What makes a video go viral?

Thinking about making your video go viral? What makes a video go viral? Well, you came here so that’s a good place to start. I have dug up the research and I’ve figured out what many others have figured out and what many others wish they could pull off.

What makes a video go viral? Jimmy Kimmel seems to have a lot to do with it, but what are you going to do that is going to make you catch Kimmel’s eye?  Are you going to pull off the most epic prank by posting a “worst twerk fail EVER- Girl on fire” and then later reveal that you were actually the one behind it. Hmm… all interesting thoughts, but here are some tips that will help you create an epic viral video that will have the rest of the world going absolutely nuts.

• The first thing you have to keep in mind while creating your viral video is that you should always tell a great story. If you concentrate on the concept for your video and tell a remarkable story people will be interested. People definitely will not tune in long to your video if it isn’t compelling and they most certainly won’t share it if is explaining how your brand is better then the next guy. What sets you apart from the rest? There is your viral video.
• The idea has to be “really something”. What I mean by that is that it needs to make you feel an extreme emotion. It can be happy, sad, funny or gross. Make people cry so much their head hurts, so happy that they are on cloud 9, so funny that they practically pee themselves and so gross they throw up on their boyfriend or girlfriend.
•  Also, it is absolutely crucial for you to capture your audience within the first 5 seconds. This can be done through a variety of methods. You can do this through having a killer track playing in the background, dramatic intros, action sequences, but the most useful thing that will help is the use of celebrities.
• It is also a good idea to make sure that the right people view your video. A great example of this is the viral video called “double rainbow”. At first, this video wasn’t very popular, but after Jimmy Kimmel tweeted about it, the views suddenly skyrocketed and it now has almost over 37 million views. Crazy.
• If nobody interacts with your video in the first 24 hours of its release it will probably struggle to go viral. YouTube monitors how many times a video has been interacted with – likes, comments, shares, and completed views during the first 24 hours.

When trying to get a video to go viral you must try to focus on it being shared rather than be concerned with the amount of views it has. The more people that share your video the more views you will get. Essentially sharing helps you get views. Remember all these things and you will be sure to get the attention of someone like Mr. Kimmel.  Just make sure to thank me and not Mr. Kimmel when you get that interview on his show.

Patricia Ferreira, Raven5 Ltd, Oakville, Ontario March 2014