5 Marketing Tips You can Learn to Engage Your Customers from KONY2012's 83 Million Views

I stumbled upon this article recommended to me by a friend of mine in Singapore, about the 5 marketing tips in which we all, as entrepreneurs and start-ups can learn from the viral KONY2012 video to engage our customers. They are a great example of how one marketing and promotional campaign can be great without blowing up your PR budget. And currently, they have 83 MILLION views!!!

The KONY 2012 video went viral a few weeks ago, becoming a Youtube sensation garnering well over 1 million views within the time of less than one week. Unless you are Justin Bieber or Michael Jackson, it is very unlikely that any random video that you post up on Youtube would get such a monstrous response like KONY2012. Or, ideally, you can blow up your Marketing and PR budget and get influential bloggers or people in the media to start talking about your product, then maybe…Just MAYBE you will get the chance to hit such views of “One Million” on Youtube.

However, KONY2012 did the job with minimal budget, a great and dedicated editorial and a campaign which invited the participation of citizens around the world. Important lessons for businesses, in which we hope you will share this among your friends and associates on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs or even just spread about the points you learnt here.

The 5 Marketing & Promotional Tips We Can All Learn from KONY2012

Harness the Power of Emotions

Your advertising campaigns should be designed to pull the heartstrings of your customers, to satisfy a problem in which they are dreading or facing at the moment and present a solution, a satisfaction, a reward that your product or service can offer. Again, being in business or starting an entrepreneurship venture is so that you can help solve problems while making a sustainable living in the process. You should utilize footages, pictures, videos and evidence of the problems that your consumers may be facing and then present your solutions for them later in your campaign clip or presentation.

Define an Opponent

On a personal account, i remember walking into a friend’s office in Silicon Valley and saw a huge signboard which read “Beat Google! Take Over the World!” – Little did i know, my friend who studied in Stanford University during that time in 2010 was vying for a spot to work in Facebook, and it appears that he was so absorbed with the culture or friendly rivalries that the two tech giants have, that he too made it a mandate to focus his efforts on ‘Beating’ Google by excelling well in his studies and ultimately getting picked for a position in Facebook. I have not heard back from him since, but here is the tip: Define a Mutual Enemy for Your Brand that your employees and workforce can rally behind against. Like how Pepsi VS. Coca-Cola, to Virgin Atlantic VS. British Airways, to DiGi VS. Maxis (Malaysian context) and many others, having a rival ethos can be used to ignite the playful spirit of competition among your employees, galvanise your workforce and inspire greater work and service! Ideally, you would want your customers to rally behind you as well, as shown through Malaysia’s aviation giant – AirAsia’s battle against MAS, championed through its iconic CEO, Tony Fernandes.

Experiment with New Concepts and Let Your Customers Know That

In order for companies to stay relevant, they should be taking calculated risks when engaging with their customers. For one, taking risks may mean keeping the bran relevant to the changing needs and favours of the consumers and also keeping them interested and connected with the brand. One way to do that is to let your customers know that you are experimenting with this new concept and you appreciate their reviews. Like how KONY2012 put it, where they did mention that “The next 27 minutes” would be an experiment, thus implanting into the consumers’ minds that the company or organisation or for this case, KONY is experimenting with something new, in which they will be kept interested to want to know more and if you let them, allow them to contribute to your campaign as well, which was done nicely by KONY2012.

Join the Conversation

It is a no-brainer solution today for companies to have a Facebook or Twitter account in order to communicate with their customers, but just how many of them actually engage in meaningful conversations with their target market? KONY2012 does it well again, by being transparent and by opening themselves up to receive mixed reviews and feedbacks about their KONY2012 initiative and how they have harnessed the energy and attention generated by the crowd to push their message across further. Because of their sincerity to engage the public, they managed to create a group of loyal followers, which subsequently became their ‘Ambassadors’ for the KONY2012 campaign across the world.

Insist on High Production Values

Insist that your company or business produce high quality materials and production items to engage your customers. In a world where we are flooded by loads of advertorials and messages which are battling each other for our attention, the most ‘Eye-catchy’ and visually stunning ads would be the among the first to pick up our attention. So, assemble a great team of talented graphic designers, website developers, copywriters and marketing officials to produce high-value campaigns and materials to promote your business. Your campaigns should be creative and memorable, like how it was demonstrated through KONY2012′s production qualities, despite it being a non-for-profit and a movement which had just started.

Watch the Video and You Shall Understand and Think of the 5 Points for Marketing Success!

Personally for me, as a contributor to Entrepreneurs.my, this is the longest article that i have ever written after having seen the KONY2012 video below. This says alot about my personal connection towards the content and the message of the video, but what was more interesting, was that, i felt ‘Connected and Involved’ with the video. So, the best way for you, READERS to understand what am i saying here, please watch the video below – It will be well worth your time and try to think about the 5 points which i have shared with you before.

In the end, all i ask for is for you, to share this article with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIN or any other social media platforms to further educate them about these 5 powerful points, but more importantly, to spread the awareness of the KONY2012 cause – In which you too can Join!

The original article can be found here, written by our friends at the Singapore Business Review, but we thought, we condensed the information for you, for your reading pleasures.

- Original Credit goes to Rob Meyerson, Strategy Director of FutureBrand

Post By Michael Teoh (236 Posts)

Michael Teoh is a Malaysia Book of Records Holder for the 'Most Extraordinary Global Experience' for a Malaysian, where in 2011, he journeyed to 22 countries under a scholarship from the UK, to meet and work with entrepreneurs and NGOs. To date, he is a certified coach, trainer and internationally listed speaker, having spoken to and consulted both the public and private sectors on youth engagement, personal development and entrepreneurship.

Website: → http://www.michaelteoh.com

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