What makes a video go viral? The tips and tricks you need to know. - Internet - Video

Creatingavideothatgoesviralandracksupmillionsofviewsistheultimategoalofnearlyeverypersonwhouploadsavideoontotheinternet.Withmillionsofnewvideosaddeddaily,thecompetitionisfierceandgeneratingviewsisnolongerjustamatterofsimpleluck.Hereareafewtipsthatwillencourageweb-userstoshareyourvideoandhelpit"goviral".

Letsbeginlookingatsomeviralvideosthathavebecomehighlysuccessfulwithoutalargebudgetorbrandnamebehindthem.Firstly,the'FacebookSong'madebyRhettandLink.ThisdynamicduomadeasongabouttheirobsessivenesswiththesocialnetworkinggiantFacebook.Thiscatchyandoriginalsongeventuallyledtothepair'sonlinefame,whichincludestheirownpaidwebvideoseries,highsalesinRhettandLinkmerchandiseaswellastelevisedadvertsonchannelssuchasAljazeera.Secondly"TakeMeOut"byAtomicTom,anewlyreleasedviralvideo,whichwasrecordedonaniPhone,showingthebandAtomicTomperformingoneoftheirsongsliveonatubetrain,usingonlymusicaliPhoneapplications.ThisvideogeneratedanastoundingamountofviewsontheveryfirstdayitwasuploadedtoYouTubeandhassincedeliveredahugeamountofpress,anewfanbaseandapotentialrecorddeal.

Nowofcourse,bothofthesevideosenjoyedacertainamountofluckinattainingInternetfame,butbothofthesevideoshadseveralkeyfactorsthatcontributedtotheirpopularity,suchasshortandsnappytitles;alotofYouTubeusersthinkthatshovingasmanykeywordsinatitlewillgenerateviews.Thisiscompletelythewrongwaytodothings.Ihavefoundseveralvideocreator'swhoseemtothinkthatinsertinghundredsofkeywordswillgenerateviews.Whatthisactuallydoesisgeneratealotofspam-styledvideos,whichultimatelyamounttoaverylowviewcount.Thereasonbeingisthatpeoplearesearchingforsomethinginparticularandtheywanttofindavideoshowingjustthat.Theyarenotinterestedinarandomvideo,whichholdsnorelevancetothekeywordtheyaresearchingfor.

So,nowthatyouhavearoughideaofafewstrategiesthatwork,let'sdelvedeeperintoafewtipseveryvideocreatorshouldthinkaboutimplementing.TitleKeepitshortandconcise.Makesureitsoundsoriginalanddescribesexactlywhatthevideois.Agoodexampleofaverypopularvideoistitled'SurprisedKitty'.Thetitlesaysitall,itissimplyakittenbeingtickledandsurprised.Thesuccesscomesaspeoplearelookingfor,orinterestedin,kitten-relatedvideos;andthisdeliversexactlythat.

Tags

AsIexplainedabove,tagsareofvitalimportancebuttheyshouldbeusedinmoderation.Donotfloodyourvideoswithtags,besuretouserelevantkeywordsandperhapsonetopic,whichispopularbutalsoholdssomerelevancetoyourvideo.Donotusecelebritynamesfrivolouslyasyourkeywordwouldbecompetingagainstseveralmillionotheruserswhohaveusedtheexactsametag.

Description

Anappropriatedescriptionofyourvideoisjustascrucialasrelevanttags.Besuretowordadescriptionthatappealstoyourtargetaudienceandtryaddingaquestionwithinthetext,whichwillhelppromptuserstoengagewithyourvideoviacommentingandsubscribing.Italsoprovidesanopportunitytodriveusersbacktoyourwebsiteandothervideocontentbyaddingafullthedescription,preferablyinthefirstcoupleoflines.

YouTubeAnnotations

Annotationsarethesmalltextboxesthatappearonvideosallowingtheownerofthevideotointeractwiththeviewers.Thesehavebeenproventomakeviewersfeelmoreinvolvedwithavideoandalsomaintaintheirfocuslonger.Soensureyourannotationsareinformative,wittyandaddatouchofhumourtoengagewithyouraudience.

CrossPromotion

IfyouhaveaFacebookorTwitteraccountthenbesuretopostlinksonyourYoutubeprofilepageandaskyourfriendsshareyourvideoonline.Socialnetworkingcontinuestogrow,soalotofthehardworkcanbedonebyyourfriendsthatwillproducebigresults.Secondly,postyourvideoonanumberofothervideosharingwebsites.Youtubeisnottheonlyonlinevideowebsitewhichcangeneratefameandviralsuccess.TrywebsitessuchasVimeo,DailyMotion,TwitvidsandSevenload.

Conclusion

Ifyouimplementthesetips,itwon'tguaranteethatyourvideowill"goviral",butwillitdefinitelyimprovethechances.Justremember,itonlytakesafewpeopletolikeandshareyourvideotokickstartitsroadtoviralfame.