Inspired by a new "viral video" that I have been working on (to be launched next week!), here is a list of 10 video qualities that encourage others to share video content throughout blogs and social media sites.
It's not a specific equation to creating viral content; it's more like a game of bingo. The more of the below qualities you have, the higher the chances that your video will win ... and "go viral."
1) Do a parody/spoof of something familiar. By playing off of something that everyone already knows--for example, a popular song, movie or a TV show--people will have a reference point to relate to your content. This made Al Yankovic famous. It's the humor of seeing something familiar in a new way.
2) Incorporate music. Elements that stimulate other senses (short of smell or taste) make your video much more engaging and entertaining. Hint: Create your own music or use music under a Creative Commons license. It would be a bummer if YouTube removed sound due to a record company's copyright.
3) Make your video very short. My favorite piece of advice regarding content creation is " murder your darlings. " You actually add more value if you make your content easy to consume! No matter how much awesome footage you may have, cut it down to the absolute minimum. Most people only have a few minutes or LESS to watch a video.
4) If you use music, keep it uptempo. Though deviations to this tip exist, using upbeat music as a background or focus tends to grab the viewer's attention and raise the excitement. In my experience, faster music has performed much better than slow .
5) Edit your video into sharp, quick scenes. Every second of your video is a game to keep the viewer's attention. If you spend 15 or more seconds on one scene, your audience may get bored and close out. Having quick scenes (perhaps 3-10 seconds each) stirs curiosity and increases the likelihood that the video will be watched all the way through.
6) Be funny to people other than you. Avoid "inside baseball" when trying to be funny in your videos. You may think you are creating humorous content, but would outsiders appreciate it? Is it an inside company joke that others might not understand? Test your video on a few people outside your company before publishing!
7) Don't get stuck on quality. Awesome video doesn't need to be recorded on an expensive camera, in HD, or edited by a film editing pro. The value comes in the creativity of your ideas, not in the gloss.
8) Be bigger than life. People love watching crazy things that they would never see in everyday life. Take risks and capture something remarkable on camera. Act silly, create ridiculous office scenes, or do amazing (but safe!) stunts. This is the same type of creativity that brought SNL to the top!
9) Shock your viewer in first 5 seconds. The first 5 seconds of your video determine whether the person will keep watching or not. Don't make the mistake of having a long intro in order to "set the stage." Jump right in and grab their attention before the viewers move on to something else.
10) Remove as much "corporate friction" as possible. This is a tough one for companies that create content as part of a marketing program. (Like us!) If you throw your logo everywhere and have a sales-related call-to-action, people will consider it a commercial and won't want to pass it along. Our best advice is to find a balance that is subtle and creative. Can you ask your audience to do something that indirectly relates to your company?
What other qualities make a video viral? What are some of your favorite viral videos?
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John Haydon 8:03 AM on July 07, 2009
Very funny, guys! I just created a video post last night that incorporates 9 of the 10 points (left out #1)! Do I get a prize?
Here's the video:
http://johnhaydon.com/2009/07/save-time-commenting-tweeting-promoting/
Stevie the K 9:14 AM on July 07, 2009
"Al Yankovitz"?!
Aleksey 9:22 AM on July 07, 2009
you miss 7th and 8th quality
Daniel Sevitt 9:47 AM on July 07, 2009
After spending more time than is sensible working with viral video, I'm not sure it's the best use of a limited marketing budget.
Viral videos have no ROI model and no way of measuring their impact. Better to create a video with a specific purpose (such as increasing conversion) and then testing to see if it does what it's supposed to.
I wrote about my breakup with viral video here: http://blog.eyeviewdigital.com/2009/05/breaking-up-with-viral-video.html
Rebecca Corliss 10:30 AM on July 07, 2009
Daniel: I disagree. All of the video I've created cost no more than my time. (We already had the computer and the camera.)
What about building inbound links (through bloggers writing about your content)? Or visitors to your blog, increasing your reach? Those are all the first steps to getting found! It's also great for branding and teaching.
A.M. McReynolds 11:04 AM on July 07, 2009
Of course, discussion of viral video sent me hunting for the party jump-off of 2008: "Computer Friends" [Stack the Memory] by Sniper Twins feat. Rob Collier" for Seagate, which has amassed 638,853 views on YouTube. "It’s so bad you can’t stop watching it. And the music is catchy too," said TechCrunch.
Maria Reyes-McDavis 11:07 AM on July 07, 2009
Great list, I love the part, and believe it's most important -- you don't have to focus on quality or spending a ton of money. Too many squander money, never focusing on the real keys to viral video (the rest of your list).
