Marketers to up viral video spending in 2009

The Feed Company's report was based on an online survey of more than 40 executives at ad agencies and media buying companies such as Digitas and McCann Erickson.

The report (.pdf), titled "The Agency Perspective", found that 70% of respondents plan to plough more money into viral marketing next year, citing "exponential views" as the main draw. Brand engagement and online reach were also among the top three reasons for the planned increase in spending.

"In the past, fear of ceding control to consumers during the marketing process made advertisers hesitant to create and release brand-themed video online," said Miguel
Gonzalez, VP, creative director of Draftfcb Chicago. "But the parade of content that has 'gone viral' shows that the results are worth the effort, even when the outcome is hard to predict."

However, the inability to accurately track the effectiveness of viral video campaigns is something that most respondents (95%) feel needs improvement and more than half say the industry needs to improve execution strategies.

The definition of a successful viral video campaign differed among respondents with 28% believing a million or more views defined success, while 22% defined success as a video being viewed 100,000, 250,000 or 500,000 times.

Tags: brand engagement, exponential views, Feed Company, marketing budget, online reach, viral marketing, viral video