For anyone who has been in the business of digital marketing, video content is viewed as a powerful element of a successful online content strategy. When embedded into your blog, a short clip can instantly captivate the attention of your visitors. This is due to the fact that studies revealed that people are naturally drawn to process visual data faster than texts. However, there are thousands of short clips floating on the internet that are too annoying and visually unappealing. These are the kind of content that will not go viral, since people will not even dare to share them in their social media pages.
If you want to create a viral clip, you need to put a lot of effort on its content, including the message and the video elements you will apply. You also need to consider the basic rules of online optimization to successfully disseminate your content. To elaborate this further, below we’ll give you the complete list of the secret ingredients to a trending online video.
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| How to Make a Viral Video - Infographic via Egomonk |
Great Story
No matter what product you are trying to sell, you must always consider that “a story matters more than your products,” as suggested by Pierre Chappaz of Ebuzzing, through his The Guardian post. You must focus on creating a compelling narrative for your storyboard. Your viewers are more interested to share a video that features an interesting human-centric piece rather than explaining the merit of your brand over its competitors. Show them something interesting that they usually don’t get to see online. It can be a how-to tip, a why-is-it clip, or a hands-on demo of a certain product. The advertising portion of your video should only be placed towards the end or also known as the “call-to-action part.Short Yet With An Impact
Unless you are an established brand with millions of followers, you should not exercise the habit of boring your viewers with a long and dragging motion picture about your product. Wise Marketing on Twitter (@letsgetwise) shared a tip coming from the Business 2 Community about the importance of keeping it short. Studies reveal that audience engagement will drop sharply after half a minute of viewing. You should consider the fact that some of your prospective customers might browse your content using their mobile devices over cellular internet networks. A three-minute length is just the perfect duration for an advertisement.Music Is the Queen
If content is the King, we believe that music is the Queen. Everyone loves music. It can be a popular song on MTV or an indie-sounding track with an interesting lyric or instrumentals. It can also be a plain sound effect or an upbeat audio background. When choosing the right background music, you should always consider the overall context of your video clip. Is it necessary to add music if your video showcases a speaking ambassador? Does the message of the song connect with the theme of your campaign?Humor Is Its Best Friend
Viral videos share a common characteristic – humorous. In this century, being humorous is still very much applicable. Think of your humorous video as a good joke. The toughest part in this endeavor is that humor is highly subjective. It’s hard to tell what your wide-ranging viewers will think of the video after you publish them on YouTube or Vimeo. When injecting this element to your clips, you must carefully plan the message that goes with it. Otherwise, prepare for a series of social media criticisms.A Viral Title That Is Searchable
A catchy or attention-grabbing “title” is a very important ingredient to a viral online video. It should be unique and relatable to the content of your clip. Avoid misleading titles; otherwise, you will just annoy your viewers for wasting their precious time. When creating a title, you must also consider its optimization value. Use the appropriate keywords and meta tags for it to be searchable. Keep in mind that “search engines don’t have the ability to read video content, so it is up to you to tell the engines (and the viewers) what is contained in your video,” as reiterated by Mark E. Brown of Talentzoo.com.These are the credentials that will make your online videos viral online. Of course, if you also need to add an extra effort of promoting them in your social media channels, your email newsletter blasts, and partner websites then do so. You must also post it as a video suggestion or a comment to an existing viral clip. These are simply the raw ingredients of a successful motion picture.
About author:
Sookie Lioncourt is a freelance blogger. She keeps herself updated with the latest trends in these areas by reading industry news and attending organized social events. Say Hi to Sookie on LinkedIn.
Top Photo by Neil. Moralee via Flickr
