Social Media users can seem to often to have some overemotional qualities as they are attached to their specific community.
When it comes to social communities, Digg users, and other social media website users adapt to certain characteristics. They act upon the same tendencies at time and most often, act as a contributory to brining in other ‘Diggers’ that eventually act on the same tendencies.
When trying to Digg yourself to a first page view on the popular social media community, you have to assimilate with what the users are engaged in. Besides news and podcasts, videos circulate their way through the Digg system, and it seems like a great target for viral video marketers. However, it seems easier said than done. Viral marketers have tried to exploit the content through Digg by disseminating content through active social media users with a strong community reputation and commitment. If its suits the ‘digger’, then you could gain popularity.
That being said, viral content is still something that is very untested, and no matter how brilliant you think it is, chances are, the only interest it will acquire is from that particular segment that might be interested. To gain full exposure to everyone in the community, not only your particular segment of Digg users, you have to resonate with the community as a whole.
How do you do that?
Well, unless you are a creative genius, it is going to be tough – but if you can master your product and tie it into something that resonates with the social community as whole; your chances of succeeding are almost guaranteed.
Case Study
Kina Grannis and ‘Gotta Digg’
For those who don’t know, Kina Grannis is an American singer from Austin, Texas participating in the Doritos Crash The Super Bowl contest . The winner will get an Interscope recording contract and a chance to air a 60 second music video during the Super Bowl.
The voting, which ended on Dec. 31, 2007, was determined by user votes who were able to view the contestants videos on the MySpace contest page and Doritos homepage. At the end of the day, votes are what you need, and computer users are the ones who will fulfill that testimony. Let’s look at what Kina did to achieve this:
Kina wrote a song about Digg and performed it while recording it on video, which was then submitted to Digg the following day with the title ‘Cute Girls Sing Awesome Song About Digg’ . The song did what it was intended to do and got to the front page of Digg in about an 1 hour and 12 minutes.
The video is located on her blog post , which includes pleas for votes from the Digg community who visited her video on her website, which is here:
Watch her Video here!
She also included the lyrics for the song, which reference Digg users and created lyrics that are familiar to the community:
When I’m feeling lazy, at school or when I work
I sneak to my computer, and then I like to shirk
I don’t go online shopping, I don’t email with my mom
I open up my browser, and go to digg-dot-com
Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server’s down!
I always dig up Apple, and I bury Microsoft
But when I said I was a girl, all the diggers scoffed
And when I see those stories about Senator Ron Paul
I don’t even RTFA; I just digg them all!
Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server’s down!
The fanboys can be tiresome, they always are outspoken
And if you’re listening Kevin Rose, the comment system’s broken!
I know digg isn’t perfect, but be thankful for what we’ve got
It’s just like daddy always says: “At least it’s not Slashdot!!!”
Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server’s down!
In the end, most Diggers loved the song and felt connected to the video in a way. This led to the story being picked up by Techcrunch and Techmeme, and YouTube, which all led to the video exploding in numbers, in terms of hits, and ultimately votes for Kina. All of this has helped Kina establish a well-rounded online presence and has moved her into the finals of the Doritos Contest and she will be traveling to the Super Bowl next week in Arizona to perform and possibly walk way a winner.
UPDATE: Just to further prove the point of viral marketing and its efficiency -- Kim Grannis won the Dorito's Super Bowl contest; due to her efforts in recruiting online votes. She now has a recording contract with a major record label because of this. Viral Marketing 101! This is what you need to do to keep your brand on a high level, when it comes to Digg. You must keep your product tied into the community, as well as with your regular target users. This example shows you how easy a social media community can enhance your brand collectively. 
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