Memes and Mainstream Media

Memes and Cartoons

You know how much the internet has come to influence our lives when a lolcat makes an appearance in a commercial. Alright, that has not happened yet, but many other memes have become known to the general public due to more mainstream media like television, particularly cartoons.

According to Wikipedia, an internet meme “is simply the propagation of a digital file or hyperlink from one person to others using methods available through the Internet”. It usually contains, but is not limited to, a joke, a saying or a rumor. In short, it’s an inside joke shared by a community that spans the globe. And thanks to the comedy-based writing and animation of cartoons, the rest of us have begun to get the punchline.

The most common medium would be television, particularly cartoons like South Park, Family Guy and American Dad. It is one of the most established and popular mediums.  Many memes and viral internet stars have made appearances on the aforementioned shows due to many things, least of which was the popularity of the memes. Some memes were used for the comedic results, some would highlight and break down new social issues that pop out during the year. One of which was the Star Wars kid, a Canadian student who’d been secretly videotaped while he swung a golf club around in an impression of the Jedi of the Star Wars franchise. He made an appearance on American Dad, doing the moves that him popular to a group of costumed convention-goers.

There was also the instance in Family Guy, where Brian, who was an anthropomorphic dog,, dressed up in a banana suit and shook a pair of maracas while singing the viral hit “Peanut Butter and Jelly Time” in order to cheer up his best friend, the protagonist Peter Griffin (the attempt was unsuccessful).

Not to be outdone, South Park, whose makers were never known for pulling any punches, laid the jokes on very thick with a wide cast of internet stars like Chris Crocker (a rabid Britney Spears fan known for his impassioned and tearful outburst in defense of his idol), the Numa Numa Guy Gary Brolsma and others lined up in front of a fictional department in order to reap the profits they earned from their stardom in the episode “Canada on Strike”. The lot of them then proceeded to brawl amongst one another, leaving each other very much dead. The show would do it again in the episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft” when the boys would play World of Warcraft, the most popular MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) as of yet, with our gang of protagonists facing an opponent named Jenkins, after the person who famously rushed into action, only to get himself and his group killed.

Now, cartoons are more well-known as shows the younger demographics watch a great deal of the time, thus leading people to underestimate the persuasive potential hidden in the cel-shaded antics.

Internet Marketing Through Social Media

Social media sites have undeniably become part of modern life. Almost all people who have access to the internet would have at least one account in one of the numerous social media sites or visit them once a day. With all of the traffic that these sites generate, it would be a logical choice to integrate them in any internet marketing campaign.

There are several reasons why you should include social media sites in a marketing campaign. One is already mentioned: traffic generation. You can use social media sites to get your product or service out there. Aside from that, increased traffic is good for any internet marketing strategy. When more people know and get to your site, you increase your chance of selling your product or service.

Another reason is that internet marketing through social media is cost-effective. You don’t need to hire someone else to do it since you can do it yourself. The only investment that you’ll make is the time that you spent building and managing your network. Additionally, the return for your investment in terms of traffic makes it worth the effort.

Using social media also works well with your current internet marketing campaign. You don’t have to do much to make it work with your current strategy. Using social media as a marketing tool is also low-maintenance. You don’t need to keep tabs on it every hour just to make sure it’s working.

You would also notice that as you build your network, you’re also getting supporters and people that share the same interest. It would be easier for you then to work on your niche market through other internet marketing strategies. Also, your network can also serve as promoters for your site or business.

You’d have to note that using social media is more for promotion and build up than anything. Conversion is not the goal in using these sites. Though that maybe the case, what you’re betting on in this strategy is increasing traffic and awareness of your product. Once you have those, conversions and revenue would not be lagging behind.

To make your social media campaign to work, you should tone down on the marketing and focus more on building interest and giving value. A helpful article, a linkbait, or any interesting fact will be more appreciated and followed by people in social media sites. Your goal is to build interest and a community about your product and its niche. The best way to do that is to build hype about your niche first before marketing your product. You shouldn’t worry much about it since once you get people interested in your niche to visit your site, sales should come in naturally.

All these reasons should compel one to look at social media as an avenue for internet marketing. When properly done, targeting social media sites can bring an increase in site traffic, more regular visitors, and an increased bottom line: added conversions and the monetization of your site.