Eric Guerin 11:55 AM on July 07, 2009
Great post Rebecca! I would include an 11th which would be "Call-to-action" whether that is something built into the story or script of the video or something embedded into the player, ultimately you want to "direct" the viewer to take the next step - whatever that may be. This is critical if part of your viral campaign is to utilize video sharing sites like YouTube because you don't want the viewers brand engagement to stop there.
Your 3rd and 9th points are the most critical and most often overlooked. I took a look at this in my blog post with statistics "How Much of a Typical Online Video Is Actually Watched?"
Rebecca Corliss 11:57 AM on July 07, 2009
Eric: Good point. That ties into #10 I think. Have a CTA, but be very, very, very smart about what it is so your viewers have don't have push back hurting your video's "virility."
philip light 12:52 PM on July 07, 2009
I'm struggling with #10 right now! The company I work for has been interested in doing videos, but they want to do old school, boring, infomercial style videos. I keep trying to get them to loosen up and not worry so much about branding and being so serious. People don't want to watch a bunch of "stuffies" pushing their wares.
John Haydon 1:00 PM on July 07, 2009
@CliffMedling - thanks for the feedback on the video.
GabeMac 8:04 PM on July 07, 2009
Wow. We have moses of Viral Video here folks! Can we analyze some of there? I mean yeah they are good pints, but not very in depth. Spoofs are good, however the reason spoofs work is becuase they can touch on popular culture. When you can tap into something that everyone understands, you are doing well, spoof or not.
Music is a great bandaid I agree. I use it all the time for my videos, becuase they suck without them. Why becuase, I couldn't bother to spend the time to make them good videos, so I throw on a music bandaid. But that doesn't make it viral.
Shortvideos are good, but that has more to do with screen size to attention span ratio more than anything. Most great virals are one long shot actually not cut. It really is a revival of the cinema verite or the Italian neo realists in that sense as a film style. As far as humor goes, can you answer me where in the world are the humurous aspects of Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance or for that matter Christian the Lion? Humor is difficult to get right. It's not like EVERYONE is just funny, but people do appreciate a great visual, or true story. That's why Susan Boyle is so big. Not the Eyebrow, it's the human story. Be bigger than life is a good one, but seriously dude? Isn't that what entertainment and films are all about in the end? That's what hollywood has been selling us for years? It's the creativity that people enjoy, not the stupid jackass tricks. People have seen all that on Break.com. Now hearding a bunch of sheep with LED lights into the shape of Mona Lisa, now that is Bigger than life. Not through a stunt, but through creativity. And that video did great views for Samsung's LED technology. I'm talking about Samsung Extreme Sheep LED Art video.
Here is 3 tips for viral:
1. Be creative and original with what you make.
2. Be aware of what device people will be watching it on. Different screen sizes, headphones, mobile, psp, etc.
3. Tell your friends.
If that doesn't work, do what the majority of people do. Find a viral that is working, and remake it.
gabemac 8:06 PM on July 07, 2009
By the way sorry for the spelling mistakes in the earlier. I hate writing, prefer visual, and I've been smoking congo grass all night long. thanks for the post though!
GabeMac 8:09 PM on July 07, 2009
@philip light
don't e so quick to judge those stuffy videos. Depends on the target audience. Couple years ago I did some stuffy videos for a bank which I thought would never fly. turns out they made 2 billion in sales off those stuffy internet videos. Bastards only paid me 60k. Take the money and split, go make your own fun video. Unless your name on the credit? Don't worry. And if doesn't work, tell them "I told you so".
Philip Light 6:09 AM on July 08, 2009
@GabeMac
Interesting point on the stuffy vids. Given the target audience, it could go both ways. The older generation of clients would probably prefer the stuffy video, but I doubt they're surfing youtube for videos in our niche. The younger generation clients might still find stuffy worthwhile, but the recruiting aspect would probably fail for being stuffy. I think too, that you never really know what the masses will want. Best to just put it out there and see what happens. Doing nothing, well, will result in nothing.
Brent 11:22 AM on July 12, 2009
Great stuff! I too have wondered about this, ways to make things go a little more "viral". I am producing a little show called ThriveAMERICA... let me know if you are ever in Atlanta and could come out and discuss further.
here is a link to some recent videos we produced: http://www.youtube.com/blankstage24
Jur 2:56 AM on July 13, 2009
Well done, great! The 4 G's [in dutch] are essential and with a focus on Humor.....
here is a link to the beste car virals...www.autovirals.nl
neo 4:39 AM on July 20, 2009
really great stuff. specially this one "7) Don't get stuck on quality"