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The trouble with most videos, according to most experts, is that they don’t elicit a strong emotion and provide compelling reasons to share them. What a waste of energy.
So let's learn the secret to creating contagious content that drives user action. And we'll use the top 5 most shared videos in the past week as our guide.
Marketing technology company Unruly provided us with the data set on online video sharing (424 billion video views tracked - and growing by over 500,000 shares daily). They’ve identified 18 key psychological responses and 10 social motivations which have been demonstrated to drive video sharing. Distribution is the second piece to the puzzle – ads need to be seen to be shared, and lower share rates can be overcome with stronger distribution plans.
Sex has never stopped selling, but according to Unruly, they haven’t seen two sexy videos top the Viral Video Chart Global Ads Chart in over 6 months.
Topping the chart this week are two mundane brands (a Danish travel agency and Durex condoms), using good ole sex as a creative device. Let’s take a look.
8,395,742 Views, 141,646 Shares, 1.7% Share Rate
This Durex ad leverages the social motivations of Reaction Seeking, Social Good and Zeitgeist. This brand pairs sex with the psychological response of knowledge.
Note that these ads average a 2% share rate, yet they are the top brands on the Viral Video Chart. It isn’t enough to create content people are compelled to share; distribution makes sure that the right targets see the ad, at scale, in order to start a viral cascade.
5,205,327 Views, 102,787 Shares, 2.2% Share Rate
“Spies Travel’s “Do it for Denmark!” and Durex’s “Turn Off to Turn On” ads break through the clutter and catch our attention by standing out from the crowd. Spies pairs sex with a strong psychological trigger of hilarity, in a clever ad demanding that Danes do their part to end the nation’s declining birth rate by taking romantic vacations to conceive more Danish children,” VP Marketing and Insight Devra Prywes told me, “They throw in an offer of 3 years of baby stuff to sweeten the deal, and, oh yes, family-friendly vacation packages for the successful Danes.”
According to Prywes, the social motivations driving sharing of this video are Opinion Seeking, Reaction Seeking and Kudos. People share this ad to get attention and show off their discovery to friends in the network.
Female empowerment in the cultural zeitgeist
Aussie Builders: 2,378,540 Views, 71,747 Shares, 3.0% Share Rate
This ad fooled me to the end. Snickers breaks the construction worker stereotype by shouting empowering statements at women passing by. It gets attention by breaking expectations and using shock, surprise and hilarity, and still ties back to the Snickers brand with the tagline they use in their ads targeting millennials, “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry”.
According to Unruly, “We advise brands to layer on the social motivations to increase sharing potential from their creative. In addition to Shared Emotional Experience, Social Utility, Reaction Seeking, Snickers has added Zeitgeist as a reason people will share by adding their voice to the female empowerment movement, with their own twist on the topic.”
Integrate your marketing and use social video to amplify your existing efforts
4,934,649 Views, 111,670 Shares, 2.3% Share Rate
According to Prywes, “Offering value and utility to your targets with experiential marketing, like Pepsi Max does here. Remember to promote your brand, integrate it into the video creative, make sure your business metrics are promoted as you track your social metrics – people will still share and each online video share and post generates advocacy for your product and will reinforce your brand’s messaging and positioning if integrated into your ongoing marketing strategy.”
It’s a myth that shorter ads trend best
3,126,620 Views, 384,970 Shares, 12.3% Share Rate
In this ad, Samsung proves that length doesn’t matter.
According to Unruly: research shows that as long as creative elicits intense psychological responses and strong social motivations, ad duration does not matter. Advertisers should take the time they need to establish their narrative and make an emotional connection with the viewer.
It’s a marketer’s dream to win free, earned media among these targets, already well into the purchase funnel. People also share for this spot to earn credit, to show off their expertise and stake their claim in the ground that they are an early adopter and tech master.
