Marketing Sherpa and the Online Publishers Association took a look at viral video. Video is a popular marketing tactic, with 29% of MarketingSherpa’s responding viral marketers experiencing “great results.” Only “cool” microsites (37% great results) and online games/quizzes/polls (33% great results) were better received.
The OPA, though, held more dismal news for viral video. Less than 10% of online video viewers (US only) said that they frequently recommend videos to their friends. 29% did so occasionally and an impressive 62% rarely or never recommended videos.
As eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman points out, that 9% who frequently recommends videos may be the very influencers viral marketing hopes to reach.
MarketingSherpa also explored the costs of viral video. Very experienced marketers were likely to pay more for video content, though most said they paid up to $10,000. The average for experienced marketers (estimating the value of ‘more than $50,000′ at $75,000 on average) was close to $19,000.
Most of the less experienced marketers paid up to $5000, with an average spend of almost $11,000. Considering two-thirds of MarketingSherpa respondents were planning a video campaign component this year, that’s a lot of money for video producers.
I don’t know, but it does seem a little steep for a medium with a less than 1/3 success rate. If it takes you three campaigns to be successful, the price of content rises to $30,000 to well over $50,000. If your campaign can bring you that much in sales or value, then it sounds like a good idea. If not, maybe stick to “cool microsites” or online polls.
