not a viral video. If you want to talk about yourself, make a commercial. If you want to generate attention for yourself in a more indirect way (ie, if your product is really, really boring), make a potentially viral video. Your video doesn’t have to talk about you or your product. The only thing it absolutely needs to do in relation to your product is navigate viewers towards your website, that way they can actually buy your product or service.
3. Two Words: Shock Value – Tame and reasonable are two words that should never go into a viral video, ever. You want a video that will make people talk, and a pleasant little video about the village of the happy people isn’t going to do it. Make people stare. Viral videos are all about the ridiculous and the bizarre, so in order to get people to watch them, you have to have content that turns heads. It’s okay if it’s a little wacky – that’s what people love about them. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a comedic viral video. I once made a stop-motion animation video that was light-hearted, but not necessarily humorous. However, instead of using typical stop-motion means, I animated using socks and balloons (which, as far as I know, hasn’t been done before). Doing something crazy may just mean doing something that no one else has tried and doing it well.
4. Catchy Titles – Most of the time, the title of the video is going to be the first thing a viewer sees. Don’t use this as an opportunity to turn them off – make your title interesting, yet informative. This will attract viewers and bump up the view counter on your video. After all, first impressions are everything.
5. Tactful SEO – SEO for viral videos can be a lot more difficult than you would imagine. Many people assume that if they jam as many words as humanly possible into the search queue, that will make their video magically pop up in everyone’s searches. Wrong. Putting vague words like ‘funny’ or ‘cute’ isn’t going to help anyone, especially you. Make the most of your search terms and pick ones that truly describe the uniqueness of your video. Got a one-eyed, teapot-wielding unicyclist in your video? Put those terms. They’re a lot more descriptive than ‘funny’ and will help you to be found more often.
6. Going Viral – A viral video’s work is not done once you post it – in fact, the work begins when it goes online. Just because you’ve made the best video ever doesn’t mean it’s viral by its mere existence. Once its out there, do everything you can to advertise it. After all, people can’t share it if they can’t find it.

With everything in real time, the strategy requires effective communication with a specific group of consumers. Honestly, in the digital environment you have to focus on the consumer and engage them in ways that are meaningful to them without losing sight of your ultimate objective—to get them to believe your brand promise. How can you convince them to buy from you and not your competitors? As more and more brands cut back on traditional advertising budgets in favor of digital, the question that often becomes the elephant in the room is: What about mass marketing?

The obvious answer is that “going viral” is the new form of mass marketing, but videos go viral for a reason. For your marketing initiatives to stand out, they must be engaging and highly entertaining. It has to have pass-along value. Let’s take a look at this Old Spice commercial; partially because of its a well documented success and partially because Google told me I should when I typed “Viral Commercial” into the search bar. Simply put, the video drove sales because it made people think of Old Spice when shopping. When positive praise and request rained in, Old Spice allowed Isaiah Mustafa to stay in character and answer. They used him to engage and entertain the consumer while selling a product: body soap that made you “smell like a man, man”.

There used to be a time when customer service was a very personal and face-to-face interaction. The way you smiled, the tone of your voice and even small things such as a thank you drove repeat business for many brick and mortar businesses. That personal touch has not gone away by any means.  Your customers still expect swift responses, they look to their peers for their opinions and they turn to applications or other social networks for breaking news and insight. If you’re not engaging in a conversation with them through the channels they chose I promise another brand will. And regardless of those brands overall objectives, there will be other potential buyers waiting, watching and weighing in.

For those of you who may not know, the worldwide celebration of social media advances starts today on Monday, February 13^th, and runs through the 17^th. Crowdcentric CEO Toby Daniels started the event, which has official celebrations in 21 cities across the globe. Social Media Week involves social media experts from multiple countries and allows those experts to have a platform upon which they can talk about current social media trends and how they have shaped every major industry and even the history-making current events. Since the event covers a wide array of business industries, it’s a great opportunity for learning about your business’s current market and networking with industry professionals. Want to attend the event but are worried about the cost? The best thing about social media week is that 90 percent of all the events have free admission. Just go online to socialmediaweek.org, register, and sign up to attend the platforms you want.

21 cities. 7 days. Infinite gain. What’s not to love?

Interested in following the news from Social Media Week but can’t make it to the actual event? Search on Twitter under hash tag #smw12 or #smwwdc for the D.C. conference of social media experts.

