One day we received an email from a 400 year old company looking to inject a little youth into their marketing plan. I kid you not; the title of this post was taken verbatim from that email. Despite language barriers, the next 14 or so back-and-forth emails were an effort, on our part, to manage the client’s expectations with respect to the difficulty of making an online video go viral.

In fact, if you ask industry leaders what they think of the term “viral,” I suggest you proceed to take cover from flying objects. It’s been my experience that they loath the word, because it implies a hands off approach to the organic spread of online video content, especially if we’re talking branded content. “Viral” implies an expectation of certainty to the client. I call this the post-Bieber mentality, because there was a time, pre-Bieber, when you could upload a video to YouTube and it might get discovered, and better yet–shared. But these days, it’s next to impossible to get discovered on YouTube. I was totally prepared to show you a cool graphic, circa 2011, that illustrated how roughly 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.

But guess what?

That graphic is already outdated. It’s now actually closer to 60 hours per minute! Meaning, it’s becoming harder and harder for both brands and individuals to cut through the online video clutter and find their audience.

There are literally dozens of companies in the space claiming to have the silver bullet for making viral videos, but the truth is only a handful of them actually know the secret ingredient. Most of them spend less than 10% of their client’s budget on a mediocre production, while 90% goes to bloggers and kids in China who get paid a penny per view to hit refresh from a US proxy server.

So What is the Real Secret Ingredient?

Essentially, it’s a healthy mix of good ideas and lots of money… That’s not to say a good idea alone can’t go viral, but given the unpredictability of online video, I definitely suggest building in some sort of paid push to gain early momentum. For example, many brands choose to support their online campaigns with buys on traditional media like television, which appears to kind of defeat the purpose, but actually proves to be a pretty good formula for success. The Old Spice videos actually paid for their first few million views with Superbowl money. By that, I mean a good portion of the views came from people searching YouTube for the ad they saw during the Superbowl broadcast.

Now just in case your man doesn’t smell like Isaiah Mustafa, there are a few basic things you should consider before hitting “publish” on that BIG-BANG VIRAL to the world.

Content is King

It all starts with a good idea, without one, you’re finished before you even get started. No budget in the world will truly float crap content.

If Content is King, Then Metadata is Queen

If a tree falls in the woods and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? In this case, no, it doesn’t. Make sure people can find your content by keeping the title and description relevant to the theme of your video. Think of as many tags and keywords you can and associate them with your video. Try using the Google AdWords Keyword tool.

Script with Metadata in Mind

When creating the actual content of your video think about currently popular search terms and try to work them into your script. That said, don’t become a content farm.

Keep it Short

General rule of thumb: under 3 minutes.

Choose an Enticing Thumbnail

Never underestimate the value of a pretty girl, fast car, or shiny new object. Just make sure whatever you choose is relevant to the theme of your content. The more attractive the image, the more people will want to click on it.

Timing is Everything

YouTube tends to give preference to the most recently uploaded content. For example, try typing “Whitney Houston” into YouTube. First you’ll see a couple of featured videos, but then you’ll probably see a homemade video that was uploaded 11 minutes ago, rather than quality content from last month that has already been outdated.

Distribution Over Destination

So you’ve produced your BIG-BANG VIRAL, now what? We all know YouTube is where it’s at, so without a doubt that’s the first place to seed your video. But what about your client’s brand site? Definitely. But let’s face it, you’re limited to the audience you attract through advertising or search. What you really want is to place it where your target audience is consuming video. Remember, this isn’t a zero sum game. I can watch your video on YouTube or I can watch it on Metacafe, or I can watch it on Yahoo, AOL, and FunnyorDie.com. There is a whole world outside of YouTube where people are consuming video, so go after those eyes, don’t limit yourself, post your video to as many relevant places as you can. Some of my most successful video campaigns were on video portals outside of YouTube. Because in tandem with quality content, relevance to your viewers is what will make or break a campaign.

So the next time your client asks for a “BIG-BANG VIRAL” to the world, do whatever you can to manage their initial expectations, because the last thing you want, is a disappointed client. After you’ve brought them down to earth, if they still want to dip their toe into online video, then be sure to follow the tips above for your best chance of success.

The summary of the CAN-SPAM act is:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

Legitimate email marketers in Canada also comply with the CAN-SPAM Act however, last December, the Canadian Government passed it’s own version – Bill C-28, “Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation” (CASL). It will not go into effect until the detailed regulations have been written and finalized later this year. We have a POV on this emerging regulation for the Canadian market.

But paper is how I roll. How do I work it in digital?

