Viral Videos usually aren’t made, they are born, like magic; they just happen. Im not saying you can’t try your hardest strategically and invest in development and production to put out a viral-worthy video, im just saying it’s basically like hitting the content marketing lottery. There are currently over 1 billion videos on Youtube right now and that number grows with approximately 100 hours of video uploaded by the minute. Of those videos half have fewer than 500 views. Despite the statistics that prove most videos will never reach viral status, everyone still wants one, and while we can’t say that those are actually deliverable, we can say that in our experience there are many things that hold videos back.
Your Video Lacks Passion
In a recent psychological study groups were shown neutral videos and highly emotional videos, both happy and sad. After videos were viewed the study participants were questioned on their emotions and whether they would share the videos. It was concluded that intensity of emotion, whether sad or happy have a direct affect on the sharability of a video. So you can pull our heart strings, make us laugh, stress us out, just don’t bore us. Many businesses find that the risk to produce a funny video or otherwise is too great a risk to brand and reputation, this lack of or rather inability to produce a video with passionate emotion is one of the biggest factors in a video not going viral.
Your Video Tells Me Too Much
You might have the best of intentions, your video is chock full of creativity, emotion, and interesting information, but then maybe you wanted to include a CTA, perhaps you felt as though there were more bullet points to make, well you went from video to infomercial just like that. Don’t force your video to become an ad, don’t build it up to say too much. Most viral videos are short and simple, let the video get to the point and put the bulk information somewhere else, like your website.
Your Video is Lost
If a tree fell in the woods and no one was there to hear it, did it make a sound? If no one can find your video there won’t be any laughter, interest, or sharing of any kind. Basically, your video doesn’t exist. Many viral videos that are produced by companies and brands don’t necessarily go viral because they are amazing, they go viral because they get a paid push in the right direction. Most companies lack the resources to invest in a marketing campaign to push a video that may or may not go viral in the first place, again risk.
No Social Strategy
Videos can’t go viral without being shared, so if you’ve created a great video there has to be a social media plan to back it up. Without a social sharing strategy and plan, what will you do if your video actually starts to gain momentum? Chances are if you aren’t prepared you’ll be left wondering what went wrong. There should always be a system in place that prepares for when a video gains speed and actually throws more fuel into it’s fire.
We understand that viral videos are rare and that the odds are stacked against you, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a great inspiring video for your website or company that tells your story, educates your customer base, and really adds value to your brand and your SEO. Let’s talk video, contact us today to discuss how we can make your dreams into content marketing reality.