Written By: Tom Ogg, Co-Owner – Travel Professional NEWS
Everyone has heard the term “Going Viral” but many don’t think of “Going Viral” as a viable marketing opportunity. The truth is that you can create content that is highly likely to go viral and generate a ton of free traffic to wherever you would like your readers / viewers to go.
While just about any content may be shared there are certain digital formats that seem to dominate the “Going Viral” landscape. It makes sense to use these configurations when creating content. So, let’s look at some opportunities that you may wish to pursue. We will go through the various platforms that you can use in hopes of developing a viral marketing success.
Mobile Apps: Creating mobile apps is now an easy thing to accomplish by using any of the global work sites like UpWork.com, FreeLancer.com, OutSourcely.com and many others. While there are tons of travel mobile apps like Loungebuddy, Airhelp, Tripit, FlightTracker and thousands more, there may not be an app for your niche or location. While the apps mentioned above are global in nature, you can create an app for your specific niche. How about an app that helps travelers find their gate at your local airport? Using gps your app could show where the user is currently located in your airport and where they want to go and how to get there. Or, let’s say you specialize in selling a specific destination, how about an app that uses gps and Google Maps that lays out each destination within your niche that accomplishes the same thing? Mobile Apps are inexpensive to have created and free to distribute. If unique enough, can easily go viral. BTW, never forget to put a “Share” button on the app.
Bon Voyage” “Safe Travels” or niche e-travel cards that people can send to anyone that they want from your website? Instead of traditional cards, invest in creative designs and formats so that your cards are completely unique and entertaining.
Videos: Some videos have been seen millions of times because of their uniqueness and entertainment value. Does this mean that you have to spend thousands of dollars to create a professional video? Of course not. But, an entertaining and clever product or service will go a long way towards getting you the kind of maximum exposure from your viral marketing promotion and is well worth the effort it takes to make it a reality. Our “Creating a Travel Agency Business Plan” video has had over one hundred thousand views since it was created a couple of years ago. Each time it is seen it also includes a link back to our websites and drives traffic absolutely for free. All you really need to create viable video content is a smart phone, a gimbal or other steading device and some video editing software.
Video represents vast opportunities for travel agents. Destination guides, ship reviews, hotel and resort reviews and so many more opportunities. However, creating a video for the purpose of viral marketing is going to be completely different from any other kind of video and has several unique requirements. While, none of the following are mandatory to have a video go viral, it will definitely help your chances. So here are some things to consider when creating a viral video.
- Create valuable and interesting content focused on a specific target market. Focus on your niche and expertise to create content you would love to view.
- Try to create content that can be delivered in the shortest possible amount of time. Try to stay in the 30-Second to 3-minute range, if at all possible.
- Avoid introductions that are too long and unnecessary. The first 5-seconds of the video’s delivery is the most important and should be used to engage your viewer with a high impact viewing experience.
- Try to deliver your value proposition within the first 30-seconds.
- Never promote your channel at the beginning of your video Always skip the “Subscribe and Click” conundrum.
- Pay special attention to the thumbnail you select for the video. While you want to avoid clickbait, you should use a thumbnail image that promises exceptional content.
- If you are doing a “Talking Head” video of yourself sharing information, here are some things that will greatly help.
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- Confidence is the key to success.
- Tease your audience in an engaging way
- Do not imitate anyone or anything – Be Unique
- Change camera direction frequently and use wide angles and zoom
- Be completely real and do not act
Memes: Memes are consistently going viral and an engaging meme can be shared thousands of times. Memes are easy and free to create so all you need is a good concept and execution to create viral marketing success.
Cartoons: While memes are a winner in viral marketing, so are cartoons. All you need is a good idea for a cartoon focused on your niche and then have a cartoonist create it. fiverr.com has numerous cartoonists that will do the work for very little money. A good cartoon released on social media can work wonders. We have done cartoons that have been shared by hundreds of travel agents on their pages and seen who knows how many times?
Infographics: By reducing complex information into easily understood graphics that are engaging and informative, infographics are frequently shared on social media. While it does take some time to created high quality infographics, if one goes viral you will see just how rewarding they can be.
Newsjacking: The art of intercepting news as it breaks and then making it yours by using one of the tactics mentioned above is a great way to gain viral status and results. Newsjacking is especially effective when your newsjacked content is found in the search engines. Coming up in the first search results for a popular news item that you have jacked is a very rewarding experience.
While there are certainly other ways to go viral on the Internet, these are the most likely to work for you. Pick a vehicle for you and start generating traffic by going viral.