The Influence Virus: Our Unlikely Experiment in Social Media

The first time I participated in a viral marketing effort, it was on a whim. And it failed miserably -- in part because we didn't actually have a purpose. I was a freshman in college, and late one night, a few of us came up with a bunch of quirky sayings that included the words "Goats Head Soup" (the name of a Rolling Stones album). We then stuck these sayings under the doors of every dorm room in our part of campus. Perhaps if we'd been trying to spur CD sales, it would have made sense. As it was, all we were after was a little buzz of conversation the next morning. By the time we woke, we'd forgotten what we'd found so funny the night before.

Today's viral-marketing efforts tend to be more sophisticated, and yet there's still a seat-of-the-pants vibe about the whole area. Having your concepts "go viral" has become a holy grail. There is no more hotly discussed business arena today -- more debated, more feared and loved, more misunderstood and changeable -- than social media. Marketers, brands, and individuals are using tools such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to get earned media on the web. Why pay for an ad campaign when others will spread your message for free? On the other hand, how can you control a message in this unruly world?

When we profiled digital marketing firm Mekanism last May, its partners boasted that they could make an online project go viral, guaranteed. We challenged them, in print, to prove it: Create a viral campaign for Fast Company, and let's see what happens. It seemed like a no-brainer to try it.

It wasn't, of course. We embarked on an experiment that a traditional media company wouldn't consider. Yes, we were testing the subjects of our reporting, publicly. That wasn't revolutionary. But to do so, we had to entrust our brand to the subjects of our coverage. If their viral campaign failed, our reputation might suffer. We knew that we were taking a risk, but we calculated that, at the least, we would be able to experience firsthand the challenges that our readers grapple with in their own businesses.

The objective of our project, as Mekanism put it in a memo, was to "create a nontraditional viral campaign to build awareness and overall love for the [Fast Company] brand." One initial Twitter-based proposal was "Business Jesus," who would answer questions about the business world. Another option was a video series with "WTF Man," who would make fun of foolish business practices with a view to replace them. While potentially amusing, these ideas had a level of irreverence that made us uneasy. They didn't fit the authority we want for our brand.

Another proposal was labeled "The Cover Project." It suggested that we offer up the cover of our magazine as a lure to get people to participate. This we wouldn't do, but it did begin a discussion about using a photograph inside the magazine. After some brainstorming with our edit team, this evolved into a journalistic effort we called the Influence Project: We would try to identify the most influential people on the web. This dovetailed with an editorial agenda -- covering online clout -- and would allow us to glean new information as reporters. Each participant in the project would receive a unique URL and get credit every time someone clicked on his or her link, plus fractional credit for any clicks garnered by the newcomers. Everyone who signed up for the project would get his or her picture in the magazine; the people with the highest "scores" would have larger pictures. We okayed Mekanism's site design, and the Influence Project went live on July 1.

So what happened next? As with any marketing effort -- and any journalistic initiative -- you never know what you're going to experience until you get into it. We didn't know if the project, which would run for six weeks, would attract hundreds of participants, thousands, or millions. We posted word of it on FastCompany.com and reached out to bloggers. Mekanism did the same. Things took off fairly quickly. The project was written up by nearly 200 sites, including the Huffington Post, TechCrunch, and The New York Times. But there was also a backlash. Many blogs were critical of our methodology -- little more than a popularity contest, some objected. We were attacked for oversimplifying the definition of online influence. There were accusations that the project was nothing more than a link-baiting scheme.

Mekanism offered advice about how to counter the negativity, but in the end, it was up to us to defend ourselves, our brand, and the project. Our editorial crew engaged the most vehement critics, posting comments and reaching out one-on-one. As we posted articles on FastCompany.com about online influence, the project's credibility began to rebound. The naysayers didn't exactly back down, but the attacks -- particularly on Twitter -- subsided.