Imagine this: you’re planning to create a product demonstration video for your cosmetics business to showcase your product’s unique selling points and how it addresses specific skin concerns. Obviously, you want it to be well-received and go viral. Because when your video goes viral, you’ll gain traffic, increase brand awareness, and drive sales.
There are 5.35 billion active users of the internet worldwide, which means that your marketing video has a multitude of potential audiences. But with the vast number of marketers also trying to make their videos viral, you’ll need to find the right mix of creativity and authenticity to stand out.
Steps to Creating Viral Marketing Videos
- Know your audience
To create a viral video, you have to first find your audience. What type of demographic are you trying to reach? Are they Boomers? Millennials or Gen Zs? Knowing who your target audience is allows you to create content that speaks directly to their needs, interests, culture, preferences, and emotions, thus making your material relevant, engaging, and shareable.
- Create a brief
A brief serves as a roadmap for the entire production process, ensuring that everyone involved understands the campaign’s goals and expectations. Your brief should include information such as the video’s working title, the concept, the platform or the social media channel where the video will be primarily distributed, hashtags and mentions to include, the call to action to use, and the keywords to apply, especially if you’re planning to upload on platforms that have search engine optimisation elements like YouTube.
- Tell a story
Content marketing is about storytelling. Rather than simply presenting your company’s information or the features of your product, a compelling narrative adds depth and meaning to the marketing message, making it more impactful, memorable, and engaging.
- Keep your marketing video short
Individuals often have a shorter attention span and limited patience when consuming online content. Therefore, videos should be concise and direct to the point to effectively capture and retain the viewer’s attention.
- Start your video strong
Use an attention-grabbing opening that piques curiosity or sparks emotion. You can do this by asking an intriguing question, being unpredictable, incorporating relatable audio or music clips, and including captivating visuals in your marketing content.
- Develop an emotional connection with your audience
This means developing content that connects with viewers on a personal or emotional level. Emotional connection fosters a sense of relatability and authenticity. When viewers feel a strong emotional response to a video, they are more likely to engage with it by liking, sharing, and commenting, thus increasing its virality. The top videos that go viral evoke emotions such as joy, humour, nostalgia, surprise, and inspiration.
- Shoot for mobile view
90% of users watch videos on their mobile devices. This significant number prompts content marketers to tailor videos that suit the mobile viewing experience of their target audiences. This involves considerations such as using vertical or square video formats and incorporating visuals and texts that are easily viewable on smaller screens.
- Write a powerful copy
From your YouTube video’s title and description to captions on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook, crafting powerful copy can be beneficial. Writing optimised copy helps explain what your video is all about, ignites curiosity, and can help increase your visibility on search engines.
Additionally, avoid using clickbait headlines. Clickbait often involves misleading or exaggerated captions designed to attract clicks without delivering on the promised content quality. This can lead to frustration and disappointment among your audience.
We all want to be famous, like the “Charlie bit my finger” video, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, or Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, when it comes to advertising our product. But getting viral is often not that simple. While there is no formula for creating a viral video (we’d all be doing it if there were), you can use the above steps as a guide to increase your chances of success.