Making a viral video is every YouTube vlogger’s dream. But with over 400 hours of videos uploaded every minute on YouTube, chances are that even a good video will get lost in all the noise unless it can really draw viewers. A viral video isn’t just watched by millions, instead, the defining element of a viral video is that is shared by millions. Therefore, your video not only has to be good but it should have enough impact on viewers to get them to share it with their peers.
So, how do you make a viral video? While there is no definitive playbook to making a viral video, here are five things you can do to boost your chances of topping the trending list.
1. Keep it short!
With decreasing attention span, you have a very short window to dazzle viewers. Studies have shown that a viewer begins to lose interest within 10 seconds of playing a video. And when you are successful in getting the viewer to watch for more than 10 seconds, they will not stay on if the video runs too long. Therefore, it’s important that you keep the length of your videos short. Ideally, a video should not go on for more than 3-5 minutes.
2. Evoke strong emotions
The best viral videos are those that evoke strong emotions in their viewers. Whether it is joy, anger, fear, or surprise – the stronger the emotion, the more the viewers are motivated to share it. Remember the gripping video of a baby iguana narrowly escaping clutches of certain death from hundreds of snakes? The clip from David Attenborough’s Planet Earth series went viral because it kept the viewers on the edge of their seats. If your video can evoke such strong emotions in your audience, you have got yourself a winner!
3. Identify trends and put your own spin on them
Fidget spinners are all the rage these days. And many YouTubers have capitalized on it by putting a unique spin, literally, on how they are used! This includes pitting them against daily objects, and in some extreme cases, against humans. The video ‘Fidget spinner vs dry ice’ has garnered over a million views within a day of being published.
Whether it is fidget spinners, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the Harlem Shake, or Pharell Williams’ song ‘Happy’, YouTubers have created viral videos by riding the wave of popular trends. If you are taking this approach, it is important to put out a video while the trend is still newsworthy and be the earliest one to do it!
4. Write eye-catching titles
A catchy title is to a video what attractive packaging is to a consumer product – they entice users into buying them, and in this case, clicking on the video. A great title can make all the difference between a good video fading into oblivion or skyrocket to virality.
The best titles pique curiosity in viewers. Using strong descriptors such as ‘epic’, ‘crazy’, ‘hilarious’, and ‘best tips’ can go a long way in doing this. Apart from being catchy, also pay attention to the title length. For YouTube, the recommended character length is 56. A long title can result in a viewer losing curiosity and moving on to another video. Match the thumbnail of your video to the title to provide a visual incentive to viewers to click on the video.
5. Promote your video aggressively
Making an awesome video and expecting it become a YouTube sensation is not going to happen automatically. For that matter, just sharing it with your friends and family isn’t enough either. You will need an aggressive promotion plan to get the world to notice your video. That means sharing it on social media channels such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Reach out to key influencers such as bloggers to get them to watch and share your video on their platforms.
Does your viral video feature a product or a brand? Don’t hesitate to contact them and share the cool video you have made. The brand might just promote it on their social media channels.
You can even go a step further and invest in paid promotion services such as Promolta to boost your video to thousands of targeted viewers.
These are five tips to help you make a viral video. If you have additional tips, tell us more in the comments section!
Interested in getting your YouTube video discovered by masses of targeted fans? Click this link: www.promolta.com
Manasa Boggaram is a writer and has a strong passion for music, positive news and constructive journalism. When she is not researching story ideas or writing blog posts, she spends her time reading books, discovering new music and eating lots of street food.
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