Blendtec and YouTube – Why It Works
Social media doesn’t have to strictly rely on Facebook and Twitter. There’s another social media tool that has the potential to be hugely successful if you can manage to get the formula right – YouTube. Getting the formula right is the tricky part. If you can get the right blend of ingredients in your video, you just might end up with millions of views – which is exactly what happened with Blendtec. (Ha! The right “blend”? See what I did there?)
Blendtec started off as a small manufacturer of consumer and commercial blenders. They had a great product, but not a recognizable brand. That all changed once they posted the first videos in their series called, “Will It Blend?”. Within five days of posting the videos, they had reached 6 million views. So why did these videos work? What made them so popular?
Well, there’s no surefire formula for making a video that takes off, but in the case of Blendtec, there are a few factors that really made these videos resonate with people.
1) They are funny. Really funny. People love to laugh, so if you can manage to communicate with them in a funny way, they will appreciate it. When people see something funny, they want to share it with everyone they know. Not all viral videos are funny, but most of them are.
2) They are sincere. The idea for the videos came from the fact that the CEO, Tom Dickson, actually used to test blenders by blending up things like wooden boards. The concept came from real life, which is probably why it doesn’t feel forced or contrived. The face of the Blendtec videos is the CEO, Tom Dickson. He is very friendly, relatable and funny. If people like the guy who runs Blendtec, they will like the brand too
3) They are clever. The videos regularly incorporate popular culture references (Will Chuck Norris blend?) and also feature other popular brands in the videos. People love it when you can show that you’re in on the joke, as it makes the brand more real and human. (See the above example of the latest video – Will Justin Bieber Blend?)
4) They show off the product. Not only is blending an iPhone hilarious, but it does a pretty great job of showing how tough the blender is. A blender can be a fairly big purchase, and these videos show potential customers that they can be confident in their purchase of a Blendtec blender.
If you are considering incorporating YouTube into your social media marketing plan, keep these factors in mind when you are creating your videos. There’s no guarantee that you’ll go viral, but you’ll certainly jave a better shot at it.
What are some other examples of successful YouTube campaigns? Or, have you had success with a YouTube campaign of your own? Leave us a comment and tell us about it.
