Every month I write this column with the hopes of imparting some marketing wisdom on all of the Old Town Crier’s small business owners. This month I want to take a break from touting my own self-dubbed ‘words of wisdom,’ to discuss a marketing campaign that has recently had tremendous success. However, before I reveal the success of the GoPro YouTube campaign, I want to add a word of caution.

Marketing genius comes from an understanding of your customers (past, present, and future), not from mimicking the success of another company.

At the end of 2013, GoPro decided to put its video marketing campaign in the hands of their customers. Prior to this moment of epiphany, the company had been spending wasted marketing dollars producing their own online videos. I say ‘wasting’ because thousands of GoPro customers were already producing massively popular videos to YouTube, Vine, Vimeo, and other video platforms. In an effort to boost sales while increasing customer interactions, GoPro started to accept customer video submissions for use on their YouTube channel. The result has been a brilliant marketing campaign that doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.

Here are just a few of the current results:

• 2 Million YouTube subscribers
• 521 Million website views
• Top brand channel on YouTube from January – March 2014
• 4,426 comments on the GoPro YouTube Discussion page

YouTube recently had the following to say about GoPro and its video marketing success, “By involving its fans in content curation, GoPro has built a loyal and engaged audience. The authenticity of the channel’s content helps viewers feel connected to the brand.”

Thanks YouTube, I couldn’t have said it better myself – GoPro’s genius marketing plan has perfectly capitalized on what it means to be a part of the current consumer-centric market space. The only question that remains is, what company will be the next ‘marketing genius’ and what online medium will they rely on for their success?

Written by: Laura Parker
Laura Parker is a full-time freelance writer and marketing guru. For more marketing tips or consultation advice please contact her at laura@laurapparker.com.
www.laurapparker.com