#9 Gorilla -Cadbury (2007 / 2008): This campaign is designed to promote Cadbury Dairy Milk brand chocolate within the United Kingdom and Ireland. This ad was first launched August 31, 2007. A version of the commercial was uploaded to video YouTube and received 500,000 page views in the first week. TellyAds named the Cadbury gorilla commercial the favorite TV ad for 2007 (Britain).

Viral marketing describes a marketing strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth and exposure. This is our #9 pick in our top 10 picks for the all time best viral marketing campaigns.

There is no question that the viral video became wildly popular, but many feel there was little connection to the brand or the product.

Marketing Strategy: According to video creators, the drumming gorilla is an effort to make you smile, in exactly the same way Cadbury Dairy Milk does. The media coverage was so great that this helped explain the ad to the general public! The Gorilla’s drumming is supposed to be “a visual metaphor for the joy of eating a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk”.

The campaign itself was much more than a viral marketing video. It was made up of appearances on billboards, print newspapers and magazines, television and cinema spots, event sponsorships and an internet presence.

After the first or second viewings, many cannot recall what brand name is associated with the video.  But British polling company YouGov reported public perception of the brand had noticeably improved in the period following the launch, reversing the decline experienced in the first half of 2007.

Results: Sure, the Cadbury ads are memorable, but do they sell? According to the recent Biggest Brands survey by TBS the Cadbury Dairy Milk lost market share while competitor Galaxy grew 12% over the prior year. So the effectiveness of the campaign is questionable.

#10 The Blair Witch Project (1999): This is one of the most effective viral/guerrilla marketing campaigns ever.  This film cost just $22,000 to produce and grossed $248 million worldwide. This film was in the Guinness Book of World Records for “Top Budget: Box Office Ratio” (for a mainstream feature film).

Viral marketing describes a marketing strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential and exposure. These are our top 10 picks for the all time best viral marketing campaigns.

The movie: In October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary… A year later their footage was found. They had left to film a documentary about the local legend known as Blair Witch.

The result: A couple of young film students created a major movie hit. They accomplished this with almost no budget, with no script, with unknowns acting, directing and producing the movie. And to top it off they used very little film, they used videotape.

How they did it: The marketing behind the Blair Witch Project was powerful. Hale and Monello (the creators of the Blair Witch Project) made us question whether this film was “truth or myth”. To create a buzz they used various Internet sites to feed the audience bits and pieces of the Blair Witch mythology. There were bits and pieces of information such as police reports, and lost pages from the missing student’s diaries.

Although only $22,000 was spent producing the movie, Artisan reportedly spent $10 million on distribution and promotion. This is a small figure by Hollywood standards where $25-30 million is more the norm for high profile films. The Blair Witch Project has become one of the most profitable films in history.

They used Internet hype to help create excitement. Unlike other hit movies, the Internet activity started well before the film’s release. MTV News covered the proliferation of fan sites nearly two months before its July 16 release. There were blogs, fan websites, web boards, and trailer sites. The films website generated 75 million visits the week of the film’s release. Nielson NetRatings listed the official site as the 45th most visited location on the Web for the week ending August 1.

What do most companies do wrong when they start marketing with social media? They lack an overall plan. They are missing their objectives. They don’t know who their target audience is?  Market research firm Forrester has coined the Acronym POST. The POST method is a planning methodology for companies to enter into social media marketing.

POST helps address “should my company have a presence on Facebook?” or “why isn’t anyone reading our company blog?” It is the central concept in the book Groundswell.

The POST method stands for People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology.

People: This is about reaching your targeted customer. Who are they? What are their interests and their demographics? What types of social media are they most likely to use? If you’re targeting college students, use social networks. If you’re reaching out business travelers, consider ratings and reviews.

Objectives: What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to generate awareness? Influence the influencer? Build or regain trust? Energize your customers to talk about your brand?  Decide on your objective before you decide which technology to use. Figure out how you will measure results.

Strategy: Strategy in the POST method means how will things be different afterwards?? Do you want a closer, two-way relationship with your best customers? Do you want to get people talking about your products? Do you want a permanent focus group for testing product ideas and generating new ones?

Technology: After you’ve decided on people, objectives and strategy then decide the best application to use. Should this be blogging, if so, which software? Should you be using wikis, MySpace or YouTube? Perhaps you will want to form a niche community?

Too many businesses start with the Technology. They will start with “we need a blog” or “our company needs a Facebook page.” Using the POST method helps remove the guesswork.

