From the notes on my phone to a webinar. Learnings from one year of viral videos, millions of views and two awards :)

1. Learnings of a
Viral Content
Marketer
“Finding the method to the madness”
By Aashish Chopra

2. Who am I to be talking
about viral marketing?
about me

3. Total internet base in India estimated at
354 million users
213 million mobile internet users
by June 2015
importance of viral marketing

4. India to have the largest number of Facebook
users on mobile by 2017
100 million mobile users in 2015
Whatsapp: 70 million users in India!
YouTube is already big!
“For marketers, this is where the action will be”
importance of viral marketing

5. the challenge
• Too much competition
• Chaotic newsfeeds
• Falling attention spans

6. the challenge
Question:
What is our average
attention span today?

7. the challenge
The average attention
span of a human being
has dropped from 12
seconds in 2000 to 8
seconds in 2013.
This is one second less
than the attention span of
a goldfish.

8. what is a viral?

9. what is a viral?
“a happy accident”

10. story of the first viral
“From an idea to radio interview in 18 hours”

11. story of the first viral
“From an idea to radio interview in 18 hours”
• Uploaded on YouTube
• Featured on StoryPick
• A full screenshot story on Buzzfeed
• Found its way to Reddit
• Featured on NDTV, IBNlive and Daily Bhaskar
• Two Radio interviews on Radio Mirchi

12. story of the first viral
Key Learnings
• Topical content works
• Make it ‘news-worthy’
• Inspire action

13. the next viral - applied learning
The Fool’s day prank video. Featured on Storypick, Travel
Daily Media, India Business Blog and few others.

14. the next viral - applied learning
Key Learnings
• topical content works (newsjacking)
• brand DNA in the video

15. the case of travel hacks

16. the case of travel hacks
Question:
How many views did this
video get on YouTube
on the first day?

17. the case of travel hacks

18. the case of travel hacks
• Nominated for Best Viral Campaign of the year - IAMAI awards
• Won Best Viral Campaign - DMAI awards
Facebook Reach

19. the case of travel hacks
Key Learnings
• Make it share-worthy (friends tagging)
• Move fast and engage (2-3 min video)
• Solve a problem; make it useful
• Storytelling beats production value ($)
• ‘Shares’ the new currency on social (3.5l)
• Facebook emerges as game changer
• Facebook (sharing DNA) vs YouTube

20. experiments / applied learning
visa free video

21. experiments / applied learning
● Made for mobile screens: clutter
free, 2-3 minutes length, formats
● Got 250k views on Facebook
● Another 250k when a famous
politician shared it.
● Adding a ‘Call to Action’ button on
the video got 6% CTR, app
downloads jumped. (ROI)
● A user downloaded it and posted
it on his Facebook page, which
got another 2.4 million views!
visa free video

22. experiments / applied learning
vacation
deprived
video

23. experiments / applied learning
hotel hacks
video

24. experiments / applied learning
hotel hacks
video
● 15 second rule, make it
compelling
● Got 850k views on facebook
● Viral on whatsapp: no way to
measure, stories still come today
● Featured on popular international
blogs around the world
● ‘Call to Action’ applied on the
video, got 5% CTR (ROI)

25. other half of the battle
Distribution Strategy
• Tuesday launches
• Thumbnail and Copy (titles/desc/wall copy)
• Multiple versions: FB, YT, Whatsapp
• Initial seeding: cross platform, core group
(100 shares 10 minutes)
• Facebook: promote on organic curve
• Outreach to 3pm content blogs

26. newsjacking

27. newsjacking
“Newsjacking is the practice of injecting your
ideas into a breaking news story and
generating tons of social media coverage
and engagement.”
Brand DNA + Breaking News

28. newsjacking examples

29. newsjacking examples

30. newsjacking examples

31. newsjacking examples

32. last words
- Don’t make an Ad (BS detectors)
- Don’t start with intent of ‘viral’ (result)
- Obsess about your users, train eg.
- Think storytelling, not high production ($)
- Why would anyone share it?
- Does it have repeat viewing value?
- Users first, branding next; give value
- Make it for mobile screens
- Facebook native video; Whatsapp

33. last words
It’s not about being creative;
but about being creative consistently
Do 10 experiments; 2 will work
just like movie studios
80% of success is showing up - Woody Allen
execution is everything

34. thanks :)
Aashish Chopra
@aashishc
ixigo videos
YouTube: www.youtube.com/ixigorocks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ixigo/videos