Distribution Blueprint Intro
Our main focus is always to create content to be shared for free, however inevitably some campaigns will require a little more wind beneath its sails. In those cases we offer a variety of distributions services here at The Viral Agency, ranging from digital PR to targeted video views.
The distribution model will alter campaign to campaign based on several things, but the main four are:
Business Offer
What your business is and offers will inform the end to end strategy. While certain elements will always be present, it is what we could do inbetween to support and what the end goal is that will affect campaign set up, settings and optimisation options.
Any peripherals
If your business offers a certain set of landing pages or conversion actions for your audience to potentially interact with, this may come into play. Should your business set up allow, we can use some of these interactions as check-in points to inform future activity.
Budget
This is not the be all and end all by any means, but the size of your promotion budget will affect how many support channels, techniques and ad types we can utilise. It will also affect how much exposure we can offer.
Demographics & Habits
We need to assess your audience and their online habits, (what they search for, the intent behind their searches, related keywords, associated websites, what time of day and day of the week they are most active, seasonal trends etc.). In this way every single campaign really is unique.
However, there are structures we apply to all campaigns. Think of it this way, for each of the creative steps (viral hook > explainer > content) conducted in the TVA package, there is a mirrored set of deliverables most suited to get that step out into the world.
Hook Content Distribution
This is the big idea, the hero piece of content that reflects and evokes the essence of your business, so we always go for the biggest bang for your buck; A big launch consisting of Video in-stream and Discovery ads. This will always be the foundation regardless of the budget. The intention here is to get as many eyes as possible on your video, and this is a cost efficient way to do so. While costs are influenced by lots of variables, you are looking at roughly 1p per 10seconds of video viewed and you are looking at fractions of a penny for an impression of your video (impressions are your video/thumbnail showing up on someone’s screen.)
This is what makes in-stream and discovery so valuable, because you can pack your video and its surrounding ad copy with key messages and themes, which can be served to thousands of people, rapidly – at a low cost.
How
Research, split test, analyse, repeat.
We start by taking the same customer insights gathered to generate the viral concept, and use it to create lists of keywords, search terms, interests and more. We then take these lists and combine them into various different audience types most suitable to your business and goals.
We then create in-stream and discovery ad campaigns in the Google Ads platform, and depending on your business needs and budget, we could create multiple campaigns using the same video. We do this to assist in the A/B split testing process which aims to get the best reach possible. Each campaign may have a different bidding setting, be optimised for a different set of conversion actions, be split out into different geographic regions etc. Again, the options differ based on what will generate the most useful insights and traction for your business’s goals.
We then take stock of the audiences created, and apply them in different combinations to the ad groups.
When the ads are live and the first 24 hours worth of data is in, our analysis begins. To list just a few of the areas we look at throughout the campaigns run time, we monitor:
- The average cost per interaction
- Viewer retention figures
- The placement of ads (what channels, videos or sites your videos get served on)
- How the time of day influences reach and cost
- Which audiences are generating the highest quality interactions
- Which headlines, layouts and ad formats are performing best
From this data we refine campaign settings and craft bespoke ad schedules to serve your audience with the best ads at the best times, and maximise the impact your budget can make.
Then, repeat.
And if the budget allows we can also utilise the display network to expand the reach as much as possible. This includes Gmail advertising and various sizes of banner ads which will appear on websites and on mobile apps. These ads will direct even more traffic to your YouTube video.
Explainer Content Distribution
We repeat much of the process used for distributing Viral Hooks, but while the framework is much the same, we would have more video formats and characters to promote in this tier. As a result, we will dial down the use of Discovery ads and introduce a new ad type, video sequences.
How
This sequence ad group will serve the new video ads to the audience in an order we designate. Depending on the narrative being told for your campaign (character development, story arches etc.), we will match this sequence accordingly and account for multiple ways people could engage or ignore ads. Here is an example of what we could implement:
- Video 1 will follow on from the Viral hook ad and be served to the most optimal audiences who get the best view through rates and interaction
- Video 2 will only be served to people who view video 1
- Video 3 will be a slightly differently positioned ad at people who skipped video 1
- Video 4 only served to people who watched video 3
- Video 5 last attempt to get people who also skipped video 3
This simple example sequence would build your brand story and try to direct your audience along a narrative path. It also gives the less engaged people a chance to become engaged and get them through the whole story. Each time they drop off, we will serve variations of video and copy that may be more attractive to them.
At each sequence path, there will be an audience choice. What we will do is try to guide them through a sequence that will result in them ending up on your website, landing page, downloading your app, making a purchase or a phone call. Whatever your end goal is, we can get your audience there.
To support these video sequences we can also activate a limited amount of display advertising. These ads will be shown to people based on which videos/characters/themes most resonated with them. Over time we will gather even more data in the form of most clicked headlines, most popular combinations of headlines and descriptions, which images and layouts performed best and more.
Social Content Distribution
If we have gone through the entire process with you, by this stage we will have a strong understanding of your target audience’s behaviour, habits and affinity for different key messages, wording and ad structures.
How
Video advertising could be slightly dialed down, and more emphasis could be on Display networks. This would involve some more copy writing or graphic creation, even if this is just video stills. Again, this will really depend on your objectives and user journey experience with any landing pages.
If we were to go ahead with display, our responsive display ads allow for more expansive, and agile variety. This would be useful in delivering the six types of social contact:
- Sustainability Statement
- Product Feature
- Product Launch
- Product Versus Competitor
- Customer Story
- Seasonal Offer
If however, we would be looking at distributing the Viral content in isolation, we will use the process/framework from the Viral hook distribution phase.
Digital PR Distribution
Throughout each of the above steps there is an opportunity to support the content with additional PR. Using our unique outreach tools we are able to create tailored lists of potential partners for our clients:
Online Publications
Once whittled down, we then add those prospects to any existing relationships across our wide range of blogs, websites and social pages to create a newsworthy story. This is accomplished by securing editorial coverage and social sharing of the content that we produce.
Influencer Marketing
We can run campaigns on high traffic influencer run blogs in a wide range of sectors including travel, lifestyle, music, parenting, fashion and motoring. This is achieved through approaching influencers to create blog and social media content that suits the needs of a campaign. This could include reviewing products, writing about and featuring digital assets or video, or simply writing about the wider campaign.
We work with a network of Instagram influencers who can create visually strong and engaging content. This can include brand pages to drive followers and include specific hashtags to make any campaign easily discoverable.
Media Coverage
Using the content and media budget, we formulate a strategy to reach the desired target audience using online publications to secure advertorial and native advertising. The goal is maximise the audience and engagement to the full within a set budget.
Most PR campaigns that we work on have an element of media placement, and we’ve partnered with hundreds of websites and blogs to secure coverage and social sharing in this way.
