[Prior to World War 1] The pattern had been for firms to alter their product line or pitch to fit changing consumer tastes; Bernays believed that, approached the right way, consumers themselves could be made to do the adjusting. — Larry Tye in The Father of Spin.

This philosophy — consumers themselves could be made to do the adjusting— is shifting fast for businesses large and small. Customer review tools of  the social Web  are changing the equation of who is influencing whom. Now, because of services like Yelp, an unhappy knitting circle can gang up on your cafe. One poor hairdresser can cause an exodus from your salon. Or an increase in prices can shutter your dry cleaner. But just as your customers can walk with their feet and talk with their smart phones, you have equally amazing tools to continue the conversation with them after the cash drawer has closed and they have walked out the door.

You have Facebook, Twitter and dozens of other tools to attract potential customers, engage with the happy ones and hear the grumblers in the background and adjust if needed.

As a small business, you have the entire toolbox of social media at your command. And powering those tools is your unique brand, your reputation that you are painstakingly building over time. Branding is not a logo or an image imposed from above. Branding is your promise to deliver what is unique in your offering, whether product or service. Your brand emerges from the inside out.

Be clear on that and you can’t go wrong.

For a great read on navigating this power shift between customers and business, pick up The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk.

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A local news station’s coverage of an attempted rape was discovered and re-purposed into a song so popular that it has more than 21 million hits and is currently number 77 on iTunes Top 100 list garnering $1.29 a download.

The initial interview details the alleged attack but it is the animated sound bytes and the way they’re edited that are priceless enough (although perhaps irreverent) to draw nation-wide attention.

Another popular example is the Double Rainbow phenomenon. What starts out as a hiker’s orgasmic excitement as he captures a double rainbow on video turns into a viral clip that captures more than 15 million hits. Whether viewers watch in jest or respect, double rainbow guy, Paul Vasquez, is laughing all the way to the bank as Microsoft tapped him to be the face of their Windows Live advertising campaign.

So smart. So smart. So smart….

The post Video: We Gon Find You appeared first on 435 Digital.

What makes stuff viral?

It’s the content, stupid!

When it comes to marketing your content for your social media campaign – one thing is crystal clear. If the content isn’t amazing (not just good, cute or nice) then the best campaigning in the world won’t achieve the white hot buzz you want.

Our attention span has shrunk to the point where only the craziest links on the web will prosper. But once a piece of amazing content hits the right swath of influencers and if they like it – they will tell all of their followers about it.

How does your business take advantage of this new landscape? I hate to break to you. It’s hard. The fine line between love and hate is incredibly short with the average Internet user. If you just simply put a commercial on the net, you’ll be lucky to break 100 views.

So here are the three things in common that most popular internet videos have are

Feigned Authenticity
Does it look real? Does it have the feeling that an amazing moment was captured? People want to see it.

Really Funny Comedy
Is it so funny that you laugh out loud and have no problem sharing it with others. That’s what people want to see.

Short
Is it 90 seconds or less? You’re golden.

Of course the hardest part is actually making a video that accomplishes all of those points. But if you do have a video you believe in that will rock peoples socks off, the campaigning is almost done for you…almost.

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