Top tips for making a viral video in 2018

While it could take enormous time to develop a proper design for a website that sells, even a child can create a viral video given the tools we have. The Internet is full of various marketing tools for analysing trends, preferences and means of promotion, which means it opens the way for the creators of successful video campaigns. We are not going to disassemble in detail the success stories of individual viral videos. Instead, this article offers the top 10 tips for creating a viral video in 2018.

1. Start Making Videos

Once Rick Myers, a famous American racing driver, said wonderful words: to finish first you must first finish. This is 100% applicable to creating a viral video: to make a viral video you must first make a video. Don’t underestimate this advice even if it sounds obvious. It is unlikely that the first video will immediately become popular. So, do not be afraid to make mistakes and try different options.

2. Critically Analyse Your Content

Do not fall into the trap of your own prejudices. The longer you work on producing a viral video, the more difficult it is to keep the objectivity. After tens of hours of analysis and consideration, it is very easy to miss out on an excellent idea and give priority to a doubtful one.

In order not to lose touch with reality, it would be nice to conduct a small amount of marketing research. Ask your relatives, friends, pets and existing social media audience about the underlying idea of your video and its implementation. The more constructive criticism you manage to get, the higher the quality of the video would be.

3. Don’t Try to Be Original

All you need is to be creative. As it was said, it is very difficult to find a completely original idea for content – “the Simpsons already did it”. In this way, coming up with a new spin on a popular topic could become a unique way to attract viral attention on the Internet. One opportunity is to create an original parody of a famous video. If you try, even Gangnam Style or Harlem Shake could be brought back to the leaders again and bring you popularity and fame. Even the compilation of those we used to know could work.

4. Make Efforts but Don’t Overdo It

If you try too hard, the audience will feel that the video wants to be viral. Obviously, success in this case is unlikely. Adhere to your concept and strive for organic results. There is nothing wrong with trying to become popular, but if the main goal of the video is the number of views, do not expect high ratings from the audience. Instead of chasing the numbers or selling your brand, offer your audience what they really need and appreciate.

5. Consider Optimal Length

Similar to price, size is not always an indicator of quality. The length of the most popular videos does not exceed a couple of minutes. This does not mean that you need to silence your director’s talent and leave the acknowledgment for the film academy, but it’s worth making sure that your video contains only the most necessary. Viewers tend to skip the video if it is too long, and therefore could miss your main idea. Consider separating long videos into several small episodes included in one playlist, so that the user could quickly move from one to the other without losing the essence of the story.

6. Choose Proper Hosting

There are numerous video hosting websites that provide a wide range of opportunities for video creators. However, to achieve success, the Internet platform must match the purpose of the video. If the goal of a viral video is to get as many views as possible and capitalise on it, YouTube with its effective monetisation program will be the best platform. Moreover, its audience totals 1,000,000,000 (ONE BILLION) unique visitors per month – an excellent place to start the future “epidemic”.

7. Promote Your Videos

Some video services such as Facebook/Instagram Live provide content creators with opportunities to apply a push strategy for promoting their videos. So, they are great for brand-promoting videos. But be careful. Platforms like Vimeo.com or Wistia.com are great websites which bring together like-minded people and provide superior content. However, these sites are aimed at paid content, and the users seek to get first-class materials. All these significantly narrow the monthly audience (around 145 mln. of unique visitors per month) and promoting a viral video on these sites is tantamount to selling fast food in a fancy restaurant.

8. Be Careful with Keywords and Tags

It is much easier to attract the attention of viewers if the title contains memorable words and the description contains popular tags. However, it is essential to add tags and keywords properly and carefully. For instance, although the modifiers like “official” or “breaking” were used to attract attention, nowadays they tend to annoy audience because of their too frequent use. So, think twice before including them in your title. Likewise, remember that tags should not stagnate. Watch for new popular tags and changes in the top list of search queries and update your keywords and tags accordingly.

9. Leave Room for Speculation

Even a very short video with a duration of no more than 30 seconds can catch viewers and make them return to your account again and again. Creating a complete story line in your viral video is a good idea, but an open or ambiguous ending could cause more interest. The more understatement, the higher the likelihood that your audience will share viral videos with friends to discuss contentious issues.

10. Assess Your Performance

Before rushing to spend more and more on promotion, it is better to understand that no one can control how successful your video becomes. The evaluation of your statistics could help to identify the weaknesses and mistakes of your video. By performing this step, you can come up with more suitable ideas for your viral video.

Conclusion

A correctly made viral video can become one of your most profitable investments. Even if your video does not become viral, a high-quality stream of video content will still bring you benefits.  Catch the right wave and let your creativity break out.

Author bio

Anna Clarke is the owner of online writing company 15 Writers. She is a successful entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in both freelancing and academic writing industries, specialising in Business, Economics, Finance, Marketing and Management.