When it comes to the perfect blend of cinema aesthetics and marketing know-how, this ad has it all. The shots are composed well and it has hints of both nostalgia and humor. So why did this ad, along with many other Superbowl ads aired over the years, completely fail? Yes, it got people talking about the ad. Yes, it generated a lot of interest for Volkswagen. The problem is that, despite all the effort that went into this piece of marketing material, there was not much return on investment. The amount of money that went into creating the ad was not earned back in consumer sales, despite people talking about the ad constantly.

Unfortunately, Superbowl ads are not the only place where marketing investors lose money. There are plenty of ineffective marketing tactics that people participate in everyday. Getting people to talk about your brand is all good and well, but if people aren’t buying your product or service, you won’t survive in the game of business for long. If you want to see a positive return on investment, here are some effective ways to market your brand:

1)   Social Media – This one is a fairly obvious answer, but the way to make social media effective is complicated. Social media marketing has become huge over the past few years. Why? It’s inexpensive, effective, and fairly easy to use. Despite its ease of use, knowing how to do it correctly is the biggest dilemma. It’s kind of like a video game: fairly easy to operate once you’ve gone through the process of learning what buttons to mash, but impossible if you’re not going to commit the time to using it correctly.

2)   Freebies – Everyone loves getting freebies! It’s a great way to get people talking about your products, even if the freebie is something small. The trick to giving out freebies is giving something of value. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but it does have to have effort put into it. Make it something you would want in your home, otherwise no one else is going to want it, either.

3)   Competitions – This is something else everybody loves – a little bit of competitive greatness (hence why the Superbowl is so popular). One of the few companies that has done well with Superbowl commercials is the Doritos company. The reason for this is their annual Crash the Superbowl competition. Every year, instead of Doritos making a Superbowl commercial themselves, they have fans make the commercial for them in exchange for eternal glory on the television screen and a cash incentive. This works for Doritos because it cuts any production costs associated with making the commercial to zero for the Doritos brand. Some of these commercials are going to be absolutely terrible, but that’s alright because Doritos isn’t paying anyone to make them, they’re just paying for the best ones. People also have to buy Doritos to make the commercial, what with product placement. I participated in making a commercial for Crash the Superbowl this year and bought a 24-pack of Doritos just to make one commercial. Take the number of Doritos bought for one commercial, multiply it by the number of commercials made for the competition, and voila! Doritos just achieved instant profit without even having to air the commercial yet. While you might not need anyone to make your company a Superbowl commercial, you can create your own competition to generate interest and content for your company in the same way.

Many employers nowadays use social media to find their next job candidate. Think about it, sifting through piles of paper applications must have gotten old at some point, hence why many businesses have shifted over to online applications. Now, with the click of a few buttons, employers will not only look at your job application, they can also use social media to look at portfolios and other online works. If your job search is hitting a rut, one of the best things you can do to give your career a kick-start is to go social.

Of course, there are the obvious social media sites. LinkedIn has become a hugely popular site among job seekers and employers alike for its ease of use and ability to network. However, there are other ways to make yourself stand out in a sea of other applicants. A great way of doing this is to make an online portfolio. Start out with making your own website and upload portfolio pieces to the website in an organized fashion. It’s easier than toting a physical portfolio around, is more accessible, and can be changed more easily than a paper portfolio.

Another tip is to create a streamlined message of what you want to communicate to potential employers. Just like a business, you should have a brand. Spreading yourself too thin or conveying multiple messages will only confuse employers, and employers will not hire people who confuse them. I once applied to an internship and was turned down last minute, not because I was unqualified or incompetent, but because I had so many skills that they did not know which department fit me the best. Create an image for your employer and stick with it.

If you’re already knee-deep in the social media waters, congratulations! You won’t have to go through the process of learning how to use social media. However, what you’ve already posted might be preventing you from getting a job offer. Another tip to getting more job offers is to evaluate the social media you already have. As someone who has hired people before, I can say that I have thrown out applications after looking up applicants on Facebook or Twitter. Finding inappropriate pictures or comments via social media will turn off any potential employer. Clean up your act by deleting any content that could look bad to a boss. Also, use proper grammar and spelling when posting anything online. No one wants to hire an idiot.

1. Designate a Fearless Leader – Having someone with a clear goal in mind at the beginning of any project is vital to success. This applies to the team leader for any web design project and the bride and groom for any wedding. Not knowing what you want to achieve as your end goal makes the planning process unorganized and produces a less-than-satisfactory result. The leader should make a list of goals before going into a project. Then, prioritize those goals. What could your wedding day or website absolutely not go without? Attempt to achieve those goals through creative means. However, the leader of the project should also be flexible. Everyone has heard the horror stories about bride or groomzillas (yes, groomzillas totally exist) who micromanage their wedding. Being too specific and too detail oriented will leave you either completely stressed or totally disappointed. The same goes for web designing. While it’s important to have clear goals, they should not be meticulous. Hence, an efficient leader will strike the balance between these two extremes to create a superb end product.

