Making a video go viral online is like hitting a lottery jackpot for any business. Imagine at least 25% of Youtube’s one billion monthly users seeing your brand in a covert promotional method driving leads and customers to your website – that is the power of video marketing. This is the reason behind why marketers have given serious attention to their video marketing campaigns and strategies. Youtube says there are at least 100 hours of videos being uploaded on their platform every minute. The competition to be the best viral video production company is tight but very rewarding for businesses who would like to take their marketing campaign to the next level.
In this post, we will present this year’s viral video campaigns and what you can learn from them in order to be a viral video production company and improve your viral video strategies for 2014.
Would it be worth It?
There are still companies that are quite hesitant in investing in video production and video marketing. If you’re one of them try to consider this: If a picture paints a thousand words, your videos worth 51.9% higher ROI than any other form of content according to eMarketer, a digital marketing research company based in New York. Envodo has a very well-researched data page in terms on how video marketing will change the digital marketing landscape in years to come. Besides, video production is a win-win investment for any company because of the fact that you can always use the video for brand awareness even if it would not reach the targeted number of views. Video marketing also has a great impact in SEO in terms of link building and authority of your website which has been proven by many authorities in the field.
Online video marketing solves one of the most dreaded aspects of promotion and marketing and that is measuring the reach and ROI of your campaign. The metrics provided by free video sharing sites like Youtube and Vimeo make every effort in video marketing a lot scalable than any other form of broadcast medium. This provides marketers the data they need to improve and address the weak spot of their campaign, study their audience, and predict potential trends. As the old adage goes, you cannot improve what you cannot measure.
What Makes Videos Go Viral?
To be brutally honest with you, video marketing does not end in uploading your video on video sharing sites. If you are serious in aiming for a viral status, you have to be ready to strategize and execute, pour in all your creative juice, and rely to statistics.
Statistically speaking, your first 10 seconds determine if you will win the attention of your audience according to Visible Measures. The content should be appealing that they would be willing to spare their time for you. This is where creativity steps in. The factor of human emotion plays a major role in the success of video production. The content of the video should be able to capture human emotion and inject subtle promotion of the brand. When everything is said and done, strategy will make the difference in making a video go viral. Strategy comprises the right influencer, platform, and promotions for your video but these aspects deserve another article from us. Consider this as an overview. To demonstrate our point, we’ve chosen 10 videos which have gone viral this year.
2013 Best Viral Videos
1. Dove Real Beauty Sketches
Though this video strategically targets the emotional, psychological, and social vulnerabilities of women, it still powerfully connects to male gender since it centers to the core message of self-acceptance which is one of society’s unspoken problem. Advocacy-based video campaign is one of the best types of videos that go viral online. Even after watching the entire video, there is still residual effect and lasting impression to the viewers.
2. Ship My Pants
This is a .35-second video clip with a very consistent call to action – Ship everything. The strong point of this video is it literally solves the problem of many shoppers on shipping. They know their unique selling point and been humorously consistent in the video. One of the strongest points of a viral video is solving a problem (and solving it impressively!).
3. Pepsi MAX & Jeff Gordon Present: “Test Drive”
Prankvertising is another type of viral video that addresses myriad of emotional needs of human beings. It surprises and triggers excitement to the viewers as if they are the unsuspecting victim of a prank. Strong point of this video is being with Jeff Gordon which is one hellish drive. (Of course, everybody wishes for that adrenaline rush with a racecar celebrity). Simply put, it entertains and rekindles the childhood naughtiness in us.
4. GALAXY S4 Official TVC – Sound & Shot
There is nothing stronger than the bond of mother and son. That connection touches everyone and is a highly relatable human concept. The video promotes connection through technology and solves one of the primary worries of both mothers and sons. Mothers worry a lot on missing out the episodes of their son’s life and sons struggle to appease the worried souls of moms as they go out and explore the world. Then there is Samsung Galaxy S4. 😉
5. How it Feels [through Google Glass]
A new perspective, this is what technology is all about. Google Glass though with initial flak appearance, is selling new perspective, amazement, and a new level of connectivity. Let’s admit it we all love new technology. This is why gadgets (and other technological innovations) are one of the videos with high viral probability.
6. Sherlock Mini-Episode: Many Happy Returns – Sherlock Series 3 Prequel – BBC One
This video is all about Sherlock who has been gone for two years. But someone isn’t quite convinced that the guy is now dead. This is a mini-series from BBC and made many people become curious and a fan of the trend.
