It was the Big Game aka Super Bowl and at Network Solutions, our team had beem working on a very organic social video campaign to counter the highly expensive Superbowl ad that GoDaddy produced. Here is our award winning strategy.

1. Strategy for a Video Campaign
by Shashi Bellamkonda & Lisa Byrne
02/13/2011

2. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 2
How does Network Solutions spell
social media success?
How about with a 500% increase
in .co domain name sales.
We classify that as a Network
Solutions touchdown (or win) –
without running a $3 M Super
Bowl ad.
How did we do it?
How can you as a small business learn from our experience.

3. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 3
Set Objectives
Decide on your objectives which could be one or all of these
Brand Awareness
Media
Consumer Buzz around products
A message that people will share
Increased Traffic
Increased sales

4. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 4
Identify Your Audience
WHO are you trying to
reach, where are they,
and what do they
respond to?
TIMING is imperative for
your launch/release –
when are you most likely
to grab their attention?

5. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 5
Public Relations
You still need
a traditional
press release!
And a Social
Media release

6. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 6
Upload to YouTube
Second largest search engine after Google
Add relevant tags when uploading
Be direct with the title for search purposes
Search similar videos and add a comment
Add your own video as a response to
other/similar/competing videos
Engage and respond to people who comment
on your video – positive and negative

7. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 7
Share on Facebook
Create an early buzz by posting
status updates relevant to the
topic of your video
Post a link to YouTube (or landing
page) from your Company Page
Post from personal pages
(employees can help a lot)
Link to other relevant Facebook
pages

8. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 8
Share on Twitter
Consider new/separate Twitter
account to represent a character
or object in the video
Create custom Twitter backgrounds
and profile images – add to
company accounts, personal
accounts, new account (if
relevant)
Search for hashtags relevant to
your topic, add them in your
tweets
Create your own custom hashtag
for the video, add to all tweets
without or without the video
Prepare a number of tweets
ahead of time to allow more real-
time engagement with reactors
Set up search queries around
your subject and interact directly
with people talking about it
Reply to people who interact
with you, retweet their
comments to continue the
conversation

9. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 9
Paid Advertising
Banner ads strategically placed
where your target markets is
web surfing
Facebook ads can be specifically
targeted also (even directly to
the fans of competitors pages)
Consider print ads (add a QR code
they can scan to watch the video,
bring print to the mobile in
their hand)

10. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 10
Outreach to Community & Influencers
Work within your community to reach out for assistance,
advise your network ahead of time that you are working on
something big! Remind them when it releases
Consider an outside PR company who can expand this reach
to specific online influencers
Interact directly with these influencers through Twitter to
help create a buzz

11. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 11
Email
Send as a special update to your current
distribution list
Include a link to the video in your next
newsletter and share some of the
successes
If you have a large company share it with
your employees initially through email
Have your team add a link to the video in
their email signature, encourage this
company-wide

12. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 12
Make it Easy to Share
Create a dedicated landing page for the video
on your website
Embed the video (code from YouTube so as not
to divide the number of views)
Add additional outtakes, production
photographs, funny one-liners on this page
Include EASY SHARE options and place them
prominently on the page.
Add This has an ideal button that pulls out
(highlights) the Facebook Like button and the
Twitter Tweet button for one-click sharing,
along with an option to share on multiple sites
with 2-clicks

13. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 13
Prepare for a Crisis or Controversy
You can’t please everybody! Accept that and keep going
Consider all possible negative feedback ahead of time
Prepare various responses to
possible concerns and tailor them
to reply on Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter, blogs, mainstream
media, detailed emails
Create talking points should you
receive phone calls or meet
people in person

14. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 14
Other Things to Consider
Release a pre-
promotional or teaser
video
Add the video link as
status or mood message
to your IM accounts

15. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 15
Go Granny Parody Video
On February 4th
, 2011 Network Solutions® launched their Go Granny parody
video featuring Cloris Leachman to coincide with Super Bowl weekend, and
won the public vote in the social media sphere.
Online sentiment about the Go Granny video campaign is currently at 97.5%
percent, and the Twitter stream gained attention from social media notables
like Guy Kawasaki, Scott Monty, Liz Strauss and Jason Falls.
A simultaneous launch on the website, Facebook page, YouTube channel, blog
properties, Twitter streams and in online banner ads was followed by a three
day social media blitz.
On game day, when GoDaddy revealed its new girl, the social media channels
lit up with comments.
While Go Daddy took heat for puzzling views with a body double for Joan
Rivers, Go Granny /Cloris Leachman was celebrated as a social media
sweetheart.
View video at http://networksolutions.com/video

16. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 16
As of February 12th
, 2011
YouTube:
60k views, 135 likes, 4 dislikes & 84 comments
Other Social Media Channels:
8.3M Impressions
Media/Blogs:
14.6M Impressions
Twitter:
18M Impressions & 2,600 Tweets

17. Making a Viral Video, 02/13/2011 17
Thank you
Employees
Network Solutions Social Advisory Board
Facebook fans
Twitter community
Friends and colleagues
Blog readers
http://womengrowbusiness.com
http://networksolutions.com/blog
http://networksolutions.com/smallbusiness
DC community