Defining the Problem
One of the critical challenges of effectively marketing a product or an entire brand is creating viral content. Viral is defined as any media content that has managed to gain dramatic popularity and become recognizable in a brief time among a broad audience (Kagan, 2022). Such a phenomenon does not actually help create a lasting relationship with the target audience over the long term but instead creates a short-term advertising campaign, the essence of which is to spread the word about the brand. It is noteworthy that in order to create viral content, there must be an impressive product idea or product presentation so as to evoke mixed feelings in consumers. In this case, the authors are not competing for audience loyalty but instead seeking to create a campaign that is memorable and appealing to watch. The creation of the viral promotional video was part of the marketing campaign of Squatty Potty, a manufacturer of plastic colorectal therapy devices of the same name (Dinsmore, 2022). The motivation for creating the viral video was explained by Squatty Potty’s owner’s desire to reach a larger audience and tell the world about the benefits of a commercial product on such a stigmatized topic. The absurd video created is the object of research interest in this paper in terms of its effect on the popularity and sales of the Squatty Potty product.
The Rationale for the Solution
Creating a viral video can either have terrific results for product promotion or, conversely, have a disruptive effect on customer trust and legitimacy levels. No entrepreneur is interested in the second outcome, but no one can be immune to it. Examining the strategic validity of a viral video in light of its results for promotion is thus a purposeful measure for measuring its usefulness. Immediately following the launch of the ad in October 2015, we see a substantial increase in monthly sales over the next trimester; the increase in profits was up to 281% in just 90 days. Indirect sales on Amazon also showed an increase of up to 188%. This data suggests a surge in sales immediately following the publication of a viral video, which is consistent with the initial expectation of the strategic benefits of the video. Evidence of the sharpness of this popularity is not hard to pinpoint: the average monthly number of sales in just three months after the ad was published was twice as high as the average for the entire following year when the virality of the video subsided.
The share of sales that came from purely viral content also increased. As of the 2016 reporting year, 46% of total revenue came from video-only sales, with no more than 9% of spending on such advertising in the context of spending. A particular focus of this analysis is a more detailed examination of sales statistics — indeed, the tremendous increase in sales over three months is indicative of the benefit of this video, and a similar agenda is expected in the daily analysis. In particular, it was shown that in the first ten days of the campaign launch, the number of device purchases on the site increased by more than fifteen times, indicating a sharp increase in the rapid popularity of the product, after which there was a natural decline in interest (Fig. 1).
In addition, it should be understood that the virality of a video is determined, among other things, by the ability of people to distribute it voluntarily, following the principles of word-of-mouth advertising. The report shows that about one in forty-four viewers on YouTube shared the link with their friends on social media, which totals more than 719,000 such shares. The number of unique users also increased, with the fastest growth seen in the first few days of the campaign launch. If we consider unique users as those individuals who clicked on the site for the first time, including through a friend’s link, this indicates that the video was well viral and that its results met the stated goals.
Using KPIs
It is clear that measuring video popularity needs to be more sensitive than examining the effects on budgets and the number of views. In particular, statistics need to be examined in more detail, and potential cause-and-effect relationships need to be explored. This will help answer, among other things, the question of why there was a surge in sales in April 2016 and whether it was related to the virality of a video published six months earlier. For this reason, among the more reliable and accurate KPIs should be data on attracting new leads, video content playback rate and average viewing duration, and organic and prepaid viewing volumes. The current report makes it clear that the amount of organic traffic changes systematically and drops about every three months. The change in content relevance and the systemic drop in rankings may be due to a loss of interest in the video, and the re-growth of this organic traffic may be due to the use of other advertising campaigns causing audiences to seek more information about Squatty Potty. Thus, systematic interest in the product should be supported so that the viral video stays relevant throughout the marketing campaign and generates more revenue. In terms of paid views, according to the data collected, they only had high effectiveness for the first 45 days, after which they balanced out at a moderately low level. This does not seem to be suitable for the product, as in this case, Squatty Potty is paying for views that turn out not to be that many, and the overall effectiveness of such a campaign may be low.
Risks and Planning
By now, it is clear that the main risks include the emergence of competitors or any technical barriers to the ability to promote video content further. Lack of interest in the product due to the reasons listed would be devastating for Squatty Potty, as up to half of annual profits have been shown to depend on the virality of the video. In addition, if the company is inspired by the success of this campaign and wants to repeat it promptly but fails to balance humor and offensiveness, it could hurt the loyalty of the established audience and reduce the number of customers. All of these risks have a heightened seriousness about future sales, as the company’s financial well-being is now primarily dependent on the popularity of the viral video for the effectiveness of the device buying process.
The prudent next step would be to maintain and multiply the current success. Virality can be remarkably rapid, and the lack of measures to manage popularity will cause the former virality to fade. Squatty Potty needs to start developing the next campaign even before the current one is over in order to maintain brand popularity. This can either be a new viral ad, since the audience is already ready for it, or a TV show with celebrities and extensive media activity. It is essential for Squatty Potty to balance the pitch so that it continues to “tease” the audience but not overstep the bounds so that they do not become victims of a culture of cancellation. Probably seeking the services of a lawyer or new ethicist would be relevant. Finally, Squatty Potty needs to plan next year’s budget so that financial management is not spontaneous. Planning turns out to be possible and closer to reality if attention is paid to risks and virility factors, which requires meticulous work.
References
Dinsmore, J. (2022). Squatty Potty: Assessing digital marketing campaign data [PDF document]. Web.
Kagan, J. (2022). Viral marketing. Investopedia. Web.