PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND VIRAL MARKETING

     One of the best ways to generate an interest in any product that your promoting, or even if your promoting yourself, is through audio or video marketing. For example, as a musician who has been on the music scene for well over 20 years, I've seen, first-hand, how marketing has changed in many ways through the years. In the book,The New Rules of Marketing and PR, author David Meerman Scott even mentions that social media has put marketing in the control of the musicians and he's right! Back when I started playing music, it was about getting the big record deal and allowing the record label do all the marketing for you, but now with online media as big as it is, musicians and bands no longer need to chase after the big record deals because they can now do all of the marketing on their own by creating their own Facebook pages for info, YouTube pages for fans to see their music videos or webisodes, Reverbnation pages for fans to listen to the bands music and Podcast pages for the fans to interact with the bands as if they were on internet radio. The Internet has also allowed musicians to market and sell their own music online. Again, what do we need a record company for? When I interviewed Gene Simmons from KISS back in 2009, I asked him what advice can you give a starving musician? He answered, "We don't live in a day of the big record deals anymore. So stop chasing that dream. We live in a do-it-yourself world. So make your millions by doing it yourself." This is coming from a man who might be the biggest marketing genius we've seen when it comes to marketing a band. 

     That was just one example at how audio and video marketing has changed through the years. Today, creating viral video footage is something that video creators strive for. For the most part, videos become "viral" because they are simple and funny and sometimes even shocking. According to Scott, "Many viral phenomena start innocently: Somebody creates a funny video clip, a cartoon, or a story to amuse friends. Then one person sends it to another and on and on." Before you know it, your innocent video clip spreads like a virus, hence the phrase "Viral Video." Above, I've attached some of the greatest viral video footage of all-time by way of YouTube. 
     When it comes to photo-blogging, which has become extremely popular through sites like Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) and Pinterest, we've seen some amazing photos taken by amateur photographers who take these photos with their smart phones. I've seen some of the most amazing photos posted on these photo-blogging pages that might even be better than actual professional photographers. I also enjoy the photo-blogging sites for personal reasons and that's because I live so far from my family these days, it allows me to watch my nieces and nephews grow up as my sister and cousins post photos of the kids on a daily basis. Back when we were growing up, our parents would take photos with their camera, have the photos developed at a one-hour photo place and then place them in a photo album. Now, these photos can be taken instantly with the use of a smart phone and uploaded to these sites that act like an online photo album. It's just amazing!