2. Put Together an Effective Team – A few months ago, I was asked to be the Maid of Honor in a friend’s wedding. I, being a fairly effective planner, took the reins on a lot of projects with which the bride needed assistance. However, I was shocked at the other bridesmaid’s unwillingness to help. I ended up going dress shopping with the bride by myself and the bride was distraught. Having a team that works well together is just as important in creating a website or business as it is in tying the knot. Team members should complement each other in their various skill sets and should be able to cooperate. Is there a member who slows down the workflow or whose negative attitude is bringing down morale? Get rid of them. No one wants that stress, especially not on a deadline. Your team of web designers or wedding helpers will thank you.

3. Have a Set Budget – As the Maid of Honor in the previously mentioned wedding, I was asked by the groom to keep tab on how much the bride spent on the dress. Alyssa, the bride, was notorious for having, as we said, “champagne tastes on a beer budget.” Wedding dress shopping with the bride ended up being more nerve-racking than I had anticipated, since the bride’s choices far exceeded her funds. Through some creative negotiating, we were able to find a dress that still met most of Alyssa’s criteria and was within the budget. Knowing how many resources you have before tackling a huge project is important for the business world as well as the wedding world. Make sure your project stays within a defined budget. After all, no one wants to leave an important project unfinished.

4. Color Choice Says a Lot – Color was also a disputed topic in Alyssa’s wedding. Since Alyssa was getting married in October, she wanted the bridesmaids to wear pumpkin orange. The feedback from us was unanimous. None of us felt that orange was a flattering color and it didn’t reflect the bride’s taste. Eventually, we got her to consider using her actual favorite color, a lilac purple. Just as in weddings, web and logo design is an easy pitfall. After all, it is all-too-easy to mess up color. Be aware of what color is saying to an audience. Red is naturally going to come off as more aggressive than blue. Moss green is more earthy-feeling than neon yellow. Be aware of what color says about your business and be sure to pick coordinating colors.

5. Be a People-Pleaser – Let’s face it, brides and grooms are always making wedding decisions with their audience in mind. What their friends and family say about the wedding means a lot to them. In the same line of thought, web designers and entrepreneurs should always have their audience in mind when creating new products. This audience could be the client or potential customers. Either way, its important to have them in mind when planning because they will be the ultimate judges of whether the product is a success or a flop. Finally, always be open to feedback from the client. In the case of Matt and Mandy’s wedding, it seems that the guests deemed it a huge success based on the stellar feedback from their Facebook walls. Once again, congratulations to Matt and Mandy and have a happy honeymoon!

However, deciding who would be right to follow is tricky. Following your crazy-cat-lady Auntie Agnes on Twitter will not help you as much as following someone in your same career path, no matter how entertaining her all-caps, typo-ridden posts about Mr.Fluffykins’s latest catnip overdose can be. Thankfully, the people over at Digg, Inc. made it ridiculously easy. Say hello to WeFollow.com, a must-have application for Twitter junkies everywhere. By creating lists of Twitter users based on the number of followers and type of content, WeFollow.com makes it easy for Tweeters to find people to follow. For example, if an indie band wants to find other indie artists to follow, all they have to do is type in the tag “indiemusic” or “indierock” and, huzzah, the Internet Gods at WeFollow.com send their blessings by providing lists of indie music Twitter accounts. They even added a convenient little button that lets you add that person to your Twitter straight from the website. How simple is that? Plus, when you type in something incorrect, you get this fun little message:

They make Twitter following simple AND have epic Back to the Future references. What’s not to love?

1: Be More Active on Social Media: Having an active social life when it comes to digital communications certainly won’t hurt your business. Make a social media calendar and commit to posting at least once a day Mondays through Fridays. We at BEC update our Twitter at least six times a day during the workweek, but social media strategy differs for each individual business. Regular activity will draw people to your page and get people talking about your business, and who doesn’t love to get the word out about their products and services? That being said…

2. Be Less Active on Social Media: Yes, we’re telling you two contradictory pieces of advice, you should be used to this by now. Having regular activity on your social media will draw attention to your page, but there are some more aggressive strategies that should simply be avoided at all costs. Posting to your social media on a regular basis is recommended, posting to your social media every two minutes is annoying. Yes, your followers care about your business, but they probably do not care quite that much. Being an overzealous social media marketer is kind of like being a telemarketer: you won’t like your job much and people won’t want to talk to or about you. Make communication meaningful and only Tweet or blog about the important stuff.

