Okay, so viral videos do not exactly work this way — at least not yet. But this viral parody of viral videos does have something important to say about creating movie clips that spread around the world, rack up views, and enable a business to obtain the kind of reach that would normally cost millions in advertising dollars.

That is because the clip was not made by some art student as a prank, and it was not shot by some little ad firm that had something to say about the world of online marketing. It was made by Aircastle Productions, an independent Canadian film company which invested time, effort and expertise into a short clip that told a story. The firm had to recruit dozens of participants, shoot a series of different scenes, create props and a script, then edit the whole piece together to produce a coherent video.

The result is a short film that does not just say something funny about the world of viral videos; it also shows the quality of the work produced by a film company whose services include “inspired marketing work” and “superior web media.”

This was, after all, an advertisement for a film company, one whose viral power depended largely on its wit.

Focus on the Message, Not the Virus

That the most successful viral videos on the internet are powered largely by professionals is nothing new. The Old Spice ad, a now classic campaign which more than doubled sales of the deodorant in the month after its release, was produced by an ad company and supported by the Procter & Gamble brand through sponsored tweets, outreach as far as 4Chan and a budget big enough to cover several days of shooting an actor in a fully-crewed studio. It formed one part of an overall campaign that included primetime television advertising. It is not the sort of thing that is easily replicated by small businesses, let alone solo entrepreneurs. 

[See a big help with getting a lot for a small budget by checking out FIVERR.COM.  I have nothing to do with this site, except as a user.]

That does not mean you have to give viral videos a wide berth. But if you are going to create them do not do it with the expectation that your wobbly-filmed clip, shot with the minimum of preparation and even less editing is going to conquer the Web.

Unless you are prepared to put a sizeable part of your advertising budget on one roll of the dice, think of your viral videos as ways to cement a personal relationship with your followers. Use them to present yourself as personable and fun, creative and not afraid to laugh at yourself. Use them to deepen your relationship while still including the sort of brand messages and company values that you want your customers to associate with your work.

Give your video a promotional goal first that will appeal to the people who already know you and whom you can rely on to see the video and absorb its messages.

If they then pass it on to their friends to watch and enjoy them, then so much the better. You might not get millions of clicks, but you will not have to pay for them either.