I’m a healthcare copywriter, with a background mainly in print. There’s a permanency to print. If you’re about to hit “print” on 1000 copies, you’re going to make pretty darn sure every word and color is spot on. It’s tactile. You can hold it, fold it, and use it as a coaster. But, it’s also limiting.

So, the world of digital health advertising was rather new to me. Admittedly, I’m a bit old school. I love newspapers, CBC radio, and yes, long-hand letters (I draw the line at hanging laundry on a line). I knew that I had to adapt the way I wrote to deliver a creative solution that rocked it in digital.

Digital, meet pharma. Let the sparks fly.

Digital presents unique challenges – and enormous opportunities – to pharma advertisers. We want our creative to stand out from the crowded pack, so that our audience engages with our brand and builds a relationship with it. Simply put, it’s about attracting attention and maintaining it. Hmm…sounds a little like…dating. Bear with me here.

When you are developing a digital creative solution, imagine yourself getting to know someone you’re interested in.

Hey there, let’s talk.  (Digital is interactive)

Digital is all about creating a dialogue. Hit someone with your key selling messages, in multiple ways, to tell your story. And the conversation isn’t one-sided – your audience has the opportunity to respond and interact with your brand at every touchpoint. Sure, buy me a drink first.

You’re exactly my type. (Digital is targeted)

The ability to tailor messages to the audience you most want to influence is a powerful digital advantage. Use it. What, I love Japanese anime too!

I know what you’re up to. I Facebook stalked you. (Digital is analyzable)

I like words. Others like numbers. Together, we are unstoppable. Data is a precise and transparent way to measure how our creative is doing. (Sorry, there’s no faking it). Oh, you’re going to that party too…

Oh, that’s not what I meant by that emoticon. Let me try again. (Digital is nimble).

Understanding how our audience interacts with ads in real-time means we can adapt, optimize, and improve them – to stay one step ahead. Let’s meet up soon.

Digital is the electricity that powers romance…er, communication.

At the end of the day, a great idea is a great idea. It’s the way an idea is shared that’s changed. So, you need an idea that’s worth spreading. In the cluttered digital landscape, the digital “cream” has to rise to the top.

This can be challenging, especially in the highly regulated pharma world. But, that’s a challenge this old-school writer is excited to take on.

If you want to learn about the newest defense against spam from the network technology side, see Email authentication for marketers – the DMARC standard.

Don’t let spam filters be the barrier to all your hard work

Anti-spam rules have expanded globally and have an empowering effect on consumers. However, they don’t need to be completely limiting. The key is audience engagement through a sophisticated balancing act of relevance and frequency.

Rather than engage in cumbersome unsubscribing flows or manually deleting unread email, subscribers use shortcuts such as spam filters to eliminate newsletters they no longer want to receive. Simply by flagging the newsletter as spam, their spam-blocker filters out email and subsequently the newsletters no longer appear in the inbox. Problem solved – for the consumer.

The problems are just starting for the marketer, however. Legitimate newsletters might mistakenly be blacklisted and thus be undeliverable to other subscribers of the service who still welcome new issues. This is yet another persuasive reason to create a simple unsubscribe process; better to lose a subscriber than to be listed as spam.

Some additional recommendations to keep in mind when designing an ideal opt-out experience include:

• Make the opt-out easy to find
• Use language that is easy to understand
• Provide controls that are easy to use/modify

Don’t be afraid of metrics, they’re a fantastic tool to identify problems and/or opportunities. Add opt-outs to key metrics dashboards to track the numbers against your different mailings. Continually integrate those learnings to refine and optimize your email strategy to can create a nimble and responsive experience and ultimately avoid having the subscriber terminate the relationship.

Now, I need to point out the obvious for a moment. I’m not a lawyer, I don’t play one on TV, and I have no special powers to completely and absolutely determine how Canadian courts will interpret CASL. So, please do not use this blog post as legal advice and instead refer to your own legal counsel as to how your own email marketing activities are affected by CASL.

Luckily, Industry Canada takes the questions of marketers seriously and I was able to get some further insight on how this law will roll out into regulations by talking with a representative of the department. Note that even Industry Canada can’t dictate how the courts, the CRTC Competition Bureau, or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner will apply the law, so these notes are also not legal advice.

To stay on top of regulatory guidance, which is coming, sign up for the Fight Spam email alerts to stay on top of this issue.

