I don't search for cool things online anymore. They find me.
My Twitter feed is filled with links to amazing websites and cool new gadgets and gizmos every hour. My inbox is overflowing with videos and stories from friends, family, and co-workers. My friends' Facebook links alone probably keep Youtube in business.
Ever since the advent of the hyperlink, everything I see is subject to one question: "Should I send this to someone else?" We are a social people and the internet has made it easier than ever to create and maintain social ties. This is nothing new, so why is it important?
If no one is talking about your ad, you may as well have not even put it up.
So how do you get talked about? How do you get people to pay attention when all they want to do is watch kids struggle to restrain themselves from eating a marshmallow?
Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.
You have to give them something worth sharing.
If you take a look at Viralblog.com, you will see that for the last week of September 2009, the top 5 videos on Youtube were all made by companies. Each of these videos offers something new and exciting that triggers the need to share with others. From The Anne Frank House you get the only film clip ever to capture the famous little girl on camera. Sony Pictures' exclusive clip of Roland Emmerich's new film teases viewers, while a video explaining Google Wave makes their new product digestible for the masses. The French film and television studio Canal+ shows off its humorous TV ad, and (my favourite) a stunt for Volkswagen by DDB Stockholm takes their TV and print campaign to a completely new level:
I can't read Swedish, nor can most of my friends, but that doesn't stop me from posting that on Twitter and Facebook.
And that is the power of a good idea. It forces people to notice it not through seizure inducing banner flashes or gimmicky tailored messages, but through novelty and relevance. It makes its way onto blogs and friends' feeds through nothing more than the viewer's want to share it with the world. It transforms a "message from our sponsors" into something your friend thought you'd enjoy.
So the next time you go to pen your approval on another online ad, ask yourself this: "Would I put this on my Facebook?"