For many businesses, their strategic danger lies not with their competitors quickly gaining market share – their inability to repel and grow faster – often, they are using an out-of-date playbook filled with hesitation and misdirection. 

Candeeze is a small, startup, husband-and-wife-owned D2C (Direct to Consumer) business selling frozen-dried candy online.

Their first campaign went viral, with twenty-one million views and over twelve thousand comments. Candeeze gained 280,000 followers in seven days. The key numbers,

• 12.3K+ comments.
• 9.7K+ shares.
• 2.5M+ likes.
• 21M+ views.

How did Candeeze go viral and drive up demand?

 

Your potential buyers are looking for authenticity and connection, and putting faces to an otherwise faceless business – is a vital starting point. 

Startups’ first and subsequent campaigns are life and death moments – if there is little demand – all the time, effort and money – are lost. 

Candeeze’s most viewed video is a must-see. 

Elements that made the video go viral

 

Video is critical today for any campaign; people buy from other people. Social media is where campaigns go to succeed – social is all about people – videos allow people-to-people connections at scale. 

Candeeze campaign’s success starts with a concise strategic story that retains the viewer’s attention. 

It begins with the viewer asking – what is going on here?

Who are these people – what are they talking about now?  

These elements keep viewers invested: another eight seconds and then another. Let’s break down the vital steps.

• The opening frame is clear and relatable – people like to support: Small startup businesses – someday, it might be the viewer starting up a similar business. 
• Their target audiences appear to be a similar age bracket – so the aha moment – oh, they are just like me increases viewers’ attention and engagement. 
• The second frame shows the founders’ wedding, adding more depth to the strategic story. When people discover that the owners recently got married, it kicks support higher in the emotional response part of the brain.
• The third frame, where the candy manufacturing machine enters the narrative, adds an unconventional, unexpected layer to the story. 
• It brings viewers behind the scenes to show how the candy is so great – introducing an educational element to the story – look, there is a freeze dryer. Setting off questions in viewers’ minds – “what’s a freeze dryer? Is that their living room?” 

All viral videos have a similar architecture – many follow the same steps as the best-selling books and movies of all time. 

Candeeze continues stacking more viral moments into their video:

• The product is eye-catching, further lifting viewers’ attention – they see their favourite candies (and colours) turned into puffs – new candy. 
• When the founder eats the new freeze-dried Jolly Rancher, you can imagine it as though it is you eating them for the first time, 
• Their first orders – “hey, people bought them” invite you to give it a go too – the enthusiasm over receiving ten orders makes people support them – viewers feel their purchase will be appreciated. 
• Marketing: it’s an invisible call-to-action (CTA), letting people know the candies are for sale.
• The novelty of the product, its interesting visuals and audio, and low-cost homemade video feel give viewers plenty to comment on, driving up engagement and reaching more people as the platform’s algorithms kick in to share it more comprehensively and broader. 
• Finally, the video has a community-building-supporter feel about it. Why not give it a try – your inner voice says. 

Their sample pack has free shipping and most likely got many people to visit the website.

It is all about Conversions and Repeat Orders

 

Many video influencers get millions of views; the more difficult step is gaining conversion to followers and buyers, so you sell more. 

How did they gain so many followers in so little time?

 

• The first video landed an emotional-human connection with viewers. People wanted to support them to do well. 
• They structured their video like a TV series; each new episode tells another exciting chapter in how they beat the odds and win to sell more in the next episode. 
• They are the stars of their show, battling against the odds to grow – to beat their version of evil forces and do good. 
• You can’t wait – you subscribe to watch the episode – of the founder’s journey.

These layers to their story – are no different to Star Wars or the best movies of all time. 

What are your business’s strategic narrative and pitch – is it also built on how the best movies and books of all time are layered together to sell more? 

Regards 

David