There is a knack to making a viral video and unfortunately it is something that eludes most appliance retailers. This guide looks at current trends in white goods videos available on free video hosting site YouTube and discusses the flaws of each with regard to viral advertising.
Current trend 1 – The review. Type fridge freezer into the search function on YouTube and most of the results will be “reviews”. In fact these are not reviews, they are advertising material that run through a given products features without adding any editorial perspective. Expect to find this for washing machines, tumble dryers, washer dryers, cookers, ovens, hobs, cooker hoods and many other appliances. This kind of video never takes off virally because there is usually an obvious conflict of interests.
Current trend 2 – The how to. It can be hard to decide if a how to video is a boon or a blight for online video hosting. Nearly all of them are clear and concise and offer some educational value however the overwhelming majority present an inherent conflict of interests (as is the case with the review type video) as marketing needs and consumer needs conflict. One feature which appears a lot is a constant repetition of the video producers website and an ongoing description of the tools involved (usually followed by “available from our website”). In the best cases this makes the video harder to follow and in the worst cases it can make them unwatchable.
Current trend 3 – Ads. Reposting TV advertisements on YouTube is an important part of the modern advertising cycle however the benefit that you receive is very dependent on the quality of your ad. Good, funny or engaging ads will get hits while hum-drum or run-of-the-mill ones will not.
Current trend 4 – Facts. This is arguably the most engaging of the current crop of appliance videos; those with facts in. Facts are useful, engaging and easy to digest so if you are looking for information about white goods a fact based video will provide high quality content to you. However the fact based video does not lends itself well to viral distribution as unless the facts are in some way amazing, astounding or stupefying no one really cares enough to pass it on to their friends.
Current trend 5 – The mindless video. Pointless and inane videos of fridge freezers, washing machines and ovens at work populate the bottom fifth of the content pile for this niche. Even the people who post them will often confess that they are not sure if they are interesting and mostly they are not. This is pointless content that is a waste of bandwidth and unless you enjoy monotony then you should not bother watching this type of video.