Back in September, a YouTube video featuring one eight-year-old diva and her shy, five-year-old lip-syncing cousin, uploaded a video of the two performing Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass.” Within the month, this homemade video went viral and attracted more than 11 million views. This prompted Ellen Degeneres to invite the little girls onto her show to preform the song live. Little did they know that this was the start of something amazing.
Sophia Grace and her cousin Rosie, both from Great Britain, sat down with Degeneres and made the audience go wild with their accents, maturity and pink tutus. After the interview, Degeneres handed the girls microphones and they performed the perfect a capella version of “Super Bass.” After the standing ovation they received from the crowd, Degeneres surprised the girls with a visit from Nicki Minaj. (If you have a few minutes, watch this video. You’ll be glad you did!)
On Tuesday, Degeneres invited the girls back on her show. During the interview Degeneres told Sophia that after she posted their video onto the Ellen Show’s YouTube channel, 23 million people viewed it over this past month. Degeneres then asked Sophia if she understood the number of views the video received, to which Sophia replied, “ it’s more than a thousand!” The girls went on to explain how they are now considered celebrities back home in England.
Even though the little girls can’t comprehend the impact their video has made, PR professionals certainly can. Now more than ever, companies are trying to create unique videos that will cut through all the clutter and stand out. According to a video from the Simply Zesty Simply Viral blog, a website that is correctly optimized with video increases the probability that it will appear on the first page of Google by 53 times. This video also claims that the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign will increase by more than 90 percent if it uses video.
The Cisco Visual Networking Index forecasts that in 2013, 90 percent of Internet traffic will be online video. PR companies should now, more than ever, be thinking of new ways to incorporate video into their strategies to enhance a clients’ reputation and brand image. To be most effective, the videos should give your audience the chance to interact and begin a relationship with the company. Then, direct your viewers to a social media platform, a blog or another website to further that relationship.
