Join Kathleen Dunleavy for her Digital Impact Conference session, 3D Bubble Mania: Combine Traditional, Social and Mobile PR Outreach. The PRSA 2012 Digital Impact Conference, to be held April 2–3 at the Sentry Center in New York City, offers workshops where public relations professionals will hear from entrepreneurs and others who specialize in technology communications or social and digital media. 
How do you make a video go viral? I am not convinced there is a prescription to follow for making a video go truly viral. However, in my workshop, “3D Bubble Mania: Combine Traditional, Social and Mobile PR Outreach,” we will look at the importance of video in corporate communications by looking in-depth at “3D Bubble Mania” – and find out what worked and what didn’t.
Instead of speaking of viral videos, I recommend that we talk about Internet videos. Multimedia content that both engages the viewer and provides shareable content is a vital component of any comprehensive public relations campaign. And the challenge, as with all PR work, is to get noticed. It’s estimated that 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute to YouTube. That’s a lot of video. So, how do you make your video stand out?
If a video doesn’t catch someone in the first 15 seconds or if it’s too commercial, your chances are slim that people will watch and share. The headwinds may be powerful but don’t be intimidated since you can integrate powerful, effective and cost-efficient videos into your PR campaigns. With a lot of effort and a little luck, they will be watched and rewatched, or even remixed, and covered by bloggers and traditional media.
What about branding? In the process of creating and placing Internet videos, we learned a great deal about the tricky dance of branding in social media. For example, did you know that it is recommended to not use more than five seconds of branding in a video? Imagine your client’s face when you tell them that. We came up with a few creative ways to integrate branding into Bubble Mania that we will discuss.
For public relations professionals, our real work goes into the pitching and placement of a video – similar to how we might position a cool gadget, a new pair of running shoes, or an author. We will discuss how we did this for “3D Bubble Mania” through traditional, social and mobile PR outreach.
Simply put, there is no magic potion to make a video go viral,but with some strategic forethought, creativity and focus, you can have video be a successful part of any public relations campaign and it will help tell your story.
Kathleen Dunleavy is senior communications manager for Sprint. There, she manages communications outreach for 4G and network advancements, and serves as the primary local spokesperson for Sprint.
