I have been asked many times: “how can I make a video ‘go viral’?”
It’s not easy to do organically anymore. A lot of those ‘viral videos’ were created in the past when original ideas caught fire. Many were helped with ad spends and marketing. A much higher percentage of the ‘viral videos’ today are aided by media campaigns.
Yet, there are some key pieces of the strategy that can help your video take off.
FIRST: Is related to today’s news? Is it topical? If it’s relevant to everything and we can all relate to it, people are a little bit more likely to watch, and to share.
SECOND: Is it about something new and cool? If it’s new and cool then you could be the first to see it, the first to talk about it, and introduce it to your friends, or family, or coworkers, then you’ve got an edge.
THIRD: Is it positive or uplifting? If you make people happy, they’ll want to share that with other people around them
FOURTH: Does it relate to your audience’s personal life? For example, have a look at the videos from Dollar Shave Club, or Poo-Pourri, every man shaves pretty much, and everybody goes to the bathroom (ahem), so both of those were something that viewers could relate to, and these companies took a risk that paid off. They attacked the topics head-on and added a lot of humor.
This all deals with the secret story formula I discovered and call: ‘The S.T.U.F.F.’
Please notice how utilizing the emotions in a story that is based on being on (or two) of the following can help you and your brand:
- Sexy
- Touching
- Unique
- Funny
- Fear
We discuss and uncover these every day with our clients. Please have a gander at this video, which describes the S.T.U.F.F. in more detail
Secret story formula,The STUFF from Rip Media Group on Vimeo.
If you can mix one or two of these emotions in with those four ‘viral’ points, you might have something that will take off and become viral.
If it doesn’t, you have just made a story that is going to attract people to your story – whether its 1 million casual fans, or the 10,000 people that you actually want to buy your product.
To me, I’ve always preferred to focus on my core audience. Going viral within your industry and bringing customers to your door is pretty amazing, isn’t it?
For example, we created a video series for a commercial bank.
It caught on fire within their industry. The videos garnered 400,000 views across multiple platforms (YouTube and others). That can be a lot, or a little depending on your goals, but the overall result was tens of millions of dollars in new opportunities for them. That exceeds almost every businesses dreams!
It’s up to you.
So, how do you make a video go viral? Follow the steps above and you’ll have a pretty good chance within your industry, and the world.
To look at your options, just start with our creative brief, download our Video Workbook Starter, or give us a call for a free consultation at 888.899.8910.