Let’s start with the basics. What do we mean by "viral video"?
A piece of content goes viral when it really takes off on social media and reaches a massive audience quickly, gaining an unusual amount of shares and exposure. Whether it’s a tweet, a Facebook post, or a video, many different types of content can go viral.
Videos can go viral on a variety of platforms, from TikTok to YouTube, Instagram, and more. But what does it take to create a viral video? And how can you ensure that the largest possible audience sees your video content?
In this article, the production team at ACOUSTIC COMUNICACIÓN shares some tips to make your life easier.
1. Start with a Detailed Brief
The first step to any potential viral video is to plan everything thoroughly and create a brief and a storyboard. The purpose of completing a detailed creative strategy brief is to clarify your real objectives, key messages, tone, length, distribution channel, and more.
A good brief helps align the messaging and overall purpose of the video across both the content and video production teams. This way, all your brand’s content will be cohesive and share the same overarching vision, strengthening it.
2. Know Your Audience
If you don't know anything about the people you're targeting, your video will fail every time. To truly create a piece of content that goes viral among your target audience and beyond, you need to know what will impact them enough to make them want to share your video.
A great way to ensure your team fully understands your target audience is by creating an empathy map. This will give you insight into what will capture your audience's attention so your content fits perfectly with what they are searching for online.
3. Identify Your Goals
So, you want to create a viral video… but why? Simply wanting something to go viral isn’t enough for a solid social media marketing strategy. You also need to know why and what for.
Are you just looking to build brand awareness? Are you hoping to grow your online followers? Or are you aiming to drive conversions through this viral video?
Each purpose will require creating very different videos for audience segments at different stages of the funnel, so you need to have a clear idea of your goals well before you start production. But don't worry — at ACOUSTIC COMUNICACIÓN, we’re experts in guiding you through this.
4. Start Strong
Every good viral video grabs attention immediately. The best way to do this is by using the word "you" within the first five seconds of your video. Research shows that videos using language like "you" or "your" in the opening moments have higher retention rates.
Other ways to kick off your video for maximum impact include:
A. Creating a plot twist or being unpredictable
B. Making your content relatable
C. Engaging your viewers’ emotions
D. Using original audio clips or music that grabs attention
E. Forgetting about being promotional, at least for a moment
5. Tell a Story
The last tip from our social media video production team on making a video go viral is all about captivating your audience through storytelling.
You want to tell a compelling story in a short amount of time (viral videos shouldn’t be long) by choosing a universal context for your creative concept.
Play with tropes your audience is familiar with, so they can jump straight into your video without needing much backstory. This is a great way to create a relatable video that your audience can truly connect with and will want to share with friends and family. It’s also an excellent starting point to subvert expectations and grab attention.
Tips to Increase Video Visibility
Now that we've covered our team's five expert tips for creating viral videos, let's talk about a few ways to increase the visibility of your videos overall — from optimizing your title and description to using hashtags and crafting a promotional plan.
1. Produce Short and Concise Videos
Even if your video has a compelling intro that draws viewers in, you still need to make sure you keep their attention and not hold them too long.
Viral online videos aren’t meant to be lengthy. That’s why platforms like TikTok limit video lengths to 60 seconds. Based on experience, for a video to truly go viral, the ideal length on Instagram is 15 seconds for feed and stories, 15 to 30 seconds for reels, and 15 seconds max on TikTok. Otherwise, you risk losing your viewer, and they certainly won’t feel compelled to share your video with anyone.
2. Add Subtitles or a Sign Language Interpreter Box
Adding subtitles or a sign language interpreter box to your videos not only increases accessibility but also enhances the user experience by allowing people to watch your videos without needing to turn on the sound.
Given that people often scroll through social media at times when they can’t use sound, adding subtitles will help you reach a wider audience who can watch and share your video no matter where they are, who they are, or what they’re doing.
3. Choose a Powerful Title
Whether your video is for YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, writing a strong, catchy title will optimize your video.
Your title and description not only explain what your video is about but should also spark curiosity and help your video rank higher in search results. While this doesn’t mean everything should be in all caps, the clickbait-style video titles you often see on YouTube or in Facebook captions show that you should take time to craft a quality title and description that will boost views.
Especially on YouTube, video optimization is incredibly important to maximize the potential reach your video could have in searches.
4. Use Hashtags
Hashtags are a popular and effective strategy to increase reach across many different social media platforms, and video platforms like YouTube and TikTok are no exception.
Using popular hashtags in the caption on TikTok or in the description on YouTube can help a wider audience find your video while they’re searching for similar content. Just make sure you only include hashtags relevant to your video, not just random trending hashtags.
5. Promote Your Video
You’re not likely to get a viral video without doing some promotion yourself. Don’t just post your content and wait eagerly for it to be seen and shared.
Instead, craft a full promotional strategy with plans to share your video across platforms, as well as how to best market and advertise on the platforms where you initially posted the video.
Use platforms where your audience is most active to maximize the chances of them finding your video and sharing it with their networks. Your own promotional strategy is step one to boosting the audience your viral video will reach.
Don’t you think it’s time for your brand, product, or organization to shine with a professionally produced viral video? At ACOUSTIC COMUNICACIÓN, we’re ready to take you to the next level with a team of professionals committed to making your video go viral. Remember, incorporating viral videos into your overall video marketing strategy can be an excellent way to increase reach, brand awareness, and conversions.
Write to us on WhatsApp, call our PBX (502) 6610-6000 or send us an email to: info@acousticcomunicacion.com
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