Does Viral Marketing Work?

I found this viral Smart Water Advert with Jennifer Aniston online and thought... "What are the key things that makes a message go viral?" How do I get 9,000,000 views without the advantage of exposing Jennifer Anniston as one of our brand ambassadors? (see the subtle search engine phrasing... 'exposing' 'Jennifer Aniston' 500 hits right there!)

The power of video online today in undeniable. It is the single most powerful online tool that web sites should be harnessing and using. And with such a surge in online video uploads and views it is no wonder that Viral Marketing has seen a new boost in the newly social networked world.

Software company Avangate released an article on their blog about effective Internet marketing. It contained this excerpt...

"Rules of viral marketing strategies

Viral marketing consists of several elements, which need not be all present in such a strategy, but the more they are, the stronger the results are, too.

Here are six fundamental elements/rules for your viral strategy to be an effective one:
   ~ give away valuable products/services
   ~ ensure an effortless transfer to others
   ~ easy scale from small to large
   ~ exploit basic behaviors/motivations
   ~ make use of existing communication networks
   ~ take advantage of others’ resources."

This does hold some credibility however I can't help but think there is more to it. As humans we are now more connected than ever and more exposed to advertising then ever. We are also highly over exposed to deals and offers and 'Groupon-esque' sites and emails. The effect is that we are becoming somewhat numb. The most valid of the above for me is 'exploit basic behaviours/motivations.' With that in mind I think there are two key things that help something go viral:

1. Entertainment (especially humour) - It doesn't matter what channel the message is offered through, or what deal the message offers, if it is entertaining it will work. For people to be interested... it has to be interesting! And with the emergence of all this Social Technology and the ease of the digital revolution, production and distribution is so accessible. It starts to place value back on the idea. Perhaps Saatchi's slogan of 98' "Ideas are the currency of the future" is returning to vogue?

2. Rubberneck Effect (especially acts of novelty.) - Do something outrageous, real or fake and people cannot help but look. Highlight errors and mistakes and people love to witness others misfortunes. Don't get me wrong here, I don't necessarily agree that natural human reaction is always the right way to act but it is a reaction able to be leveraged. Give them something taboo to look at and they will look, whether it be jumping through a hoop of fire, kissing mid riot, or highlighting a six digit typo in a national newspaper advert... Rubbernecking is not just something people do for themselves, with social media solidly planted in our daily lives its something they share! (What have we become)

There are many factors and even more techniques to get things sharing their way to super stardom but for me (and this is purely personal preference) these two seem to be the most effective.