Lisa O’Masta wanted to use Youtube to market her business Interwrite. She knew though 60 hours of video uploaded to Youtube every minute, that her marketing efforts would just get lost in the crowd.
So, Ms. O’Masta and her marketing team came up with the idea of a song-parody video contest. Teachers and students were invited to send in videos of themselves performing their favorite songs, rewritten with new lyrics expressing the importance of technology in their classrooms. Interwrite spread the word through the local and trade press, and partnered with other educational companies.
The six-week competition, called Interwrite Makeover, generated more than 200 videos — about four times the company’s expectations — and hundreds of teachers and students learned about Interwrite’s products. The company estimates that it collected contact information for 27,000 leads, including teachers, parents and other members of local school communities. The contest cost about $40,000, including the prizes.