General rules

Overall:

• Current opt-in best practice is enshrined in this law, if you’re following best practice you’re already 90% compliant (but make sure you review your activities so you stay on-side). In this case best practice is complying with PIPEDA, enabling obvious opt-outs, etc.
• If you have a list that you have built that contains express consent then your list is fine and you can continue using it
• If your list has implied consent, a 3-year transition period is available. During the period express consent must be acquired or the contacts must be removed
• Implied consent is granted for those with a business or personal relationship. These relationships are strictly defined in the full text of the Act. For marketing purposes this usually means:
• In most cases marketers will use the provision for an “existing business relationship”. The downloading of a PDF or signing up for a newsletter fall under the barter of product or service provision and are allowed
• Buying of lists is not prohibited as long as the list was collected adhering to both CASL and PIPEDA (which means the contact must know that the list may go to a 3rd party). These are lists where the members on the list have given consent for “unknown third parties”
• However, opt-outs must now be communicated with list owners so that anyone unsubscribing from your list is also unsubscribed from the source list, and any other companies that have purchased the list

Send to a friend

There has been some worry in the industry that the CASL regulations will disallow websites from using “send to a friend” or “social sharing” functionality. This is not true.

• For any Email to a Friend or Sharing you must present the rules about what constitutes a business or personal relationship to the sharing person so they accept responsibility for the shared information. This can be in the “fine print” but it must exist
• The email must be identified as coming from the sending user, best practice is to use “on behalf of” functionality, for example “From: Digital Rx on behalf of Brad Einarsen“
• Ensure that there is an opt-out on the email so that a user can disallow any further emails from the website (however, this recommendation may not be necessary, see below)

UPDATE Feb. 21, 2012: there is a Send to a Friend form on the Fight Spam CASL website which creates an email that does not have an opt-out. (It also does not clearly define the concept of a relationship, either). Here is the email that it generates:

From: IMCEANOTES-Brad+20Einarsen+40ICGC@ic.gc.ca – 10:36 AM (47 minutes ago)
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX@gmail.com

Brad Einarsen has recommended that you check out this page:

Home

http://fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/h_00000.html

This page was sent using the “Email to a friend” feature. Your email address has not been added to any list, and has not been retained on our site.

So, the situation remains a bit unclear regarding the need for an opt-out for Send to a Friend functionality. It seems excessive to make this a requirement. Hopefully this will be answered with the guidance being drafted. Stay tuned for updates as they become available.

Social media

Messaging can also be triggered via social media share buttons and other mechanisms, there is a question about how CASL interacts with social media. Some notes:

• CASL has no effect on broadcast-style social media where users are sharing information on their own social media profiles (for example, sharing to their Facebook wall or Twitter stream)
• CASL does come into effect if the private messaging tools on the different channels are used (for example, Facebook Messages or a direct message on Twitter)
• A grey area remains where another user is mentioned by name on Twitter (@username) as this isn’t a direct message but it is likely the user will see it

Risk of frivolous lawsuits

The main risk isn’t that the branded website will actually send spam emails as defined in CASL. The main perceived risk is that individuals will try and use the system to launch frivolous lawsuits against the company. This is not a significant risk because:

• Each email in violation triggers a $200 penalty (“statutory damages”) plus any actual damages, so for legitimate email (where there are no actual damages) it takes a lot of them to add up to a significant amount
• Lawsuits must be filed in the Provincial Superior Court or the Federal Court so there are fees required
• In Canada the filer can be held responsible for the defense’s legal costs and even court time if the case is deemed frivolous

So, when it comes to how CASL will affect eCRM once it comes into effect, remember The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Don’t Panic”, and remember your towel.

Email, a once-useful information sharing tool, is contributing to information overload. Inboxes are overflowing and message value is diluted. Competition for the customers’ time and attention has changed the game for attracting consumers using mass information and offers. As a result of these pressures, opt-out (unsubscribe) rates having been rising steadily. Couple this with more aggressive spam filtering tools and rigorous email laws, and we find ourselves in a situation where the dialogue can be turned off with a click of a mouse. How should a savvy marketer best navigate these email land mines?

The good news is there are some great solutions already in place that allow the consumer to moderate their content consumption. Applying a few simple strategies can help foster stronger ties and nurture this precious relationship. Start with a well-crafted and obvious opt-out experience to help retain readers, tailor the content and pay attention to key metrics (such as open rates & click throughs), by monitoring the consumer behaviours (open & click through rates, page views) you’ll get a better sense of what’s working and what’s not. Plus adopting these remedies will, at the very least, help minimize angry spam alerts and keep you on speaking terms.

