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Creating a video is only half the battle when it comes to marketing online. To really be successful, you want the video to go viral – and that’s where it gets a bit harder because you have to raise awareness about your video and then maintain an interest in it so that viewers feel like sharing it.
Here are five tips on helping your video go viral in the marketplace:
1.) Allowing embed features
Some marketers make the big mistake of not allowing anyone to embed their videos from YouTube to their own site. You’re preventing your video form going viral because you’re limiting the sharing features available to you.
Not everyone wants to simply cut and paste a link. They want to keep people on their own domain watching the video, and letting them embed it gives you both perks – because you get the branding on someone else’s website and get to capture their own site traffic.
2.) Short video clips work best
Viral video clips are anything but long and boring. They’re fairly short, in fact. Long videos don’t tend to go viral at all. They’re less likely to keep the attention of the viewer. Work with a video less than 5 minutes long if you want it to have a viral effect.
3.) Don’t sell – share.
Viral videos don’t sell – they share information, tips and insight. Sometimes they simply share humor. Either way, you’ll get the most out of your video creation process if you remember that it’s for the benefit of your customer, and not for the purpose of lining your wallet with green. If that’s a natural side effect, then that’s a bonus for you.
4.) Get the ball rolling by sharing it yourself.
A video won’t go viral if no one knows about it. You have to give it a jumpstart and begin sharing it on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, WordPress Blogs, Squidoo and more – anywhere it can get “found” by interested viewer who will then pass it on to others.
5.) Focus on your title (leaked video, for example)
Viral videos often give off the vibe that you shouldn’t be seeing something so (insert your adjective here – shocking, amazing, special, etc.) so you want your title to reflect that. Many video marketers use a title such as “Leaked Video Shows…” to convey the fact that it’s supposed to be top secret, but you’re being let in on a little secret others don’t know.
