Video marketing is the future, increasingly dominating the world of advertising and getting a better ROI than other media options. Everyone is looking for their 15 minutes of fame in this world and hoping their video marketing campaign goes viral. With a bit of luck, you just might go viral using our strategies and tips.
Of course, there’s no magic formula for how to make a video go viral- otherwise, everyone would do it. However, there are certain commonalities that viral videos have, shared factors that seem to be part of the secret to success. First, though, let’s look at just why video marketing campaigns are so important.
Why Video Marketing is So Powerful
Video content is quite simply more immersive than text, photo, or audio alternatives. By engaging consumers’ eyes and ears in an entertaining presentation, it becomes easier for you to connect with your audience emotionally. Strong video marketing can even build substantial likability and trust, and significantly increase the chances of winning over a new customer.
This isn’t just a gut feeling marketing teams have. According to one study, 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos. Videos on social media generate as much as 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. Ultimately, 88% of marketers are satisfied with the ROI of their video marketing efforts.
How to Make a Viral Video
Since video marketing is so vital, it’s essential to know what makes for good video content, and what does not. The following six factors are key in setting your video marketing efforts up for success:
#1: Know Your Audience
A viral video is technically one that reaches an enormous audience, but that doesn’t mean viral videos are targeted towards absolutely everyone. Videos are more shareable when they’re well-targeted, it’s clear who they’re made for, and they have a special appeal to a particular target audience.
If you’re familiar with the term “target market,” you’re halfway to understanding target audiences. A target market defines the group you’re targeting with your products or services. It’s the group of people you believe will engage with you most often and spend the most money.
A target audience is an even more specific subsection of your target market: the people you’re trying to reach with your current marketing and promotion efforts. In the case of video marketing, your target audience is the group you want to respond most positively to your video.
Finding your target audience is a complex subject worthy of its own discussion, but for simplicity’s sake: make sure your video promises a solution to an issue. What problem are you solving, and who will be most excited about that solution?
#2: Have a Marketing Plan
Your marketing videos have to fit into a larger campaign related to how you want to present a new product or service. For example, maybe your top goal is to drive traffic to your website, or to get signups for your mailing list. Whatever campaign goal you decide to pursue, make sure your video is optimized and consistent with your branding and strategy.
Otherwise, you’re working at cross-purposes. At best, you aren’t taking advantage of the potential synergy of your marketing efforts, and at worst, you’re confusing your audience and warding them away from engaging with your business.
#3: Keep it Simple
Your video's purpose should be easy to understand, with first-time viewers getting a clear and favorable impression of your business. However, you don’t want to have to come out and directly state the purpose, since that might turn off viewers and make the video seem overly commercial.
Also, while your video should have a target audience in mind, viral videos are easy to relate to no matter who you are. Ensure that the concept is something anyone can understand and enjoy without having too much niche knowledge or experience.
Pick a core message and focus on getting that across. Trying to do too much at once just dilutes that message and has the potential to confuse viewers!
#4: Tap Into an Emotion
If there’s one thing that video can do better than any other medium, it’s evoking emotion. Whether you’re pursuing laughs, tears, excitement, or inspiration, video media has an unparalleled potential to create real emotion in an audience. If you don’t attempt to provoke an emotional reaction with your video, you’re leaving that potential on the table.
Storytelling has the power to humanize a brand, making it easier for a business to foster a relationship with its consumers. When you connect with your audience on this personal level, it can help scale business growth and increase your profits as a result.
Think about how you want that viewer to feel at the end of the video, and then figure out how to get them there. Try looking at some of your favorite films, TV shows, or advertisements for inspiration and techniques- but be sure not to imitate them as people will notice!
#5: Don’t Be Too Promotional
As we stated above, your video's purpose should be easy to understand without directly saying it. Viral content is viral because it's designed to be saved or shared, not designed just to sell. Almost no one likes being sold to during their free time. Videos that are too transparently advertisements or focus primarily on explaining selling points will not find great success.
Your brand and content will sell your products or services, and your video should be used to increase your brand awareness. Find a balance where the video can clearly explain your company's value without bombarding them with sales points.
#6: Hire a Professional
When you think of a viral video marketing campaign, what do you think of? Old Spice, The Most Interesting Man in the World, or even Poo-Pourri...while all these video marketing campaigns have vastly different purposes and audiences, they were all shot, directed, and produced by a professional. The visual presentation is film-quality, and the sound is completely crisp and clear.
Trained, experienced crews produce almost all viral videos.
While you may want to save costs, it’s best to hire a producer or company with years of training or experience in film and video production. The quality they bring to your video will be well worth the price, and they may even have great ideas of their own. Besides, you don’t want your video to go viral for the wrong reasons. Many low-quality, cheesy, “cringey” videos are only shared to be laughed at, and can even hurt sales.
How to Make a Video Go Viral
Once your video is completely finished and ready for release, the work isn’t done. You should make sure to put the time and effort into creating a successful premiere. The problem with crossing your fingers and hoping something goes viral is that audience expectations are constantly changing. One aspect you have more control over is how your videos are optimized for search. When you know exactly what your audience is searching for, you can place your videos in front of them for instant visibility.
Identify the keywords that you want your target audience to relate to your video early, and where possible, include them in the video script itself. Make sure that your core concept relates to the keywords, and that the video title and thumbnail seem both relevant and enticing.
Be sure you also include a call to action (CTA) in the video itself, as this can increase sales with little extra effort. Be careful to implement it effectively, however. Adding an obvious CTA into your video could make your content seem gimmicky, turning off your audience. For a good example of how to make a CTA work, check out the original Old Spice ad: "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like." Their CTA is sprinkled throughout the video, but you probably didn't consciously notice it, right? They say different variations of "buy your man Old Spice" 4 times throughout the 30-second video.
Key Takeaways
As we said before, everyone wants to go viral, but there’s no guaranteed way to meet that goal. However, while you may not have a 100% chance of your video marketing campaign going viral, our advice can help your videos gain more traction. By jump-starting your video marketing efforts and putting the proper thought into the planning and production of the video, you absolutely can go viral!
Should you need more help, don’t hesitate to reach out to Zoek’s team of expert graphic designers. Our creative, hardworking team can help create custom and unique videos for your business and bring you one step closer to viral status. Just click here to learn more and book your free 30-minute consultation today!