Viral video content is available more readily with expanding internet bandwidth. Properly marketed, this should allow broader audiences to see your video and gain exposure to your brand or message. Viral video has been used in the U.S. elections as well as making music superstars out of your average neighborhood kid. It has resurrected brands and provided hours of entertainment to many audiences. Many of those who share your viral video are those who upload their own. There will never be a shortage of video content.

In this sea of videos, how is it that you can help yourself stand out, become unique and make people pay attention to you and your brand? Much like the development of your unique selling points, videos need the same structure. They need to be used as vehicles to sell benefits and inform individuals about issues that are important. You need to stand out in the crowd to get noticed in social media.

In this case, the slightly above average neighborhood kid decides that his voice needs to be heard and not to sell his singing, but his public speaking. I am not sure Zach Wahls intention was to become an YouTube superstar, but when your video has been viewed 10,000,000+ times, there is something intriguing about its’ content. In this case, there is no humour used, only the passion of a man who believes in his family.

Have you seen this video? This unintentional YouTube star is a phenomenal speaker. He is young and articulate and above all, passionate. He has a bright future ahead of him.

This is a great example of quality viral video content. The number of views speaks volumes.

Politics? Law? Business? Any area that this young man goes into, he will be a success. I have seen subsequent interviews with the family and they are very proud of him.

Regardless of your stance on this subject, the speech was well written, well spoken and very well delivered. This is quality viral video content that is by no means stagnant, it is in full motion and growing in popularity.

I don’t think we have seen the last of Zach Wals. Read more about Zach’s story in this ABC article from Feb 2011.

Andreas’s blog covers an article about QRreader. They have made it possible to scan QR codes with a Google Chrome Browser extension. This will allow you to scan a QR code without the need of a mobile phone scanner or desktop software. THIS is QR code evolution.

I have not explored this plugin enough to know if there are any built-in analytical features, but that would probably make this a perfect addition to my marketing tool box for driving traffic from both traditional and online marketing activities.

Find out more about QRreader here.

Thanks FlowTown!

Recently, I tried using QR codes to drive offline traffic to a mobile online landing page so I could determine if using QR codes online is as beneficial in driving traffic as it is offline. In order to measure my “Return on Investment”‘ It was necessary to use a custom URL for tracking within my analytics software. The custom URL was created with:
URL tool builder by Google and then imported into Google analytics as a “goal”. By setting up the custom goal, I can now track all the activity coming from the QR code. I added the URL into both analytics programs and then I fired up my Mac based QR code generator and imported my custom URL. I generated the QR code, imported it into Adobe Illustrator and with the help of “Live trace”, I was able to customize the code with a little bit of colour to make it stand out. Although the experiment itself proved that QR codes are best to drive offline traffic from print to landing page, it also allowed me to figure out how to track the results that it generated. Now I can employ this process with my college promotion activities and truly be able to measure campaign success.

Consistency across all media is essential to creating a familiarity for the visitor that they will feel more comfortable interacting and engaging with. As an online marketer, these strategies are the first steps in building a cohesive strategy. It starts with consistency.

Social media for higher education is becoming an absolutely necessary recruitment tool. To provide personalization of experience and positive exposure to your brand where your audience spends the most time is a necessary tactic. Target them as they are socializing online. Different tactics and strategies for different audiences will ensure an effective reach across all prospective and existing segments.

Recruitment, Retention and Reputation

The three “R”‘s that have become a golden rulebook for higher education and social media networking and will be the next topic I discuss. For now, here is an excellent infographic that illustrates some of the demographics of social media.

Social Media Demographics from AdAge.com

I wanted to see, over the course of a week, how many people would be curious enough to scan my QR profile pic on LInkedIn and drive traffic to my blog. The experiment illustrated that unless the image is linkable, it won’t be used.
In planning the experiment, I had thought perhaps that using the image as a “Profile Pic” would generate enough interest for fellow LinkedIn users to scan the image. It has been almost a week now and has only generated a handful of clicks.
In my opinion, this is not a failed experiment, it reinforces the use of QR codes as an offline tool driving traffic online.

