Youtube Insights : Applying Science to the Art of Viral Marketing

First read this article in HT Cafe Mumbai. Traced it to the original at Michelle Quinn's blog on LA Times. You can read it here.

After Google Analytics comes YouTube Insights - A feature introduced in March, gives YouTube account holders who have uploaded videos to the site a range of statistics, charts and maps about their audiences.

The data bring a little science to what has been the art of viral marketing, and the potential for big changes in how bands, television shows, movies and consumer products are promoted on the Internet.

Welcome to DIY marketing on the web. Insight is part of a trend on the Web. The social networking giant Facebook offers account holders a weekly report that, like Insight, is free -- and has a similar name, Insights. The information it provides is used by individuals and companies that have Facebook pages and want to hone their marketing.

-YouTube is becoming the world's biggest focus group.

-What's distinct about YouTube Insight is the immediacy of the information and the discovery element -how viewers found the content

-Ideally, the data provided by YouTube Insight will help identify better who true tastemakers are. What really sparks a viral campaign? What is the match to the flame?

P.S. The picture above is from Neemrana Fort, built almost 600 years before the youtube:-) About 100 odd km from Delhi where I was last week digging some insights on OOH communication.