That Ad That Made You Sad: Emotions in Viral Marketing

Psychologist Paul Eckman’s Six Basic Emotions

A few months ago, a friend and I were discussing what makes us cry. ‘Thai ads,’ he said. Not what I was expecting, but Thai advertisements have certainly come to be synonymous with virally heart-wrenching videos. Entire compilations have sprung up online for viewing, um, pleasure. Many of these advertisements are nearly short films, but why put so much effort into an advertisement?

Emotions make us tick.

Consumer decisions are greatly influenced by emotion. Consumers are ultimately human individuals who are driven by emotion – even when unwanted, the influence of emotions cannot be simply minimised through effort alone.

Using emotions tap into a primordial part of consumers that influences them on a subconscious level, prompting a response. Emotions increase advertisement virality online, and advertising content that uses emotional appeal performs better than advertising content that either partially or entirely uses rational persuasion and information.

Why aren’t we constantly sobbing our eyes out, then?

Surprisingly, negative emotions such as sadness are less common in viral content as compared to positive emotions.

Heatmap of aggregate emotional data from Harvard study

Though this study by Harvard used Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion rather than Eckman’s model of Six Basic Emotions, it showed that not only were positive emotions more common than negative emotions in viral content, surprise and anticipation were significant contributors to virality of content.

A classic example of positive, anticipatory viral marketing campaigns is Dumb Ways to Die. This campaign run by Metro Trains Melbourne was wildly successful, making its way on to the iTunes chart and even fans’ nail art. These adorable beans delighted audiences and surprised them, spreading their message of rail safety and successfully reducing the number of rail-related accidents.

Dumb Ways To Die

Furthermore, inducing positive emotions in consumers helps to instill trust, which helps to keep a marketing campaign engaging.

In conclusion.

Emotion is a powerful factor in viral marketing, and there are only so many one can target. This can help focus a marketing campaign, especially in the beginning where it may be particularly nebulous.

© 2015 Tom Fishburne

However, marketers must avoid focusing too much on the viral factor. Besides creating ‘one-hit wonders’ that do not sustain long-term relationships between the brand and its consumers, viral campaigns run the risk of not focusing enough on the brand or product. Case in point; my Thai-ad-watching friend couldn’t remember what the ads were selling, let alone the brands.

Do you think emotion is the most powerful factor in viral marketing? Or do you think there are more important factors that influence how far ideas spread?

Micro-Moments: The Modern Mobile Marketer’s Muddle

© 2013 Liam Francis Walsh

Over the past decade, it became increasingly evident that mobile devices would become ingrained into our lives, digitalising life in a way we had never known. While this inevitability has been met with varying degrees of disapproval and even revulsion (as evidenced by the dearth of positive comics on mobile use), it has become a reality. In Singapore, there are 1.5 mobile phone connections per person. As comedian Ronny Chieng put it, “it’s like a competition to see how many screens we can get between our face and the wall”.

Mobile marketing is a balancing act; mobile devices are, above all, personal, and brands and businesses are rarely welcome in personal spaces. Yet consumers reach for these same mobile devices in search of products and services to fulfill their needs; how, then, do we make sure we are there when consumers need us?

Enter: Micro-moments.

Google defines micro-moments as these instances of time when consumers actively seek out help in making decisions. These are the moments where businesses are invited to engage with consumers, informing their choices. Google divides these moments into four categories:

1. I-want-to-know: Consumers in these moments are looking for information; they are not quite at the purchase stage yet, but being there and relevant influences consumers’ perception of your brand.
2. I-want-to-go: Physical experiences are still very much relevant; 50% of consumers who conduct a ‘near me’ search on their smartphones visit a physical store in the same day. Local businesses should make sure they are present in this search moment to enter consumers’ consideration set.
3. I-want-to-buy: Being present in this moment could influence their perception of your product or service as a superior alternative, leading to a purchase decision. 82% of smartphone users use their phones when making in-store purchase decisions – 10% of them purchase a different product than originally planned.
4. I-want-to-do: There’s a Youtube video for just about anything you want to learn, according to 67% of millennials. Think of it as product placement; when people are looking for help on how to do something relevant to your brand, product or service, being there and helpful creates positive brand associations.

