Every video producer within the last five years has heard the phrase, “ I need you to make me a viral video!”
Every video producer also knows that that’s when you have to sit the client down for an educational moment. Videos do go viral, but it’s either by pure chance or by having a huge strategy behind it. If you don’t plan for it, or have a kid, cat or dog do something spontaneously, the chances of your video going viral is zero. And like they say in showbiz, don’t ever work with kids or animals. Now you see the irony in this? However, with that being said, I also think the viral aspect of a video is also very relative. What do I mean by that? You have to look at the market you are serving. If your audience is a subscriber base of 8,000 and you get 2,500 views and over a hundred shares organically, I think you can claim that your video went viral. The same goes if you have only 2,000 subscribers and your video got 900 views and 15 shares. it was pretty darn successful!
What I am saying is you can’t compare your video success rate to what Coca Cola or even the Kardashians do. Not only do they have a large fan base, but they have a huge marketing machine behind them as well. They also have a strategy put in place as well so that their video views do hit the hundred of thousands of views and shares.
So, what do you have to do to make sure you get the best bang for your buck when it comes to video? 1. Have a strategy in place to use it effectively. 2. Upload it to more than one place 3. Embed it to your website 4. Make sure you add keywords 5. Tag the appropriate people/organizations involved with the video.
There’s many more, but essentially it comes down to knowing your audience and being able to tell the right story. Your video will go viral, but only if you have a plan and stick with it. Remember, just because a video of dogs without coordination got 1 million views doesn’t mean your video won’t be successful. It all boils down to the audience.
Here’s an example of one of our videos that went “viral” locally.
