If you are an influencer or marketer using social media to build an audience, you’d love to have one of your videos go viral. While there may not be any formula or recipe for viral success, common elements are found in the planning and creation of most viral videos. Learn these, and you can develop strategies to make your content more engaging and improve your discoverability, increasing your chances of attaining that goal of going viral.
The term ‘going viral’ refers to a video or other content that has reached a very large audience in a short period. Factors include the number of shares and likes and how many unique viewers it has reached. A video goes viral when it very quickly amasses millions of views when social media users share it with their friends and followers. The more people that share the content, the higher the number of potential views.
Let’s learn how to make a viral video by yourself:
1. Know Your Target Audience
Your target audience is the group who will most likely be interested in what your content has to say. The people in your target audience might be in the same age range or have the same hobbies or interests. N
arrow on these viewers to determine why they follow you and create your content accordingly. You can’t reach people outside your usual audience if you don’t make videos that resonate with your core viewers and make them want to share them with others.
2. Planning
The most effective way to ensure you make a video that conveys your intended message is to start with a plan. Start by describing what you intend to create, including any specific points that need to be included.
Decide what platforms you will share the final product on and what keywords you can use in the description. Each social media site attracts a different audience, so knowing where your target audience will most likely find you is critical.
3. Keep the Video Brief
Attention spans are shorter than ever and making content that is short and to the point gives you the best shot at people watching it all the way through and then sharing it at the end.
The trick is to find the sweet spot in length that allows you to deliver your intended message while keeping it short and sweet so that viewers don’t get bored.
4. Captions
Adding captions to your videos goes a long way in improving the viewer’s experience. Many people choose to watch videos with the sound turned down. Utilizing captions in your video allows them to enjoy your content and increases their chances of sharing it with friends and family.
Captions also improve the accessibility of your video, giving you the opportunity of a wider audience. Similarly, you should also use a localization service. Localization means translating your video’s contents to different languages, allowing you to reach a wider scope of audience.
5. Trending Content
Staying on top of trends in social media will give your video its best shot at going viral. You might hit gold if you jump on a trend as it’s becoming popular. The secret is to make the trend your own by putting a slightly different spin on the content.
Who knows? You may become a trendsetter yourself. Of course, trends on social media can sometimes come and go faster than you can blink. Ensure your content is relevant to what is happening for your best shot at viral success.
6. Hashtags
Including hashtags in your content description is a well-known strategy for extending reach across popular social media sites.
Hashtags help viewers who are searching for similar content to find your video. Including a few trending hashtags in your description may be tempting, but don’t do it. Only choose a hashtag if it’s genuinely relevant to your content.
7. Promote Yourself
You can’t just publish your video and then wait, hoping it will go viral. You need to be able to promote yourself first to the viewers who are your intended audience. Feel free to post on multiple social media sites or link to the original posting on your other platforms.
8. Be Authentic
Creating relatable, genuine, original content is the best road to success. There are no hacks or shortcuts to building your following.
You will connect emotionally with your viewers by being true to yourself and communicating your beliefs and values through your content. An emotional connection can create a sense of trust. That trust will keep them returning for more and increase your chances of going viral when the right moment comes.
There is no secret formula for getting a video to go viral. Even though a good deal of luck is involved, you can certainly optimize the content you create and be purposeful with your posting strategies. With solid planning, you’ll be well on your way to creating the next viral video sensation.
