As various social media platforms gain popularity, the prospect of creating a viral video becomes increasingly appealing to many. Over the last decade, the process and guidelines for creating a viral video have evolved significantly.
From the videos that rose to fame on America’s Funniest Home Videos, to watching creators on YouTube generate various types of content, and now seeing the millions of TikTok videos on the “For You” page that are produced each day worldwide. Producing a viral video and presenting it to the public seems to have become easier over time. However, as simple as it may appear, producing and publicizing a viral video is a very complex concept. It calls for a significant amount of time, effort, consideration, and planning. This post will lay out the foundation for creating a video with potential to go viral.
What makes a viral video?
Much like a fire that spreads quickly and consumes everything in its path, a viral video overtakes a large audience that appreciates or relates to a certain aspect of the video. The video is shared and reposted thousands of times, generating different opinions. People are able to express their thoughts through the interactive tools that are frequently available within the video. Ultimately, this continues to bring more attention to the video that has now gone viral and continues to grow until, eventually, another video steals the spotlight and the process repeats itself.
Examples of Viral Videos
“Charlie Bit My Finger” – 2011
“Apparently” – 2015
The Corn Kid – 2022
How can I make my videos go viral in four simple steps?
Step 1 – Identify and Understand Your Audience
Before you start creating content that you hope will go viral, you should decide who you want to reach with these videos. Perhaps you are a beauty influencer who will review various makeup products, clothing brands, and beauty appliances for an audience interested in making such purchases. Maybe you do tutorials on crafts, cooking, building, and so on. In that case, aim for an audience that is interested in what is being taught in each video. When it comes to finding an audience with whom you want to interact, the possibilities are endless. However, keep in mind that the audience you choose is not set in stone. It’s okay to experiment and see what content gets the most views and what people are interested in seeing. Do what works for you, but don’t be too inconsistent, and make sure that each video you create has a specific audience in mind.
Step 2 – Produce relevant and engaging content
Relevant
While browsing through your preferred social media platform, you may have noticed that every video that has gone viral and received attention is about something that is currently popular. Whether it’s politics, humor, conflicts, instructional videos, or other similar topics, content creators who want their posts to reach a larger audience include themes that will keep their viewers interested in what they have to offer.
Engaging
Videos must also be engaging in order to connect with the audience. By asking your viewers what they would like to see, you can accomplish this. The audience should understand what you’re trying to accomplish by posting these videos and find it engaging enough to show their family and friends. Your goal in creating a viral video is to make it as enjoyable and interesting as possible in the hopes that people will share it with others, ultimately helping you receive more viewers, likes, followers, and people who will check the content you are posting on a regular basis, which will help your future videos grow in fame as well.
Step 3 – Catch your audience’s attention
People select the most interesting video based on caption and visual aspects when trying to find something to watch. Some content creators take advantage of this by creating clickbait. Clickbait is content that captures people’s attention but does not deliver on the promise made in the caption or thumbnail. People will quickly lose interest in viral videos if they don’t understand the captions and previews!
Avoid click-baits at all cost, do this instead.
Instead of click-baiting your audience, try to think of captions that relate to your video but are also interesting enough to catch the attention of people scrolling through their phones. Take this opportunity to highlight the most important part of your video. During the production of your video, you may have experienced something crazy, which you can include in the caption. Furthermore, you can have visual proof of these events as the thumbnail. This will draw in your target audience and keep them watching the video as they wait to see what the caption is about.
Step 4 – Promote your content
After you’ve completed all of the other steps and posted the video you want people to view, make sure to publicize your account and get that video seen. Asking friends and family to like, comment, and share it is a great way to publicize. Also, you can share a link to the video you created on another public platform. Furthermore, you can promote videos by using the most interesting segment to catch people’s attention. This draws people to your content through curiosity. As more people see your video, it will gain popularity and increase its chances of going viral.
In Conclusion
This post has given you all the steps you need to make your videos go viral. However, remember that only a small percentage of videos go viral due to luck, hard work, and dedication. Boost your chances of going viral by following these steps every time you post a video. Do not give up in the face of adversity. Instead, show your viewers that your content is improving despite not receiving enough attention.
