If the Ice Bucket Challenge has taught us anything, let’s hope that message has been the plight of ALS patients and the need for increased funding.
But there’s a second lesson here: the undeniable impact of viral video and social media.
To date, the challenge has spurred more than 2.4 million videos (including our own @theRKF getting iced) shared online and raised more than $100 million for the ALS Association. Only those people who've gone completely off the grid haven’t been exposed to the campaign.
Do you covet that unprecedented reach? Gabrielle Boko, a contributing editor for Entrepreneur, shares six tips marketers can takeaway from the challenge:
1. Identify the goal or cause. “Marketers, simplicity is your friend,” Boko says. “[Consumers] typically won’t take the time to read through an entire article, newsletter or web page to understand a message.” The video’s concise script, “I’m doing the ice bucket challenge to strike out ALS,” is easy to digest and memorable.
2. Make it fun and easy. There’s a reason people keep tuning in to videos of their friends and family shivering/screaming/laughing, Boko says: they love to laugh. “Keeping things lighthearted lets people connect with an organization on a human level and can encourage further engagement in an authentic way.”
3. Add immediacy. Those asked to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have only 24 hours to do so. “If you want an idea to flourish, keep the window of time brief to propel the process forward rapidly,” Boko says. “By giving your audience a deadline, the initiative will become a greater priority.”
4. Understand the power of multiplication. A huge reason for the ice bucket challenge’s reach: participants were asked to nomination three additional people, “thus creating a multiplier effect,” Boko says. “When possible, let consumers involved in an initiative have a chance to engage with their network so as to experience the joy of others joining in.”
5. Share on many platforms. Boko recommends campaigns that work on several online sites — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube — to increase the number of places of exposure.
6. Give participants a chance to feel good. Consumers like helping others in need. Additionally, the ice bucket challenge “gives participants a sense of unity,” Boko says. “They are sharing positive feelings and a goal with the rich and famous. Setting up an initiative like this allows for an emotional connection with an organization and opens up an opportunity for conversation.”
Tell us: Has your shop taken the challenge? Have you tried video marketing in the past? Do you partner with any particular charity?
But there’s a second lesson here: the undeniable impact of viral video and social media.
To date, the challenge has spurred more than 2.4 million videos (including our own @theRKF getting iced) shared online and raised more than $100 million for the ALS Association. Only those people who've gone completely off the grid haven’t been exposed to the campaign.
Do you covet that unprecedented reach? Gabrielle Boko, a contributing editor for Entrepreneur, shares six tips marketers can takeaway from the challenge:
1. Identify the goal or cause. “Marketers, simplicity is your friend,” Boko says. “[Consumers] typically won’t take the time to read through an entire article, newsletter or web page to understand a message.” The video’s concise script, “I’m doing the ice bucket challenge to strike out ALS,” is easy to digest and memorable.
2. Make it fun and easy. There’s a reason people keep tuning in to videos of their friends and family shivering/screaming/laughing, Boko says: they love to laugh. “Keeping things lighthearted lets people connect with an organization on a human level and can encourage further engagement in an authentic way.”
3. Add immediacy. Those asked to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have only 24 hours to do so. “If you want an idea to flourish, keep the window of time brief to propel the process forward rapidly,” Boko says. “By giving your audience a deadline, the initiative will become a greater priority.”
4. Understand the power of multiplication. A huge reason for the ice bucket challenge’s reach: participants were asked to nomination three additional people, “thus creating a multiplier effect,” Boko says. “When possible, let consumers involved in an initiative have a chance to engage with their network so as to experience the joy of others joining in.”
5. Share on many platforms. Boko recommends campaigns that work on several online sites — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube — to increase the number of places of exposure.
6. Give participants a chance to feel good. Consumers like helping others in need. Additionally, the ice bucket challenge “gives participants a sense of unity,” Boko says. “They are sharing positive feelings and a goal with the rich and famous. Setting up an initiative like this allows for an emotional connection with an organization and opens up an opportunity for conversation.”
Tell us: Has your shop taken the challenge? Have you tried video marketing in the past? Do you partner with any particular charity?