So my next QR code experiment is going to be with Gowalla and/or Foursquare. I am going to create a treasure hunt of sorts for the students here at Georgian College and I am going to use QR codes to guide them to their next clues. Complete a clue, check in at the next location and scan their next clue…this experiment should be way more successful.

QR codes are not a new phenomenon. We are just using them in new ways.

Want to go on a location based treasure hunt? ….it should be fun!

In the excitement of a conversation I was having with a colleague this morning, I had an epiphany. I have had a profile on LinkedIn for many years, that I use on a regular basis to network and connect. It is a great social media tool for knowledge sharing as well.

SO…for those of you who like QR codes or Web Analytics, I am conducting an experiment with LinkedIn.
I have always said that QR codes are a great way to combine traditional advertising with online reach. Driving traffic to whatever landing page is associated with a campaign.

I added a track-able URL to the QR generated code that is now my LinkedIn profile picture. The URL drives traffic here, to my blog and I am anxious to see who clicks and how often it is used. One of the best things about marketing on the web is that it is measurable so I can’t wait to see that stats. I do also know that it is not a click able image…I am forcing the audience to give in to their curiosity and scan the image with their mobile smart phone. I am thinking the click-thru rate will be low but we will see with the raw data. It is a novel idea, but you have to want to drive your traffic to a mobile website.

This should be very interesting.

This Slideshare presentation on QR codes by David Stutts gives me SO many ideas of how I can market with them. I know this isn’t a NEW idea, I just took awhile to get on-board.

Paul Bradshaw of the Online Journalism Blog created this Slideshare presentation for his students. He is a Senior Lecturer in Online Journalism, Magazines and New Media at Birmingham City University’s (UK) School of Media. and intends to share his lessons online. As a Web Marketing Strategist and Instructor at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario, I intend to follow a similar model and post some lectures to my blog as well. I love this concept of information sharing, it is like open source, for education.

This is a further indication of the paradigm shift directly relating to the age of the Instructor, Teacher or Professor.
I find that some faculty put up any barrier they can possibly think to avoid sharing their intellectual property. However, here we have someone who wants to teach the world, not just the class in front of him.

I love this teaching model. The internet IS the place for learning, we just have to increase the number of credible sources that the information comes from and this is the perfect way to do it.

Wasn’t this one of the first lessons we learned as children? Share and share alike.

Enjoy the SlideShare presentation, it is well worth the read.

Social media breaks down the barrier between the consumer and the brand. Consumers are able to interact with your brand online with Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. The ability to talk to and about your brand have increased exponentially. Unfortunately, it is as easy to spread a sour experience as it is a good experience. They reach the same audience with very differing results.

A negative experience can destroy a brand. If you don’t have a social media marketing strategy in place that monitors the conversations that are about your brand, then you are three steps behind. There is no opportunity for a brand to sleep, it is always on display, social media outlets create a 24/7 discussion on their behalf.

Make sure that if you dabble in Social media, you have a long-term maintenance plan in place. A Facebook Fan page is not something you create and expect to babysit itself. You need a brand watchdog online.

Bad press can be managed, if you know it is happening.

Twitter says more with less. In the Twitter world, a 140 character message is the vehicle. Twitter reminds you of the fundamental principles of advertising writing – AIDA. Attention, Interest, Desire and Action…a short and sweet attempt to spread the word. This leverages the WOM factor as well as establishing Social Media Capital (according to Seth Godin).

In higher education, you have little time to engage your audience, so why not offer them the opportunity to engage with you where they spend their time?

Twitter your Student Events, your school closings, your “Code Red”….Twitter is going to help change how we communicate in communities, it already has.

Check out Twitter, it isn’t just for “Twits”.