1. Be Like A Magician
Have you ever been to a magic show, or watched magicians on TV? It’s fascinating to see them captivate their audience and keep them engaged, writhing on the edge of their seat the whole time. When you’re trying to achieve a strong online presence, it’s important to engage your audience as well. But unlike a live performance, videos are often much shorter and you only really have a couple minutes to draw your viewers in.
So don’t waste your precious time on things that can be shown towards the end of your video. Really hook people in with something interesting, and stray away from things including logos if you can help it.
2. Be Different
There’s an analogy that follows the story of a purple cow. When you look into a field of brown cows, none of them really stand out. But if you were to see a purple cow, well it would definitely stand out and probably be worth talking about later.
An example of a brown cow would be an advertisement for a blender that showcases the speed and power of it. But an example of a purple cow would be if the advertisement asked viewers whether or not they thought it could blend something tougher or not. People would be more likely to stay if you peak their curiosity.
3. Use High Quality Equipment
When starting out, high end equipment is often unaffordable. You can still make a viral video just using your phone’s camera. But people are more inclined to watch something when it looks professionally done. 9 out of 10 of the most viral videos on Youtube were made by legitimate producers according to The Wall Street Journal.
However you can create a viral video just using your mobile phone and many people have! You can learn how to do so here. Don’t let gear stop you, a lot of the time, the idea and creativity is the most important factor in going viral.
4. Be Practical
Don’t shy away from practical videos that can help teach your audience. For example, there’s a video online from famous Youtuber Wendy Nguyen, a fashion blogger who posted a video on 25 ways to wear a scarf in only 4.5 minutes. 44 million people have watched the video, and it encouraged a lot of people to subscribe to her channel.
5. Marketing Is Important
Oftentimes, people are nervous to promote themselves and their work. They worry whether or not they’ll waste time and money on marketing but then have their work flop. It can be embarrassing. But in fact, it’s crucial to promote yourself instead of leaving it up to chance, especially if you put a lot of hard work into it. You should be proud of yourself and show it off.
Using videos on landing pages can increase conversions by 86% (Joe Girard, 2015).
6. Release On A Monday Or Tuesday
Weekends are unfortunately a bust, because everyone is busy on the weekends. Most people tend to watch videos on break at work. So post on a Monday or Tuesday so that it has the rest of the week to gain momentum. Be mindful of breaking news that may take attention away from you. Also, be careful around holiday times. Instead, choose a day without any major news and post during the times people are on their phones the most like in the morning or right before bed.
7. Have A Strong Video
Promoting yourself can only get you so far. You can get your family and friends to share your videos, but what about beyond your social circle? You need to have some strong content there; content that will spread like wildfire.
Consider striking an emotion in your viewer, because people share your videos when they feel something. Emotions that typically get you those shares include happiness, eagerness, enjoyment, frustration, etc.
8. Keep It Short
When deciding on a video to watch, do you ever look to see how long it is before clicking on it? I know I have. When a video is longer, people usually don’t have the time to watch the entire thing. But if you can fit a lot of information in a 2 minute video, better yet 30 seconds, people are more inclined to watch it. Also, short videos get more shares and spread to different audiences better.
9. Find Your Steak
If you’re trying to make a viral video, think about the people and companies you want to hire you. If you need any marketing, these companies can work with you on that. If you make a video, include links to potential sponsors.
For example, if you are doing a clothing haul then you could link to a company like Nike. Ideally, Nike would hire you to rep their brand and in return they could reimburse you. You won’t win every company, but that doesn’t mean one wouldn’t hire you. Don’t be afraid to reach out.
10. Okay, You’re Viral
Now what? There’s a good chance you will receive a lot of criticism. For example, someone once posted a video from a car accident that they where involved in, and it got over 10k views. It was not the person that was filming’s fault, nor where they charged. But from the angle they took the video from, it left people thinking that it was indeed their fault and they said horrible things. But don’t let it get to you! It’s good to create controversy, it keeps the attention on you.
It’s important to remember that the media might try to get a hold of you, so be sure to answer. Make your email address and social media links easy to find. Understand where you want your traffic to go. If you have a website, be sure to include a sign-up page.
11. Write A Good Description
People often neglect the importance of a good video description. After waiting for your video to upload, writing a description may seem like a nuisance. But in fact, the description is the perfect area to include all your keyword searches. Also, post tagged URLs to companies that you want to sponsor you.
Use the description box to your advantage, don’t just leave it blank!
12. Subtitles and Captions
People often don’t remember that when you neglect subtitles and closed captions for your videos, you’re cutting out a large demographic of people with hearing disabilities or language barriers from watching you.
Youtube does a decent job at auto-generating captions for you, however they often offer up mistakes. So to ensure they are proper, you might need to invest your time into doing it yourself.
13. Mobile Devices
Did you know that half of all videos on Youtube were made using a smartphone? Not only that, but Youtube’s top priority is actually mobile phones. So definitely consider making mobile friendly videos for your viewers. Cater to the larger demographic, but continue pushing videos that could suit every device.
14. Consider Overlays
Have you ever watched a Youtube video, and then suddenly a small text box popped up that had a link attached that you could click on? Overlays are an amazing tool in getting more subscribers. It provides more intractability with your viewers, and shows that you put more time and effort into your videos.
When using all of these tools and by paying attention to keywords and phrases, you’ll definitely be on your way to becoming highly discoverable.
- By Jessika Molnar
Do you think you’re ready to make a viral video?
If you need further help creating your own marketing videos, we offer video production services that will help you elevate your brand!
We look forward to being a part of your success. Contact us here to get started.