It’s well enough to identify micro-moments, but how can I be prepared for them?

These moments could happen at any, well, moment. You never know what environment your consumer is in, or who they are. Ensuring accessibility for everyone increases the likelihood of consumers engaging with you. Closed captions on Youtube videos is a good example.

Closed captions in Jessica Kellgren-Fozard’s video

Closed captions allow individuals with hearing issues or people in noisy environments to watch video content on Youtube. Including closed captions in your video content increases the number of potential engagements with your brand or business by making them accessible to these people.

Another thing to note is that like the name suggests, these moments are often short; consumers are looking for an efficient experience. Optimising sites for mobile view can help consumers skim a detailed article for crucial information. Creating seamless purchase experiences can help too; allowing consumers to jump from a well-placed mobile advertisement straight to checkout skips that extra few seconds it takes them to navigate to cart, reducing the hassle and improving the consumer experience.

In conclusion.

Micro-moments are the rare occasions that brands and businesses are not only allowed but invited into consumers’ mobile spaces. Identifying micro-moments that consumers may experience, then focusing on and being prepared for these moments is an area of mobile marketing that every marketer should look at.

Do you think micro-moments are the future of mobile marketing? Are there any ways besides the aforementioned you believe businesses can optimise their digital strategy for micro-moments?

Dot your Is and cross your Ts: SEM for SMEs

© 2013 Sara Zimmerman

How about this: you’ve just set up your new business, and maybe you are a little tight on cash, so the marketing budget must go – except you must market your business. Social media marketing, at least, is free, though it does require an awful lot of time and effort. Search engine marketing (SEM) isn’t even on your radar; you just can’t spare a cent for pay-per-click (PPC) ads or inorganic search engine optimisation (SEO), let alone add to the list of tasks you already have to complete to get your social media marketing off the ground.

Except it should be.

SEM is what gets you on that first page that no one clicks past. If you ruled out SEM because of budget constraints, those PPC ads that put your site up in that special section just under the search bar probably aren’t your best bet. SEO, which can get you just under that special section, will be the way to go.

If you’re thinking that you’ll never compete with the veritable giants that dominate the first page, they had to start somewhere, too. Besides, you never know; maybe you’re one of five producers of ‘cheap handmade environmentally friendly candles made in Singapore’. Being at the top seems a lot more important now, doesn’t it?

So, what can I do?

The most fundamental concept of SEO is the use of keywords. Knowing what search terms your target consumers use when searching for products or services like yours and using them ensures search engines connects you, their optimal solution, to them. If you actually are one of five producers of ‘cheap handmade environmentally friendly candles made in Singapore’, target those terms – chances are they are low search volume terms and are less competitive.

Besides using keywords in your site title, including keywords in your meta description (those short paragraphs of text you see under a site name) can boost your SEO too. If you don’t have time to write meta descriptions, include them in the first few words of your site and let Google do the magic. Why assume your audience is on Google? If your target market is Singaporean, there’s a 96% chance Google is their search engine of choice.

Handily enough, Google has a tool that helps you optimise your SEO. Google Search Console is part of many marketers’ SEO checklist, including entrepreneur Neil Patel and SEO expert Brian Dean. It monitors, maintains, and troubleshoots your site’s position in Google search results – and it’s free, so it won’t cut into your precious capital.

Where there are Dos, there are Don’ts.

© 2011 Scott Adams, Inc.

“Black hat” SEO techniques are manipulative strategies that attempt to spam search engines. If it being unethical isn’t discouraging enough, sites may face consequences such as de-indexing – being removed from search results altogether. Google can identify these techniques and will take corrective action.

In conclusion.

Like social media marketing, SEO can be affordable but time intensive. It can be tiring adding to the seemingly endless list of marketing tasks, so finding a way to naturally integrate keyword generation into your marketing plan could help. Maybe write a blog – it drives up your ranking on search engines – but only if it aligns with your marketing objectives.