Blogging will get your business noticed online. Blogging opens a whole new realm than you would find with just a website. Blogging is part of the Internet called social media. In web marketing, the call to action and promoting your products is the name of the game. In blog marketing, the goal is to interact and converse with visitors.

Since the goals of blogging are so very different than traditional website marketing, what results should your business expect from blogging?

1. Reach new readers: Blogs reach new readers that are interested. These are usually different than those reading traditional advertising or even your website.
2. Build a following: Build recognition of your company or your products by regularly writing interesting postings in your blog. You will build a following of readers who will know and understand who you are and what you stand for.
3. Inform customers: Do you sell or produce products? Blogs can build your market for these products by getting potential customers to understand how your products can solve some problem that they have. Give case stories of how your products are used.
4. Open up communication: Keep open the lines of communication between your company and your customer. Customer service blogs enable the flow of conversation to travel in both directions and alert you to developing issues
5. Push up your website rankings: Blogs generate regular new keyword rich content. Attract search engine interest by carefully using keywords in your headlines and blog copy. Link generously from your blog to other websites as well as your own. Using keywords in the link text is a powerful method to push up your website rankings.

You have been blogging for months, how do you measure if your effort is successful? What topics that you write are best received? Use the web analytics from your hosting company or use Google Analytics to give you these answers.

Purpose: Before you start measuring success, you need to have a purpose for your blog. Blogs that address a particular audience about a particular topic will build a larger readership. Readers return if they like what they read. If you write about a wide variety of subjects, then you won’t have a chance to develop many repeat visitors.

Feedback: Visitors to your blog give you feedback on what interests them even if they don’t leave comments. When you write something interesting you will see an increase in the number of visitors, the number of comments and even the nature of the comments. If you listen and watch, you can use this to deliver more of the content that your audience likes.

1. Numbers of visitors: If nobody visits your blog then your blog is not effective. If you write a blog posting 3 times a week, which topics or postings created the highest number of visitors? Figure out what you did right and do more of it.
2. Comments: Which postings yielded the highest number of comments and discussion? Was it the subject? Your writing style? Possibly the questions you asked?
3. Length of Stay: How long did your average visitor stay reading your blog? Were they there for 30 seconds or for 5 minutes?
4. Entry Pages: What postings attract visitors over time? These are ones that visitors find on the search engines long after you have written them. These are your reader’s favorites.
5. Location: Where are your readers from? Google Analytics allows you to see not only the country and state, but the city too. This is important if your blog is for a local business.

OK… your company is ready to launch a social media marketing initiative, what should be your first step? Should it be blogging? MySpace? FaceBook? Setting up a lens on Squidoo?

No… first you need to set up your listening tools to understand what is being said about your company, your brand or your key executives. Before you decide to engage your customers, you need to understand how people are feeling about your brand. What voices are the most influential? Where do you need to have a presence to target where discussions are already happening?

An effective monitoring system allows your company to be proactive and respond to complaints in as little as 15 minutes after they are posted. By actively monitoring social media your company can develop a reputation of reaching out to and helping customers. By reacting quickly to criticism you are more likely to convert complaints into product evangelists.

There are a number tools that do a very good job.

1. Google Alerts let you track web, blogs, news and groups for any phrase you want. (Free).
2. Trackur monitors all major search engines, not just Google (Starting at $18/mo)
3. Brandwatch combines alerts combined with data analysis. (Free weekly alert and paid plans)
4. BuzzMonitor is an open-source social media aggregator that you host on your own web server. Software downloads are free. Developed by The World Bank.

Once considered an exotic collaboration tool, wikis are now part of everyday life. A surprising number of people don’t understand Wikis. Wikis are a collaboration tool where anyone can edit and write new entries. Wiki technology allows Web users to add their input and edit what is on the page.

Wikipedia is the largest reference website on the Internet and according to Alexa, it is the eighth most popular website in the world. Anyone can write or change information on Wikipedia. The content of Wikipedia is written collaboratively by people from all around the world.

We’re not just talking about Wikipedia, there are wikis being used in just about every conceivable area. Wikis are powerful in developing complex systems that requires input from many people. They are part of many online communities.

