How to Create Viral Content – Here Are 8 Tips
We live in the era of Youtube. Everyone wants to make viral content, boost their channel’s visibility and turn their brand into a household name. Of course, generating some serious cash in the form of corporate sponsors and viewership is nice too, but with so many people competing for clicks and views, creating viral-worthy content can be very difficult. However, it’s not impossible. With the following eight right tips at your disposal, you can create a high-quality viral video in no time.
Keep It Simple
Most people who have made it on Youtube started out filming a video with a computer or a video recorder. Whilst technology has improved since the early days of viral videos, and become less expensive, you shouldn’t feel the need to produce a Hollywood-worthy movie to get the attention of online viewers. Odds are, the video and audio on your smartphone are of a resolution that is enough to create great video content. Using a simpler recording device also makes you seem more relatable and less interested in presenting an image and more focused on connecting with your audience.
Get to the Point
Thanks to the constant barrage of information that people encounter on a daily basis, whether on their smartphones or computers, the average person now has a fairly short attention span. In fact, according to Forbes, you’ve got about 8 seconds to capture someone’s attention online. Avoid lengthy introductions and excessive talking, especially at the beginning of your video and open instead start with something short but powerful. Once you have a healthy number of followers, you can make more in-depth content. Ideally, you want to show the audience your message and throw in a few surprises to keep people on their toes.
Create Shareable Content
Before filming anything you should ask yourself if what you’re creating will make people want to share it. Are people going to watch your video and come away thinking OMG, so-and-so has to see this and then click the share button? If not, you may want to re-think your content and consider going creating something with a higher “feel-good” or shock factor. However, be careful not to create a video that is too extreme as it may alienate your audience and attract negative attention or even get your content banned.
Be Social
Social media, and in particular Facebook, is hands down, the best way to get the word out about your video. You can share your content with anyone who uses the social media platform, which literally translates to millions of potential viewers. You can also use it to reach out to Facebook groups and pages that cater to audiences that might be interested in your content. If they share your video with their members and so on, the odds of your video becoming viral content becomes pretty good. Best of all, you can contact 10 groups or 100, exponentially increasing the visibility of your content.
Be a Storyteller
Nothing captivates an audience like a good story. As you’re competing with thousands of other Youtube videos, your ability to craft an engaging and compelling story will heavily influence whether or not you get the viral content you want. With only seconds to capture the attention of an online audience, you should approach each video as a magician would. Showmanship matters as much as content. But be careful not to make your video too scripted as it may come across as insincere.
Create On-going Interest
With an open forum for discussion, it can be tempting to cram as much content as possible into just one video. But Mega-Influencer Julius Dein suggests breaking your video content up so that the opportunity to create follow-up videos flows naturally. This creates a kind of momentum that you can use to your advantage to gain more clicks, views, and followers. In addition, if someone clicks on a video and sees that it’s part of a series, they’re a lot more likely to feel compelled to view the related videos.
Stand Out
A never-ending supply of online videos, covering every topic under the sun, leaves little room for surprises. If you really want viewers to remember and share your content, you need to make it stand out. Approaching traditional topics from a fresh perspective, demonstrating products in unique ways or just doing things in an unconventional manner can go a long way toward drawings in viewers. More importantly, the more “purple cow” your video is, the more likely people are to share it and make it go viral.
Consider Your Audience
Creating a video that has meaning or importance to you is key to presenting an image of authenticity and relatability between you and your viewers. However, making a video without considering who might want to watch it is not a good idea. You need to do some research to figure out who your target audience is and what other channels or videos they are already watching, and how yours is or is not related. Once you know who your audience is, you can tailor your video content in a way that makes it more appealing to them. You should also reach out to these people about a week before posting your video to create buzz and increase anticipation for its release.
Creating viral content can be fun as well as challenging. You’ve got a lot of options for content at your disposal and a high degree of control over what you do and do not want to present to your online audience. By following the eight tips above, you can turn good content into great, viral content and make a name for yourself and your brand, or possibly, even a new career path.
