NB: This is a guest article by Sue Heilbronner, CEO of TravelShark.
There is one thing those “Ten secrets for a successful startup” articles never mention – the critical business need for a fuzzy shark suit.
Who could have predicted that a costume purchase would spark a burgeoning embrace of social video for marketing and PR at TravelShark?
Even if you don’t have a college-football-quality mascot, and whether you’re a scrappy travel startup or an iconic hotel, here are nine signs it’s time for your company to dive in:
1. You own a fuzzy shark suit, or its metaphorical equivalent
Last June we changed our name from Swiftrank to TravelShark. The inspiration to create a company mascot named Mako Mark and make him our video leading man seemed nearly inevitable.
We binned our plan for a standard press release and instead shot a playful Shark-on-the-Street newsreel outside our office, capturing opinions from the hot dog guy and our mailman. Total spend for the video press release and a few shorts: under $10,000.
The videos made a huge splash in social media, exceeding every expectation, with traffic spikes, thousands of views, Twitter traction, and incoming sales leads. Did we celebrate when we got the news that we won a Gold Adrian Award for this grassroots campaign? You bet we did.
2. You are marketing something with a visual “story”
Video conveys visual and emotional touch points, which are present in almost every travel offering.
Our case and point. Last week we launched TravelSharkPix, a social travel-photo sharing service. We added a charitable component and asked users to help us pick three charity partners.
Cause marketing plus photography made video PR a natural choice. Our tongue-in-cheek launch video shows Mako Mark’s foiled attempts to find a partner.
Over the next week, we are releasing short follow-on charity stories like this one shown first at Tnooz today:
3. You can defuse the “Honey Badger” cynics in your office
I see fear about using video. You pitch an idea, and you get the “this is no Honey Badger” backlash. Instead of comparing your concept to one of the most popular viral videos ever, compare it to your other alternatives.
If your other option is a staid media release with a few photos, you don’t need blockbuster badger stats to score a win.
4. You want to reach consumers
C’mon. You know this one. YouTube is the second largest search engine. Facebook is clocking billions of video views each month.
If you are marketing a travel business to consumers, it likely has a visual story. Video is a must.
5. You want to reach forward-thinking travel executives
You know who they are. Tieless conference-goers mobbed with groupies. You take notes when they talk. They are the new media thought leaders in travel, and if they can influence your customers (or they are your customers), reach them with every arrow in your social media quiver, including social video.
6. You still care about SEO
If in the post-Panda era, you still work at reaching incremental customers through organic search, the YouTube-Google nexus means video matters.
Don’t miss out.
7. You’re allowed to wade in the perfect-is-the-enemy-of-the-good waters
Viral video marketing and PR success rests a great deal on something you can’t control: luck. It’s tough to predict virality, and so don’t break the bank (money or time) on any one video because our best-laid ideas may fall flat.
If your company allows experimentation and testing of “good” ideas, this is your game. If brand standards make “good” not good enough, you’ll spend too much money and time for the likely ROI.
8. You want to get the viral ball rolling with your staff
All those folks in your office may work for you, but if you want them to pull a social media oar, you need to inspire them.
Here’s the math:
Number of employees x (250 Facebook friends + 150 LinkedIn/Twitter) = WOW!
Impressive numbers, but your team members will only advocate for company initiatives on their social graphs if you give them material their friends will love.
A dull industry release is a cul-de-sac. Highly visual video that tells a compelling story – “Check out our new hotel in Da Nang! Let’s go!” – is great fodder for all-company engagement to get that social ball rolling.
9. Your employees aren’t having any fun
Sign out of your email for a minute. Walk around the office and check out the creative energy. Is anyone laughing? Our companies all have stories.
Stories build emotional glue. Videos are a great way to tell those stories, and your people will love being involved in planning, shooting, and giving feedback.
Ask yourself: “What’s my company’s shark suit?”
Armed with that answer, make your iconic story a video star!
NB: This is a guest article by Sue Heilbronner, CEO of TravelShark.
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Hey Sue, well written- love the video!!! More to come from the land of Penguins!
Sue, your thoughts about diving in (in a shark suit, natch) and trying something new are spot-on. Using video both to drive traffic and to spark your employees’ creativity is smart, especially since you were willing to start low-budget and test the tool. Between young people who live in social media and are just starting to cultivate their love of travel, and the ongoing increase in social media use among the lucrative 50+ set, the travel industry cannot afford to miss these opportunities for SEO and viral buzz. Looking forward to Mako Marks’ ongoing adventures. Thanks for sharing.
This article is so spot on. Video is now so easy with a HD camera on just about every phone and Apps to give all the special effects you need for a polished result that doesn’t break the bank. I think the element of fun for those within your organisation also can’t be understated enough. Having good people around is the core of any business and having some fun in what is happening within the business is a great way to make sure you keep those people around.
Our own latest video at Urban Adventures is here: http://www.urbanadventures.com/london for anyone interested.
The author’s 9 signs of the times are all compelling.
One challenge I’m trying to solve for our business is the general sense that viral is often driven by “zany”, “controversy” etc. Not exclusively of course, as excellence in the form of emotional & intellectual tugs also prompts sharing – though I think we all know why the shark suit works
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What if our target audience – or our most charitable view of our target audience – is well…..not perceived to spend their travel dollars with “the zany company”. That on top of anecdotal evidence that they’re highly private digitally. But we are also thinking next generation of consumers. Thoughts, anyone?
Hi Kuan,
Viral is unpredictable and in many ways uncontrollable. I wouldn’t plow thousands of $$ into a “Viral” video because success is not assured, nor even probable. Brilliant ideas and execution however can be achieved without zaniness and controversy as shown by STA last year in the commission of the Eat, Move, Learn series. http://vimeo.com/27246366 Travel is about dreams before you go and memories after you’ve been. Tap into either or both of those emotions for your best shot.
Kuan.
I really appreciate your question. I’m reminded of so many VIRAL videos I see that are not zany at all. I think the common theme for videos that work virally in an age group about 12 yo boys is emotion as opposed to zaniness. I found these videos/ads to be extremely compelling, and they’ve been quite viral. Just to propose a starkly different non-travel example. http://nyp.org/amazingthings/index.html?WT.ac=AT_Pano_All