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Confessions of viral video star

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Techcrunch carried a highly interesting account by Dan Ackerman Greenberg last week about how he’s taken more than a few videos to the top of the YouTube viewing lists. His company The Comotion Group describes itself as “viral marketing hired guns” and gives viral campaigns a helping hand generally.

A good few of his tactics basically sound fine, but others, like seeding forums with conversations about the videos fall into what I’d think of as social spam (unless they’re being open about who they are and why they’re posting, but it doesn’t sound like they are).

In Ackerman’s words:

The Wild West days of Lonely Girl and Ask A Ninja are over. You simply can’t expect to post great videos on YouTube and have them go viral on their own, even if you think you have the best videos ever. These days, achieving true virality takes serious creativity, some luck, and a lot of hard work. So, my advice: fire your PR firm and do it yourself.

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Antony Mayfield

2 responses to “Confessions of viral video star”

  1. Paul Fabretti Avatar
    Paul Fabretti

    Great piece Anthony and taps into my most immediate thought on the whole Techcrunch “revelation”.

    People are doin’ it for themselves which, when you look at the recent writer’s strike in Hollywood, makes you wonder if there aren’t now going to be a whole load of A-list talk-shows celebs crapping themselves.

    With anyone of any shape, size and creed becoming “publishable”, it doesn’t matter what you look like – it is all about the content. And it is the writer’s who have the content…

    I think there may be a few new You Tube starts cropping up out of the whole writer’s strike.

    Vive la Revolution…!

  2. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    That’s definitely another way of looking at it – cheers, Paul. I’ve certainly heard of a good few talented writers and film makers looking for ways to do it for themselves. When we see a hit online show or movie that bypasses all the studios and distributors then we’ll know the dream’s come true.

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