The viral video is the most sought after marketing anomaly for entrepreneurs!
2 billion videos are watched on YouTube daily. And everyone wants to know how to harness this power and direct it to their videos. What really makes a video go viral?
Well for starters, it doesn’t need to be outrageously expensive or long enough to be mistaken for a feature film! All it needs is to be engaging enough to stir up some kind of emotions!
But that is easier said than done.
Here are our top 10 viral video marketing strategies. Use them to get your web videos to achieve the ever-elusive viral status.
1. Make Emotional Videos:
It’s not necessary that the videos be funny. Remember Kony 2012 and how it inspired a wave of anger and inspiration to do something, all at the same time? Sexy, funny, controversial videos are well-watched because they inspire us to get in touch with our feelings. And this is when we are more likely to hit the Share button.
2. Generate Targeted Content:
It is important to learn about your audience beforehand. Everyone is not going to like your video so figure out the sort of audience you want and then appeal to their better senses.
Find out what clicks with them and then create a video that triggers them to do what you want them to do. Inspire them to click, follow, and give you their email address by making videos that are shocking, spectacular, funny or sexy.
3. Make Your Videos Accessible:
Make the video available to everyone. Allow them to download it and comment on it. In fact, make the video available in multiple formats. Let the audience use the URL shortening services to facilitate video-sharing on twitter.
4. Ask For It:
In order for the video to go viral, your audience needs to share it with their circle. Use a call to action within the video or in the taglines and comments, asking them to pass your content forward.
5. Deliver Every Which Way:
Share your clips on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, corporate blogs, friends, family and everywhere else you can think of. Ask eminent bloggers in your industry to share it. You can also use paid services from Facebook and Unruly Media to get more audience.
6. Track and Follow-up:
A successful viral video marketing campaign generates plenty of response from the audience. Use tools such as Google Alerts, IceRocket etc to gather information about the success or failure of your video campaign.
7. Be Image Conscious:
A successful web video may be your company’s first introduction to many millions of viewers. Make sure the video content is in inline with your corporate policies. It should be a representation of your company but not exactly an advertisement. No need for a hard sell here!
8. Be Current:
If you are releasing a video on or near an international event, reference it in the video and reap the benefits of good SEO. We are quite sure that the “Drunk Yoda” YouTube video went viral largely because it was released on Star Wars Day!
9. Get A Good Title:
It is the title and thumbnail that actually persuade a person to click. Try many different titles and video thumbnails, and then stick to the one that gets the most attention. Use works like “exclusive”, “fresh” etc in the title.
10. Make It Short And Crisp:
The ideal TV advertisement is 30 seconds or shorter in length. That should be your goal as well. It is important to keep your videos short and sweet so the audience doesn’t get distracted before getting the message of your video. If you have more to say, break down your video in digestible chunks of 1 minute each to retain viewer interest.
