The average human lives for 25,915 days. If you already know this, it’s likely because you’ve seen Reeboks viral videos, ‘25915’ chronicling the life of a woman in one minute. The video depicts the lifelong passion for running that one woman has. The video even includes a CTA at the end, encouraging people to calculate the number of days they have left to pursue their athletic passions. It’s just one example of a branded video that went viral.
There’s no doubt that video is marketing gold, and that viral video is even more powerful. Video is the most shared content on Facebook. It grabs attention and communicates powerful sentiments. The challenge is in accomplishing virality, and then exploiting that in order to achieve your marketing goals.
Understand What Viral videos Means to You: Then Set Your Goals
There are plenty of viral videos that never result in a product being sold or traffic driven to a landing page. Simply reaching a certain level of popularity isn’t enough. It’s not about getting a lot of people to watch and share. It’s getting the right people to watch and share. These are the folks who will share and answer your call to action.
Viral is also a relative term. Imagine a small woodworking business that produces a video about a grandfather restoring an old rocking horse for his granddaughter. The video receives 25K shares, and orders increase by 10% as a direct result of the campaign. It would be hard to deny that the video went viral.
Take the size of your audience, the performance of past videos, and other metrics into consideration. Use these to determine the numbers you must reach in order for your video to become viral.
Use Great Production Values
This is no time to spend 30 minutes shooting a video under regular lights with your phone. You’ll have to use the best you’ve got to make a video worthy of going viral. Yes, you can shoot decent video with your phone, but you’ll need to practice. You’ll want to use decent editing software as well. Write a script. While many viral videos may seem ‘off the cuff’, rest assured that in most cases there’s a well-written script. Rehearse before you film. Experiment with different locations. No, you don’t need to invest hundreds of dollars or hire a professional crew. Just be sure you’re investing more time and effort than in your average video.
Use an Influencer
If your video features an influencer, it’s much more likely to grab the viewer’s attention. If you can’t get an influencer to star in your video, you can still use influencer marketing to help it go viral. Reach out to influencers in your niche to show them your video. Ask them to share the video with their audience members, or to provide a quote for your video description.
Add a Great Title and Description
All good content starts with a compelling title. Videos are no different. Consider Reebok’s video mentioned above. 25915 is short, simple, and it makes a big impact. It’s also a bit mysterious. Imagine running across that title, the Reebok brand name, and an intense-looking thumbnail image. Chances are you’d wonder what 25,915 was referring to. How do you find out? You watch the video of course!
Your description also impacts whether or not your video goes viral. A good description should emphasize the right keyword. For example, if you produce a video on copywriting for digital marketing, you might emphasize writing services company reviews to indicate that you are covering that topic.
Make an Emotional Impact
Think about the viral videos, you know. Most focus on making a deep but singular emotional impact. They might be touching, inspiring, or downright hilarious. It varies, but as a rule, viral videos tend to tap into positive emotions. In fact, videos that evoke feelings of happiness and surprise tend to be the most viral.
Encourage Sharing
Videos don’t go viral simply because of the fact that people like watching them. A lot of effort goes into sharing videos across multiple channels, and compelling viewers to share with others. This can start with simply asking for shares and including social share buttons. Most viral videos aren’t published once. They are shared and promoted multiple times. Get your video out to your social media feeds, share it on your website, and embed it in your marketing emails. It takes exposure to go viral. Finally, consider going native. For example, Facebook native videos receive 1055% more shares on the platform than those produced in other formats.
Final Thoughts
A viral video can have an undeniably positive impact on your marketing video. To accomplish this, you must create a great video that touches your audience, promote it effectively, and encourage your audience to share your creation.