There’s been much talk, recently, about the best ways for marketers to engage members of the Twittersphere. This is understandable given the (more than) considerable growth of the famous microblogging service over the past year and a half. In the scramble to achieve success using this hot new medium, many marketers have lost time and dollars trying to decipher the magical algorithm. Bloggers, however, remain a mainstay of the intelligent marketer’s arsenal.

Using crowdsourcing to decide who will present at SXSW 2010, arguably the most talked about conference devoted to converging creative disciplines? Brilliant. Now all we need is a crowd, and crowds begin with individuals. Now all we need is you, and your vote!

The most popular web memes and viral videos share some key characteristics. They tend to elicit one or more of the following reactions: LOL, OMG, and WTF.

LOL: it’s funny

The unexpected makes us laugh. A good joke is designed to keep us on edge until we get to the punchline—this should elicit a nice belly laugh. However, there is a risk for businesses that choose to use humour to spread their message: the unexpected can veer into the realm of uncomfortable. If you look at most banned TV commercials, you’ll find that this is one of the main reasons. Playing on the edge of the audience’s comfort zone is acceptable for a comedian, but a business trying to sell a product risks alienating their potential consumers.

Hardees is just cheeky enough with their viral video campaign. Here’s their tongue-in-cheek survey asking folks to judge which “holes” are the tastiest.

OMG: it’s interesting and exciting

The OMG also harnesses the power of the unexpected, but rather than producing a smile, it produces amazement. The OMG is an olympic athlete breaking a record, a stuntman completing a new feat of bravery/stupidity, a ten-year-old Korean girl singing like Aretha Franklin….

If you are selling a product or service, to achieve OMG you might need to introduce a hover car that will travel 1000km on a glass of water, or an application for a phone that will automate your job search and generate unique cover letters and resumes for each job… Hey, it’s tough job, but there are lot of fantastic products and services that people are waiting to be wowed by.

Samsung definitely amazes us (as well as promotes their LED TV), by using a bunch of sheep, LEDs, and camera. You have to see this.

WTF: it’s unexpected and strange

Companies should avoid the WTF. While an OMG is amazement of a positive kind, WTF is a negative sort of disbelief. If you can figure out a way for a business to lay out a big WTF to the public that will increase their sales, we’d like to see it.

A couple years ago, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie promotion caused citywide panic and a call to action from the Boston Police Bomb squad.

It was a poignant example of what can happen when the OMG turns WTF. You can read more about it here.

Image via the NextWeb.com

Viral Marketing 101: the keys to a meme

The most popular web memes and vira