A Viral Video is a tried and true method of creating awareness of your product or service. It can be extremely effective in generating traffic to your website. A Viral Video can also be the most cost-effective advertising you’ll ever use. But, it can also be a waste of time and money.

First, a quick definition: A Viral Video is simply any video that is remarkable enough to be spread on its own. It can be funny, cute, serious, professional, amateurish, etc. The content is NOT the most important factor. There’s really no definition or requirements for the CONTENT of a Viral Video, just that it be interesting enough to be shared repeatedly.

PRIMA just created a video that is intended to be shared by soccer coaches in the hope of generating awareness (and purchases) of a soccer coaching DVD.

There are two very important components, though, of a Viral Video that is intended to be used for advertising. First is the video itself, and second, is the plan for getting people to watch it. If you’re lucky, it will (and can) go viral all by itself, but that’s very unlikely. Making a concerted effort to get the “right” people to view your video can make all the difference in the success of your campaign.

And by success, you should decide upfront what that will look like for your project. If you have a consumer product it may be necessary to get thousands of views to meet your objectives (i.e., Blendtec) but, if you’re working to get a slightly obscure business-to-business product in front of interested buyers, you don’t necessarily need a ton of viewers. You just need the right viewers.

Another way to think about this Viral Video process is that it can be part of series of communications that leads your customer towards a purchase. You’re giving your potential customer something of value in the form of your Viral Video. Maybe it’s a laugh, something of interest, or perhaps a new way of looking at a topic. By giving, your hope is to create a sort of dialogue where your potential customer will form favorable impressions of your company and ultimately respond with a purchase… and then a referral… and then a repeat purchase.

Coming up with a clever idea for a funny video is great. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that once you have that, you’re done.