`Going ‘viral’ has fast become one of the top priorities of marketing teams all around the world. After all, at a time when social media dominates our behaviours and influences our decision making, producing content that encourages users to share is one of the fastest ways to boost brand awareness. Undoubtedly, viral media can be beneficial for businesses looking to expand, but there appears to be a fine line between helping and hindering, especially when you take into account internet speeds.

Cats & Contention

Many UK businesses opt for business broadband, and this type of connection can often meet the needs of smaller businesses pretty well. These businesses probably have IT policies in place that are designed to help ensure that the speeds available throughout the office are as close as possible to the advertised speeds from the provider; this may mean that streaming is restricted, for example, to avoid ‘bandwidth hogging’, and it may also mean that non-work activities are limited or even prohibited in some cases.

However good the intentions of the business are, there’s one aspect that’s beyond their control: their neighbours. Unlike a leased line, which is a dedicated connection individual to a specific company, business broadband is contended, which means that bandwidth will be shared across multiple users. If the latest cat video that has ‘gone viral’ makes its way around a neighbour’s office, businesses can typically expect to see their speeds drop like flies. The same goes if that neighbour employs a couple of people from France who are streaming their country’s latest news, or if one of the managers is feeling a little bored on a Friday afternoon and decides to log in to Netflix (which, by the way, can use up to 7 Gb per hour, according to the Netflix website). In a digital age, businesses can’t afford slow speeds.

Embracing Viral Media

Viral media can really help to boost a company’s reputation and improve brand recall amongst audiences, and this is the sort of media that we should be embracing. But how can we find a happy medium between utilising the latest marketing techniques and maintaining excellent digital communications? The answer is simple: a leased line. A leased line removes the speed issue entirely; the advertised speeds are the speeds you’ll receive, no matter how many of your neighbours are watching a cat chase its own tail. Find out more about installing a leased line for your business at Leased Line Comparison.