I believe SMEs shouldn’t lose out on the opportunity because it appears to be expensive and hence limited to bigger businesses. Do you think small businesses must invest significant capital in SEO? Or do you think the aforementioned tips are sufficient?

Freemium models: Who is losing out?

© 2012 Scott Adams, Inc.

Hopefully, no one is. It might seem unavoidable; either the business is losing out on profit by letting customers use their products for free, or consumers are paying for a product they could be getting for free. Yet big names like LinkedIn, Dropbox and now Youtube use a freemium business model. So, it must work, right?

Spoiler: it does.

As with any business model, the key lies in offering customer value. Spotify is a great example of this.

What people pay for.

Spotify free provides basic functional value: people can listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks. It is entirely sufficient if you just want the fundamental auditory experience, but what Spotify Premium offers is added functional value and experiential value.

Being able to listen offline and choose tracks create a higher level of product performance. Higher music quality and the removal of advertisements, which allows for more seamless listening, improve the sensory experience. Therein lies the value that earned Spotify €1,790M in Q3 of 2020.

But is it enough?

Gu, Kannan & Ma found that extending the premium product line improved sales of the ‘less premium’ of the premium products. Theoretically, if you had a tiered premium subscription, where Tier One was cheaper and had greater access than the free version but had limited access compared to Tier Two, and Tier Two was more expensive but allowed for full access to the product’s functions, consumers are more likely to pay for Tier One.

Customers tend to ‘compromise’; showing customers low-end and high-end options is an age-old sales tactic to get customers to settle for the ‘middle ground’.

Goldilocks: How the idea of ‘just right’ was ingrained into us

In conclusion.

People love free stuff. Freemium pulls customers in to use the product, and after seeing the value that the premium product offers, they decide to go premium. 90% of Gen Zs and millennials already pay regularly for cultural content.

However, it is hard to get that conversion rate. Deciding what to make free, making sure that customers can see the value in paying for a premium product (sorry Canva, I don’t), committing to continuous product improvement – the list goes on.

I believe freemium is a sustainable model and will continue to be one of the most popular. What do you think? Is freemium is the way to go? Or are you an advocate for another business model?

Digital Detoxes: The Bane of Social Media Marketing?

© 2019 Daniel Shelton

By 2020, Singaporeans spent 2 hours a day on social media. They will have scrolled past updates from friends and family, the quintessential pet pictures, and brand content. There is something fundamentally addictive about social media to users, and businesses have long since learned to leverage on social media for business strategies. Yet as social media has established itself as a cornerstone of media plans, the negative effects on its users are becoming increasingly evident.

Enter the ‘Digital Detox’.

In a bid to improve personal health, digital detoxes began as individuals took deliberate breaks from using their phones, some even taking ‘Social Media Sabbaticals’

© Sean D’Souza

While it seems unlikely that we will move away from social media entirely (at least, not any time soon), an increasingly empowered and educated audience will soon adopt healthier browsing habits. Good for them, but when they start spending less time on social media, then what?

Be prepared.

At its core, social media is a space for the people – and businesses are not always welcome. Corporate accounts will be the first to be banished from their feeds. So, before they tap that little ‘Unfollow’ button, give them a reason to keep interacting with you.

Nodspark’s ‘Name This Set’ Chinese New Year 2020 Edition

Nodspark, a local brand selling nail polish wraps, lets its audience name some of its designs, handing out a free set to the individual with the winning name. Involving their audience makes them feel valued, so even if they do not win, they come to associate the brand with positive emotions. This compels them to keep interacting with the brand.

The early bird gets the worm.

Or: the latest post stays at the top of the feed. If you can time it so that you land near the top of your audience’s feed, your post will be one of the few they scroll through during that short time they stay on social media. Besides, your audience’s active timings have always been one of the most fundamental metrics you should be tracking. However, be sure to refrain from oversaturating your audience with content; it will only make your brand unwanted.

In conclusion.

These ideas all pull from fundamental principles of social media marketing because I believe that as long as social media remains embedded in our social fabric, the basic rules by which social media marketing play by will remain valid. Do you agree? Or do you think there is a new set of rules for marketers to play by now?