Future Steps Creative Podcast – Episode #89
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This episode explores whether we can control whether our online videos, posts, or other content goes viral, and look at how we can maximise the opportunities available in our content marketing for our business.
Main Takeaways/Overview
*This may have been autogenerated and may not be 100% accurate or grammatically correct.
Transcript
*This may have been autogenerated and may not be 100% accurate or grammatically correct.
FSC Ep.89 -Why Going Viral Isn’t the Best Approach
FSC Ep.89 -Why Going Viral Isn’t the Best Approach
[00:00:00] Marlon: Wouldn’t it be nice if every piece of online content we publish goes viral and does very well for our business? Well, the reality is that that’s just not how it works, because we can’t choose what goes viral, it’s just something that happens. The funny thing though, is that I see marketing departments put out briefs from time to time that have the stipulation for content to be created, whether this is an online video or social media content in some way, shape or form, that Needs to have viral appeal, or needs to have the ability to go viral.
[00:00:31] To me, that just shows a lack of understanding of how online content really works, and what it really means for something to go viral, or take off. Or what the real measure of success should be for that content. The fact is, a piece of content goes viral because of the fact that it has mass appeal. So, in other words, the majority of people out there find something interesting about it, whether they see themselves in it, or they feel that it’s entertaining in some way, shape, or form, maybe it makes them laugh, and they find it easy to share it with other people, and then the other people Share that one as well, because it’s generally appealing to the mass audience, which is the general public.
[00:01:15] However, for a business that is not in some sort of entertainment field, maybe you’re not doing something like comedy. These are the type of things that you see take off and go viral all the time and get lots of shares or views online. If you’re not in that kind of field and you’re in another industry.
[00:01:33] where you talk about topics that can be deemed as boring to the normal person, you’re gonna find it very difficult to go viral with any piece of your content. So does that mean that you’re completely doomed? Well, no, because you should have a different focus for your content for your business, other than it being viral.
[00:01:54] Being viral or becoming viral shouldn’t be your strategy. Because, generally speaking, it can be a curse more than it is a blessing if you even were to take off with something that goes viral. The last thing you want is for something to take off and you get attention from the wrong people. And that typically is what happens when something goes viral.
[00:02:16] Most of the times, the people that are viewing your content or sharing your content doesn’t really have an interest in the business or in what you do outside of whatever that piece of content, let’s stick with a video. Let’s say that video is entertaining to them. That’s all they can get from that. They are not the type of people that are typically going on to do business with you.
[00:02:38] And therefore this can hurt you more than anything, because you could end up seeing a spike in your traffic, come into your website and then it skews the numbers. You end up having more and more people becoming attracted to your business, just out of curiosity. based on the fact that that video went viral and then that’s that thing you get known for.
[00:02:56] Unless your goal is to become internet famous or you just want to win a popularity contest online, then you should be focused on reaching the right people for your business or brand. And this typically would mean focusing in on a smaller group, a much smaller group of the population that is interested in solving a problem that they have and that your business can provide a solution for.
[00:03:23] What I’m trying to say here is that you shouldn’t use the same measuring stick to measure the success of your content as the people who don’t really have a business. who are just making content for the sake of making it to go viral. To me, I’d much rather get 100 views on a video of which 10 people might come to my website and one of them becomes a client that so happens to have a lifetime value of a hundred thousand plus.
[00:03:47] That to me is much more successful than getting a viral video that gets me the wrong visitors to my website because they’re not interested in what I have to offer and gets me nowhere with my If you agree, Let me know in the comments. I’d really love to hear what you think about this topic as well. If you feel like there’s someone out there that could use this information, also share it with them and spread the love.
[00:04:11] Until next time, I’ll catch you in the next episode. Take care.