Use unsubscribe to your advantage – give your audience other choices

With consumer in charge of how to electronically reach them, by way of a variety of digital vehicles (email, SMS, social media, etc.), getting and keeping their permission is key. Once you have it, respect it by listening and offering tools to customize their absorption to improve retention. The consumer has indicated they want to receive information from your company by opting in. But bear in mind consumers can be fickle and their interests may change so messaging needs to follow suit. Offering customized options is a great way to stay relevant; this extends to content, timing, and the preferred platform by which to receive information.

Linkedin demonstrates a great execution of customized tools within user’s profile account settings. Email subscribers can modify their email preferences, giving them the ability to select or deselect email/newsletters topics as well as adjust timing frequency. These ‘tailor your own’ options include:

• Select the types of messages you’re willing to receive
• Set the frequency of emails
• Select who can send you invitations
• Set the frequency of group digest emails

These simple steps empower the reader to personalize the information to reflect the their desired interests and frequency, with the added advantage of the ability to modify these preferences to suit their needs at any time without severing the relationship.

By providing more nuanced choices than simply on / off you can retain some subscribers who simply want fewer or more directed emails.

Our digital agency business is at the intersection of Strategy, Creative, Technology and Marketing. In 2011 we saw many of our clients continue to lay the foundation to enable marketing execution using enterprise technologies and systems (for example: CRM Platforms, Enterprise Analytics, Integration of Databases and Content feeds).

As we kick off 2012, many of these projects are completed. Clients are now turning to us for services and solutions which are based now on campaign execution and optimization and this means a shift of change in the relationships we have with our clients. The investments have been made, and now the ROI needs to be realized.

What does this mean for the agency client relationship 2012?

• For a Digital Agency this means putting as much consideration into “The strategic planning and thinking” as we do when we are “doing and building”
• Providing more assistance and thinking into how our clients can be more competitive through optimization
• To consider how our solutions developed can help our clients succeed now that we’ve completed the development part of our assignments
• More in marketing execution as we are as technical solution architects

In a recent article on AdAge Magazine 12 marketers revealed how they have improved their relationships and what they resolve to even do better in 2012. The Marketers shed light on what is important. Here are some highlights:

• Everyone should be concerned about impact on output
• Providing clear objectives
• More open to communication
• Providing quick thoughtful decisions
• Having mutual respect
• More open to feedback
• Saying thank-you more often
• Being more precise in creative briefs
• Providing consolidated Feedback
• Working to get people collectively thinking and grounded in the same information earlier

At our agency, we’ve created our own manifesto which will help guide our work with clients. This manifesto is changing the way we work with clients in 2012. Some considerations:

• We will manage. We will lead.
• We will be more collaborative. Talk more with one another more often.
• We will designate ONE client voice.
• We will be Resourceful, Not just Resources.
• We will be Master Craftspeople, Not just an Assembly Line.

Most importantly though, we will be a partner in every sense of the word. We will bring the bad news early and get the hard decisions done. We will enjoy the good news and still strive to make it even better. Every person on the team considers what is in the best interest of the project and clearly communicates that throughout the value chain.

After months of intense client meetings, strategy sessions and late night ComScore falafel runs, it all comes down to this, the calm before the storm, the days leading up to launch. But before we do, there’s one small step in the process that needs to take place… trafficking.

The Trafficking Department

Most agencies have an ad trafficking department, which often includes a traffic manager and an ad trafficker, or a whole team of traffickers, depending on the size of the agency. The role of the trafficking department is to oversee the trafficking process, which includes preparation and implementation of the traffic instructions.

The Traffic Instructions

The role of the ad trafficker is to generate the traffic instructions, basing their inputs off the media plan, which is created by the media department. This is the most important step in the ad trafficking process, as even the smallest inconsistency or oversight could cause a ripple effect, leading to a tsunami of issues, which as we know in the pharma industry, could come with federal consequences. Once the traffic instructions are completed and verified to be correct, it’s off to the ad server.

The Ad Server

Now that we have our instructions, it’s time to implement them. Again, based on the size of the agency, some choose to keep this process in house, while others outsource this task to a third party. A few examples of ad servers include Google’s DoubleClick for Advertisers (DFA), Microsoft’s Atlas and AOL’s ADTECH. That said, before we go any further, you might be asking yourself “what is an ad server and why do I need one?” Well, an ad server is basically what it sounds like, it’s a server that stores ads and delivers them to users when a specific call is made. Think of it like a restaurant. The waitress (ad trafficker) delivers the order (instructions) to the kitchen (ad server), who prepares a meal (ad) based on your age, location, income level, or whatever other targeting parameters have been defined for the campaign and serves it to the user. Okay, maybe it’s not exactly like a restaurant, but you get the idea…

Below is a list of basic ad server functionalities:

• Uploading and organizing creative assets.
• Creating ad tags and trafficking them to vendors accordingly.
• Targeting ads to different users, or content.
• Campaign optimization based on positive or negative results.
• Tracking impressions, clicks, conversions, and engagement metrics.

