Viral Marketing vs PPC Campaigns
I read an EXCELLENT post tonight on an experimental project on Marketing Experiments. The focus of their project was “Can Viral Video Clips Drive Targted Traffic”
From the recent explosion of YouTube and Google Videos as of late I was pretty sure I knew the answer. However, the bottom line dollars and sense outcome of their ongoing experiment was a real eye opener to the efficiency of viral video marketing.
They seeded a total of 28 videos on the web for their experiment. Here are their results in comparison to what it would have cost them to acquire prospects via PPC advertising:
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| Using Video Clips to drive traffic and acquire subscribers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| August | Sept | 60 Day Total | |
| Views of videos | 88,589 | 235,601 | 324,190 |
| Clicks through to site | 732 | 3,430 | 4,162 |
| Clickthrough rate | 0.88% | 1.46% | 1.28% |
| Conversion to subscribers | – | – | 1.49% |
What you need to understand: Although the video clips had no promotional message or content, 1.49% of viewers went on to become newsletter subscribers. In Just 60 Days, our videos were viewed over 324,000 times at no cost to us.
KEY POINT: With no additional work or money spent, we are projected to generate 382,444 views for October, which is more than we generated in the previous 2 months combined.
:: To create a context for these video clip results, we built a comparison chart to see how much it would cost to achieve the same results using Pay Per Click advertising.
These figures are based on the same number of views, the same clickthrough rates and the same conversion to subscribers. With regard to cost per click, we assumed a mid-range price of 30 cents.
| Hypothetical Comparison of Video to PPC Traffic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video 60 Day Total | PPC Hypothetical | |
| Views of Videos (Impressions) | 324,190 | 324,190 |
| Clicks through to site | 4,162 | 4,162 |
| Estimated Cost per Visitor | NA | $0.30 |
| Clickthrough Rate | 1.28% | 1.28% |
| Conversion to Subscribers | 1.49% | 1.49% |
| Advertising Cost | $0 | $1,248.60 |
| Cost per Subscriber | $0 | $20.14 |
What you need to understand: Had we used Pay Per Click advertising to acquire the same number of new subscribers, based on a cost-per-click of 30 cents, it would have cost us over $20 per subscriber.” READ MORE===>
Clearly viral marketing is an excellent alternative to costly PPC advertising to drive targted traffic to your website.
As we enter into 2007 I highly recommend you consider setting a budget towards your own viral marketing campaigns. One well seeded viral video marketing campaign can bring a long term harvest for your business.