Why Use Viral Videos

Just the two terms would make one want to use them. Viral means it acts like a virus and spreads by itself. Video means the top tier in media since it combines audio and visual communication, and is the nearest to the 3D or real experience. When you bring them home to your online marketing campaign, viral videos can help boost brand and site recognition, while also building up your supporter and customer base. When you have those, getting sales and conversions won’t be lagging far behind.

If you’ve seen an email or message with a link directing you to a video in YouTube or some other site, then you know how viral videos work. If you clicked on it and distributed it to other people that you know, then you should appreciate how it spreads almost automatically by making use of people’s social networks. Aside from sharing the fun, what you’re doing is also spreading the word about the site or product that started that viral video.

The neat thing about this is when your viral video is successful, a lot of people would be exposed to your site in a quick and cost-effective manner. Since the spreading of the video happens almost naturally, you don’t have to pay people to build links to your site. Aside from that, your viral video might get posted on high-ranking sites, which would also help your site’s rankings and traffic. In short, having a successful viral video is a winning situation.

What are the characteristics of a good viral video? First is the video should be interesting. You can’t have people spread them for you if they’d be just bored with it. Ways to make your video interesting is to include humor, give tips or advice, messages with “shock” value, and themes that ride on popular trends of the season. If you’re able to create a video with one or more of these characteristics, them more likely than not, people are going to spread your videos around.

Presentation is also a key factor. Flash format is ideal for compatibility with almost any browser. You would also consider the video length. The shorter the better. People are more likely to enjoy a three-minute video that gives them the message immediately rather than a video that’s seven minutes long. You also need to consider that not all people viewing your videos would have the time or bandwidth to spare to watch your videos.

It would also help if you have some widgets that entice people to share your video through social networking sites or email. Another strategy is to set gadget where people can copy a code and paste it on their own sites or blogs.

The key thing about viral videos is that when done properly, they spread like wildfire without you even lifting any additional finger. And once they do, you can expect higher recognition of your site, and increased site traffic. These would then place your site in a better position to get potential buyers and conversions.

Mistakes that viral marketers make

Mistakes in Viral Marketing

It has been proven that viral marketing is one of the most highly-effective means of advertising products for this generation of high information. But given the realism that viral marketing tries to accomplish, there are times when the world proves how it is not ready for a marketing campaign that uses such an interactive approach.

There are notable instances wherein the campaign was taken too seriously. In 2007, a Boston transit passenger saw a sign created for the movie adaption of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, a popular midnight cartoon show, and pointed it out to a police officer. Unlike a poster, it was a box with wires and electronic paraphernalia on its back while its front had a person “showing you the bird” or flashing his middle finger. The natural assumption for such a strange-looking item was that it was some sort of improvised bomb.

The public reaction was fairly stupendous. A fleet of emergency vehicles and a bomb squad were called in, the intersection cordoned off and the placard detonated. Later on, two bridges were closed off for the removal of a second sign, with the Coast Guard closing off part of the Charles River. Quick-thinking bloggers spread the word out that the placards were part of a viral marketing campaign, but by then city officials took the whole incident out of context by arresting the two guys who put up those signs on the charge of “placing a hoax device with the intent to panic the public.”

Turner Broadcasting, the company that owns the show, had to pay one million dollars each to the Boston Police and the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, the incident made headlines around the world, earning the show and movie roughly 10 times that amount in free publicity.

Need I also forget that incident in New Zealand where a heavily-bandaged man waved a gun around in a bar? Part of a stunt to market the popular video game “Splinter Cell”. The second actor who was supposed to subdue the first actor could not make it due to the police being called in to apprehend him.

There was also that fake meteor crash by a Latvian phone company that was supposed to draw attention away from their failing economy and to presumably subscribe to a new phone line which instead drew representatives from the scientific community who immediately smelled a fake.

Now, one would think it was the fault of the marketers for not warning the populace about the method of advertisement. But that is not how viral marketing works. Viral marketing’s strength is to pull the consumer into the interactive side of the product, adding a level of interactivity the conventional methods cannot achieve. Therein is the risk. To those unaware of the method involved, it looks like you are being drawn into a confusing and dangerous incident. Naturally, given the easily alarmed nature of regular people, this would prompt unwanted attention to be drawn towards actors or the company itself who did not include a disclaimer towards their campaign. It just goes to show that in today’s day and age, one must be very very careful.