Top 10 most popular Wikis

1. Wikipedia: Started in 2001 and is now the most popular online encyclopedia
2. WikiHow: The world’s largest how-to manual.
3. Wiktionary: Word definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, sample quotations, synonyms, antonyms and translations
4. WikiMapia: Online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system
5. WikiBooks: Huge collection of user-edited, open-content textbooks and guides.
6. WikiTravel: Up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide.
7. Uncyclopedia: Entertaining parody of the popular Wikipedia. Filled with funny and not-necessarily correct articles.
8. LyricWiki: Claims to host lyrics for any song from any artist.
9. ProductWiki: Product reviews and consumer Reports.
10. Wikicars: Collaborative guide about cars and all things automotive

Increasing targeted traffic to your website can only mean one thing… more sales. More website visitors means there are more people that can learn about your site and the products you offer. Social media marketing is a powerful way to bring more interested prospects.

How can businesses use social media effectively? Businesses need to build trust by offering value and interacting with people. This doesn’t mean one way conversations, it means discussions. So how to get started?

1. Targeting: Social websites, blogs and forums are generally specific to a particular subject. Participate and be active on sites related to your niche, these will be places where your targeted customers spend time.
2. Participate: Be an active participant, a part of the community. Interact with others and become known. Be involved and post regularly. If you don’t have time, find someone else in your organization who will take this on.
3. Blogging: The blog is an essential part for social media marketing. Write about topics that interest your ideal targeted customer. If what you write is fresh, original and important, you will attract both attention and links from other bloggers.
4. Build Links: Links from other social media sites including blogs are very valuable in building your search rankings. Original and informative posts serve as linkbait which will drive your search rankings higher and higher.
5. Build Authority: By participating and interacting in forums and social networking sites, you will build a reputation as an expert in your field. People like to do business with people they know and respect.

There is no one correct way to make use of social media. The key is to get involved and network with other. This will pay dividends to your business with increased visitors, prospects and customers.

Blogs are being relied upon as a source of healthcare information. But can medical blogging be hazardous to the health of your healthcare career? Physicians and nurses can share their stories and insights. They can also risk revealing confidential patient information. Authors of medblogs need to understand what they can and can’t say

Medical blogging is a way for the medical professional to show their caring and knowledge about medicine. Medblogs are important as a source to learn about disease, treatments and prevention.

So why is there such a controversy about medical blogging? Hospital administrations have shut down physician blogs. The lifespan of a medical blog tends to be short because of HIPPA compliance issues. Bloggers must make sure that if they describe an actual case that they do not use any of the18 health information identifiers noted in the HIPAA regulations.

David D. Perlmutter, a professor in the KU School of Journalism & Mass Communications has put together a Medbloggers’ Hippocratic Oath to help in navigating the special problems that medical blogger face. The following is an excerpt from David Perlmutter’s blog:

I swear that:

1. I will never reveal information about patients in my blog that allows readers to identify them in any way.
2. If I blog under a pseudonym, I will still inform readers of my correct credentials and degrees so that they can assess my expertise.
3. If I refer to controversial health care information, I will make sure to recognize opposing views and to provide my readers with adequate citations so that they can read more on the subject themselves.
4. I will not blog to sell directly my services, my practice or a product in which I have any financial interest.
5. I may state my opinions and ideas with passion and conviction, but I will not engage in personal attacks and the vilification of anyone in a way that would undermine the decorum and dignity of my profession.

Video Search Engine Optimization can be used to raise your search rankings and to bring in regular traffic to your website. The key to success is to create short, concise, entertaining, quality videos that have a wide appeal. A good example of this is Terry Tate: Office Linebacker series put out by Reebok. This video quickly spread virally.

Video Internet Marketing Strategies

1. Linkbait: Place videos on your website and allow others to link to these videos. Hosting these videos on your website will attract links directly to your website.
2. Traffic Driver: Place videos on video sharing sites such as YouTube with links to your site. These links will have no-follow tags so you won’t pick up link popularity. But with YouTube’s estimated 30 million visitors a month, popular videos bring regular traffic to your site.
3. Branding: Visibly include your business name, URL or brand name in the video and allow it to be spread thru the web virally with your video.
4. Video Search: Google displays videos in its search results, particularly from YouTube. Videos on Blinkx will show up on Ask and MSN, among others.

Video File Optimization

1. File name: The file name for the video works very much like a Title Tag does for a web page. Search engines use these for indexing so include target key phrases within the video title.
2. Meta Data: Include information like title, length, keywords, and authorship in the video file encoding.
3. Transcript: When posting on your blog (video blogging)  or website, include a transcript of each video to provide keyword rich text for the search engines. This is an ideal way to include anchor text links specific to your key phrases.