Have you ever seen Psy’s Gangnam Style? Kony 2012? Or OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again”? What
about Felix Baumgartner’s Red Bull sponsored parachute jump from 128,000
feet?
If you’re an active internet user, you’ve probably seen most
of them. These videos are some of the most popular internet videos of all time.
According to a a recent article on
Brafton.com, Facebook has 1 billion monthly active users and Twitter, often
mentioned in the same marketing breath, has 200 million. What’s not normally
mentioned as a social media platform is YouTube, with more than 800 million
unique users, or four times that of Twitter. It is an incredibly powerful
platform with viral potential that brands often miss.
Why Going Viral is Important
While it’s true that most brands have YouTube pages, only a
handful of them generate the kind of content that compels viewers to share with
their friends. Once content bridges the gap between a user watching once and
navigating away, and sharing with their friends, a video stands a chance at “going
viral.” This mathematical idea that sharing begets sharing is the most powerful
mechanism on the internet – especially for marketers. When something goes
viral, it can sweep around the world in quite literally hours, and the work of
spreading a message is taken up by those who share it.
In the Kony example above, one of the most quickly trending
viral videos of all time, the video racked up 80 million views in a
week! What’s more, roughly half of the views were by the hard-to-reach millennial
segment. This is the segment who takes Facebook very seriously and with whom
brands have had a difficult time successfully
connecting. When you create content worth sharing, this demographic will
share it.
So How Do I Make a Viral Video?
Here’s the tricky part. Not everything has the it-factor
that makes a viral video. There’s almost never a prescribed formula and many
videos go viral unexpectedly. According to Creative Guerrilla Marketing, luck
does play a part, but I think that there are a few common threads that most
successful viral videos
share, and that brands seeking to go viral should consider. These points are not
meant to be formulaic, but are simply some themes apparent in some of the most
successful videos.
1.
There’s always an emotional reaction elicited by
the viewer. In order for a video to be shared, the viewer needs a reason to
share it. This reason is typically the desire to prompt a response from other
viewers. Often, successful viral videos use humor as this mechanism, but there
are plenty of videos out there that use sex appeal, compassion, outrage, or an “aww”
response.
2.
They’re almost always short. With a couple of
exceptions, viral videos are very short; usually under 3 minutes, and most
often under a minute. People’s social media attention span isn’t very long and
you have to get your point across quickly.
3.
They bend or expand reality a bit. Many of the
most successful videos do something never before seen, or have an unexpected
ending. This surprise factor accounts for lots of repeat views.
4.
They don’t have to be high quality. In fact,
sometimes a more polished video detracts from its believability, and therefore
its share-ability. This point is especially useful for brands trying to go
viral. Production value should be good, but don’t overdo it. Some of the most
successful viral videos are web-cam quality at best.
5.
They’re not overly branded. Aside from
commercials that go viral (like the Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell
Like” spots, most successful viral campaigns have minimal branding. Sharers
are hesitant to associate themselves with overly branded content, especially if
a brand’s image isn’t what they identify with.
So, brand managers, if you want to go viral, and you should,
keep your videos impactful, punchy, mind-blowing, unpolished, and minimally
branded. You’re not guaranteed to make it viral, but you’ll have a better
chance than most.