3. Talk About Business-Related Topics: This kind of goes under the umbrella of only saying the important stuff. Create a voice for your business and stick to that voice. Consistency in image creates better branding and better branding makes a business more easily recognizable by the general public. Ensure that all social media outreach is professional in nature. After all, the Internet is a fairly permanent record and news travels quickly over cyberspace. The last thing you want is for your business to make a mistake on the Web.

4. Talk About Business-Related Topics Not Related to Your Business: Okay, this one is a little confusing. Yes, all social media interaction from your professional social media username should be related to the business. However, it does not necessarily have to be related to YOUR business. For example, we at BEC do tweet about ourselves from time to time, but we also do a lot of re-tweeting. All of the articles we re-tweet, while not about BEC, always have something to do with topics relevant to our industry. By doing this, you not only make yourself seem more knowledgeable about the field, you also get to learn from other professionals.

1. ShopSavvy – Say goodbye to endless price comparison. This nifty app by ShopSavvy lets you scan the barcode of the product you’re purchasing and check the price at other nearby retailers. Now you know you’re getting the best deal every time on must-have holiday products or that special gift for a special someone.
2. Epicurious – Never know what to cook for the holidays? Epicurious has you covered. Not only does Epicurious have a fantastic recipe website, it has a matching award-winning app. The app lets you search for recipes based on ingredients, preparation methods, occasion… It even has an option for those of us who should never be allowed in a kitchen for fear we might burn down the neighborhood.
3. Naughty Or Nice? Christmas Detective – Okay, so this has no practical application in our lives, but what’s the holiday season without a little fun? CreekFrog’s Naughty or Nice app allows people to determine whether a person has been naughty or nice this year with just a few easy steps. Take a picture of the person in question with your device. The app scans the photo and determines whether the person is getting candy or coal this year for the holidays. It’s not the most useful app, but it’s sure to get you a few laughs.
4. Mixology – The Mixology app is a great choice for the holiday entertainer. Not an experienced bartender? Digital Outcrop has you covered. This free drink recipe app has over 1000 different recipes in its arsenal. Search by ingredient and the Mixology app will come up with a variety of different choices.
5. Social Media Sobriety Test – We have all heard the horror stories of people drunkenly posting inappropriate comments on Facebook and Twitter. While we at BEC hope you would avoid that situation in the first place, Webroot has the perfect app to save your social media reputation. The Social Media Sobriety Test is a series of quick tests that ensure you are in the right state of mind to be posting those photos to Facebook. After all, no one wants to wake up the next morning to realize they tweeted that embarrassing office party story to the masses when they were less-than-cognizant.

1. Simple, Simple, Simple – I’m not sure if we can stress this one enough. Simple designs are more appealing to Internet audiences, plus they’re way easier to pull off than elaborate masterpieces. Stick to a few colors, fonts and links. Keep designs clean and classy. If you’re not comfortable with the latest version of some high-tech web design software, stick to what you know until you are comfortable flaunting your latest design skills. Note that simplicity is not synonymous with laziness, however. It will show in your handiwork if you do a sloppy job of creating your website.
2. Websites Should be User-Friendly – No one wants to date someone they can’t understand, and websites are no different. If a person can’t figure out how to find what he or she needs on your website fast, chances are that person won’t be sticking around much longer. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate before publishing it to the Web. Take it for a test run with people outside of your company first. Future customers will thank you.
3. Create Buttons That Work – Everyone has clicked on a graphic element that looked like a button but actually wasn’t. Don’t do this to your customers. Not only is this a total tease, it’s frustrating and confusing. Don’t be that guy. Make sure that everything that looks even remotely button-like works like a button.
4. Keeping Up-To-Date – Seeing that a website hasn’t been updated since the turn of the century won’t be attractive to new customers. Dated information needs to go and new updates need to happen on your site fairly frequently. Bonus points if you can come up with a schedule for updates (for example, making sure to update every Thursday morning).
5. Avoid CAPTCHAs When Possible – CAPTCHAs, or Completely Automated Public Turing tests to tell Computers and Humans Apart, are used to tell whether someone is an actual human being or a spam bot. They have many forms, the most common of which being the picture of various letters that the user must type in order to prove their existence. No one likes these. No one. So, if you want people to like your website and actually have the compelling desire to revisit, avoid putting these pesky text boxes in your website at all costs.