I could easily write an entire post just on ad servers, but I think we’ll leave that for another day…

So the next time you’re planning a big trip to the moon, be sure to keep the illustrious words of Neil Armstrong in mind and remember, it may be one small step for the client, but the ad trafficking process will remain one giant leap for the campaign.

The seven principals begin with a call for regulated healthcare industries to engage in social media “as a means to promote public health, improve patient outcomes and facilitate productive patient/physician relationships.” Other principles and best practices cover user generated content, adverse effect reporting, control of content, and more.

The DHC is looking for feedback from the industry, and it’s important that your voice is heard. You can review the Social Guiding Principles Project here: http://www.digitalhealthcoalition.org/content/social-guiding-principles-project

The complete seven guidelines follow:

1) Regulated healthcare companies should endeavor to participate in social media as a means to promote public health, improve patient outcomes and facilitate productive patient/physician relationships.

2) Regulated healthcare companies are not responsible for user-generated content online that they do not control. Regulated healthcare companies are deemed to “control” health and medical content if (i) it owns such health and medical content and has material editorial authority or (ii) it paid for the creation of such content and has material editorial authority over such content.

3) Regulated healthcare companies have a responsibility to report adverse events they become aware of. Regulated healthcare companies should follow the existing adverse event reporting rules in place at the FDA.

4) Employees of regulated healthcare companies should disclose their material company relationship when posting comments/content or engaging in an online conversation relating to a company product or relevant healthcare issue.

5) Regulated healthcare companies should endeavor to respond to questions on sites they control within a reasonable period of time, and to implement reasonable measures to enable timely responses to crisis and emergency situations.

6) Regulated healthcare companies should endeavor to make reasonable efforts to correct misinformation that is factually incorrect.

7) Regulated healthcare companies should endeavor to appoint employee(s) tasked with the role of “patient liaison” focused on representing the best interests of the patient online.

What is Co-Creation?

Co-creation, or collaborative creation refers to a business approach that looks to maximize a firm’s value by harnessing the power of customers’ insights, creativity and capabilities in unique ways. These customers include both external customers and internal stakeholders. Firms that embrace this approach believe that both existing products/services and those in development can be vastly improved by effectively embracing this approach.

Sounds like market research. How is it different?

While customer insight gathering is core to many market research activities, co-creation activities focus on initiatives in which participants are actually tasked with creating something to address a tangible business need. Insights are acted upon collectively rather than gathered and analyzed, and the collaborative exercises can take place during multiple engagements.

Why is it relevant?

Healthcare companies are looking to harness co-creation activities as they strive to become more customer-centric and sensitive to the needs of their audience. Companies realize that the digital revolution has enabled a new generation of “e-Patients”, people who are passionate and highly engaged online and have strong opinions that can be very supportive or highly critical of healthcare companies’ products, services and corporate behavior. Furthermore, healthcare professionals are collaborating and networking at a scale we have never seen. To that end, healthcare companies are very interested in harnessing their customers’ passion and creativity to create products and services to better meet the needs of the marketplace.

What are some examples of Co-Creation opportunities?

• Sales – create a taskforce that includes sales reps, healthcare professionals, designers, training and other internal stakeholders to create digital selling tools that add value during the sales call.
• Marketing – engage a group of e-patients and health educators within your therapeutic area to create the best-in-class patient support program
• Clinical – engage a group of patients and clinical investigators that have participated in clinical trials with the company. Have them dissect the experience and task them with building new processes that will aid in driving business objectives, ie recruitment, adherence, process efficiencies. Etc.
• Training – engage past training participants on specific elements of training initiatives, ie evaluation, to further business objectives and improve the offering.
• Corporate Communications – engage an advocacy group to collaboratively design a partnership offering from scratch.

• Opportunity Selection – Select opportunities that address a tangible business need that are not adequately being addressed with the status-quo.
• Participants – The spectrum is important – internal, external, different skill sets and points of view. These individuals need to be passionate, creative and have a bias for results. This is not a randomized market research approach.
• A Defined Process – The activity must have defined objectives and a start, middle and end. Participants must know exactly what they are getting into when they agree to sign up.
• Facilitation – A facilitator (internal or external) that can embrace the process and dedicate considerable effort to the initiative is critical for success.

Do you have any examples of successful Co-Creation activities you have participated in? We would love to hear your experiences.