Social & viral content

Who am I?

Davezilla

• Helped invent WordPress (b2 cafélog)
• MSU Social Media Instructor
• Award-winning blogger since 1998
• I'm a verb in the Urban Dictionary
• Yes, that's me and Alex from Reddit

What You Need

• A good idea
• The right platform(s)
• The right content length

what we'll cover today

• Who to Work With?
• Data Covers Everything
• Your Digital Self®
• What Makes it Viral?
• Alternate Endings

Who to Work with?

Shortform content

• Twitter
• Snapchat
• Kik
• Whatsapp
• Tango

LongForm is still alive

• SlideShare, the unsung hero
• ResearchGate, for serious clients
• DocStoc is great for whitepapers
• Google+. Cause SEO counts.
• YouTube. People watch anything.

Exact Targeting

• LinkedIn beats everyone
• Facebook is a close second
• Twitter is "pretty good"
• Google+ is great… if anyone is there
• FourSquare is still going strong

Photos and infographics

• Instagram is king. Hashtags help.
• Flickr is still 90 million strong
• Facebook. 350M photos per day.
• Twitter is becoming more visual.
• Pinterest—especially for women.

Video gets most engagement

• Video=3% of FB, 35% of all engagement
• Vine is winning with brands
• Instagram video is catching up (longer vids)

BEst Practices: Post length

• Twitter: 100 is the new 140
• FB:
• G+: Longer is better: 442 characters
• Ideal headline: 6 words
• Blog posts: 1,600 words, not 300.

How can I use this at work?

• You're vying for attention—make it worth it
• Offers, tips, entertainment or information
• Marketing is rarely share-worthy

layers of data

data is on top of your world

• Data Wearables (i.e., Google Glass)
• Heads-Up Displays (Land Rover, BMW)
• Smart Mirrors in Europe, Asia
• Augmented Reality apps

Google Glass

Heads-Up Display

Smart mirrors

Augemented Reality

How can I use this at work?

• PLEASE do not attempt heads-up ads!
• Fashion suggestions from a mirror?
• Cross-selling via smart mirrors
• Could a mirror recall your purchases?
• And suggest new things to buy?

Your Digital Self

New avatars

Apple has 2 new patents for avatars

nails by instagram

blink on, blink off…

more Health trackers…

How can I use this at work?

• Think outside your channel
• Everything can be a marketing platform
• What information does your brand have? 
• Where does it make sense to display it?
• Be useful, not clever. Or disruptive.

What makes it viral?

but What makes it viral?

• It's slightly (or very) offensive
• It's ridiculously cute
• It's emotionally charged (esp. sad)
• It's dangerous
• It's hilarious

Offensive: carl’s Jr. Ads

Cute: Evian

Emotional: Humane Society

Dangerous: Volvo Trucks

hilarious: OLd Spice Guy

Stanford says yes

• Jure Leskovec at Stanford
• 1 in 20 photos shared more than once
• 1 in 1,400 gets more than 500 shares
• Analyzed 150,000 Facebook photos
• Could tell within 88% if sharable

How can i use this at work?

• Right now… you can't. Sorry.
• Accurate for photos
• More research needed for video, text

Choose your ending

Alternate endings

• SyFy show, 'Defiance'
• Pepsi's 'Now is What You Make it'
• Who will be next?

How can I use this at work?

• Your brand now has more dimensions 
• Use your story-telling skills
• Deepen the brand dialog/relationship  
• Partner with cable/gaming companies 
• Think in ARGs, not Ads.

Summary

• Choose your platform carefully
• Your data will appear on everything
• You will have a Digital Self
• You MAY be able to control virality
• You will have control over shows

Thanks!

• Please keep in touch!
• @Davezilla
• linkedin.com/in/Davezilla
• facebook.com/Dave.Linabury
• davezilla@gmail.com