7. Donald Trump vs Ebenezer Scrooge. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 3
As we all know, Donald Trump is an American businessman, investor, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. On the other hand, Ebenezer Scrooge is the focal character of Charles Dickens 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. In this video you are going to witness the parody of these cool people in our history create Epic Rap Battles. How cool is that? 😉
8. 10,000 iPhone 5 Domino
We always love to see cool things. Especially those rare special events that consumes a lot of time to create or a lot of time to practice. Be amazed by this stunning man-made creation.
You will witness the amazing domino effect of 10,000 iPhone 5. This video became viral probably because of the iPhones that are being used as the domino piece. It also highlights the smart light effects of these phones.
9. Show Your Joe
It’s Christmas season and we all love to sing inspiring Christmas carols. But we can also play the music in various ways like in this video. This video became viral probably because of the cool sound of the bell together with its unique presentation of the song. See the stats below to know how many people love this video.
10. Beans – Not for Astronauts
I guess we all think that astronauts are cool they risk their lives to go to the outer space and explore the unknown of the universe. Watch this short video animation with unexpected ending.
This video became viral probably because we love sci-fi movies. The movie gives us the trail of excitement because we can’t predict what is the next scene after the other. See the stats below.
How to make viral videos for 2014?
The question sounds pretty simple but there are actually two problems presented in this question. Creating a video is one thing and making it go viral should be another item in your To-do list. You cannot undervalue any of the two because they work hand in hand. You cannot expect a video to go viral without considering the quality of your output. You should also understand that you cannot just wait for things to happen. Do your homework and take conscious effort to help your video go viral.
Let’s start with creating a video.
Ideation
This process is one of the most essential steps in creating your viral video. This is where you squeeze out all your creative juice to produce a worth-watching video. If this is not your forte, then you should consider hiring professionals that would resonate with your business’s brand. Decide what type of viral video you like to bear your logo. Would it be a prankvertising video? How about an advocacy-based video? Making a clear vision of how you want to deliver the message of your company determines the entire video production. That’s why you should be clear with this aspect. Identify your audience and understand how you can deliver message without being boring.
Keep your Script Short and Simple
Presenting it in a more logical sequence makes it easier for your audience to digest the message. Simon Sinek presents a very compelling way of inspiring audience to take action (which is one of your goals in video production) by focusing on the “whys” of ideas. He calls this presentation the Golden Circle. Sinek says that in order to make people to take action, the presentation should be:
- Why (What your company believes in)
- How (How to solve a problem)
- What (Your unique value proposition/product/service).
A viral video should be anywhere between 30 seconds to two minutes. Anything more would be quite risky. However, you should understand that this is a case-to-case basis. If you’re confident that sticking to two minutes rule would be injustice to your idea, feel free to extend it a little.
Working with the right people
Most of business owners do not have an in-house marketing team. They do the marketing aspect of their business themselves and video marketing is something that they outsource to save them from hustles and hassles. In hiring a video production team, you should consider their know-how, portfolio, and experience in this field. Scan their portfolio and you will surely know if they can deliver the quality of video that you are looking for.
Do-it-Yourself
If you’re in a tight budget, you can create videos on your own. Fancy high definition video camera is not a requirement in making viral videos. All you need is ingenuity! In fact, you can use your iPhone and other simple cams. Consider this video from Lowe’s Home Improvement which solves the problem of its audience: It has gained 1161 interactions on Facebook and 556 tweets.
Making a Video Go Viral
Here are some actionable ways to make your hard wok pay-off.
Upload your Videos on Mondays or Tuesdays.
This is a very canny tip coming from Karen X. Cheng, “Girl Learns to Dance in a Year (Timelapse)” star and GiveIt100.com founder. The reason behind is more people are in their office, working, and checking their emails in these days. The rest of the days in a week are mostly likely busy days for them.
Social Bookmarking Sites.
Yes, this works for videos too! The conversations and upvotes on these websites are essential in creating the early adopter that you would need to spread the fire.
The Critical Mass.
The critical mass is composed of influencers in your field and people who have a huge online following. These people could be bloggers, thought-leaders, journalist, and other Youtube sensations who would be willing to promote your video to their followers. It is also strategic to approach authorities in your field so you can reach targeted audience. You can also approach business entities which have been seen in your video. They would be happy to support you with free ad you’ve done for them (just be sure it’s positive ad}.
Stay in front of your computer.
Yes, stay there and never ever leave that chair until you see your video on Youtube’s first page. Seriously, the battle doesn’t end after uploading your video on video sharing website. You should be ready to answer emails, call, text, and share your precious video on social networking website.
Conclusion
Making your video go viral requires more than creativity and uniqueness. It also needs proper execution, strategy and healthy web connections.
