If you are personally into video production or part of a video production agency, your objective while creating a video isn't a modest number of views. Your goal is to make the video go viral. How do videos go viral? They are shared countless times on social media and even reach the section of the population that would typically not watch your content. If you are lucky, this video gets picked up by publications and grows even bigger with their might and backing.
If you are a video agency that primarily deals with marketing video production services, virality may be a little harder to achieve. People are usually not willing to sit through a promotional unless it happens to capture their attention. With the enormous number of advertorials, your video must really stand out as unique for this to happen. So how do you craft a video that will go viral? No one formula works every time but here are some things to keep in mind:
Video Virality Depends On
Video virality largely depends on the following factors. If you can understand this, you could be well on your way to creating a video that could go viral -
· Storytelling – Yes. Everybody likes a good story – from your Baby Boomer uncle to your Gen Z niece. Even if the intent for the video is to advertise your service/product offering, don't make this explicit. The video shouldn't merely be a thinly-veiled appeal to the viewer to purchase what you have to offer. It should add value to their lives. If you can tie your product in with a compelling story that manages to grasp and retain their attention – you have a winner on your hands.
· Emotionality – The video should be able to appeal to the audience’s emotions. It should be relatable. The audience should feel invested in the story being told in the video. If as a video production company your video services can tap into audience emotion, you can consider yourself a success – your video is bound to get hits.
· The Shock Factor – The goal of your video should be to be talked about. It doesn’t matter if the attention you are getting is positive or negative. As long as you are receiving attention, your marketing efforts have paid off. The humdrum and ordinary doesn’t get people talking. The controversial and shocking does. Think out of the box and figure out what would get your audience to sit up and pay attention to your video.
· Timing – Release your marketing videos at the beginning of the week. People browse the most number of videos from their offices and workplaces. You won't find the same amount of audience engagement on weekdays and holidays. Try to release your videos on Mondays and Tuesdays; this is when your video is most likely to be watched.
· A solid promotion strategy – Optimize your video at the time of release. Share it across your social media pages. Come up with a hashtag or promotional campaign to encourage re-sharing. Build up excitement pre-launch, and once this video has been released, approach influencers to endorse your video. When you have a solid promotional plan for video, your video isn't very likely to fail. It may not go viral but you can rest assured that it will receive a good number of eyeballs.
· Title it well – The importance of a good title for your content cannot be stressed enough. The title is the first thing your audience notices before they click "Play" on the video. If the title doesn't attract them, they won't be clicking on your video, to begin with. A catchy and relevant title will go a long way in the success of your marketing video.
Will this be enough?
Don’t blame your video production skills or you’re your video production agency if the videos you create don’t turn out to be viral. Video production can be tricky business, and there is no set formula to achieve video virality. The content saturation today makes virality even more difficult. Create a video with substance instead, and if your content is good enough, it will become popular.
