Viral Video

What makes a video ‘viral’?

A viral video is any clip of animation or film that is spread rapidly through online sharing. They can receive millions of views as they are shared on social media sites, reposted to blogs and the likes. According to weblebrity Kevin Nalty aka Nalts, a video becomes viral when it receives more than 5 million views in a span of 3-7 days. Not only views, but creating a buzz around the video also plays an important role in making a video viral. Discussion on online & offline media, trending tweets and Facebook posts are common ways of creating a stir for a viral video. Viral videos can be unintentional, humorous and promotional. So let’s focus on the latter and see how promotional viral videos are designed to go viral with a marketing message to raise brand awareness.

Rules for a video to go viral.

Emotional connect – Imagine you telling a strange encounter or funny joke with your friends, and your friends telling your story to other friends. This is exactly how there is a chain reaction of viewing and sharing of viral videos. Today a lot of brands are making promotional viral videos that carry an emotional hook in their video.

Avoid over promotion – Your video needs to ooze your brand’s personality without giving the ‘hard sell’. This can be achieved by being informative, highlighting USPs and relating to your brand’s audience.

Marketing & Branding Plan – It is crucial to have a marketing & branding plan when comes to the aftermath of your viral video. There is no point in getting millions of views on your video which is linked to a 10 year old website format that doesn’t derive conversions.

Unconventional ways of viral video marketing.

It is challenging for small businesses or start-ups to create viral videos as compared to big brands as they already have a relevant target audience. People lack interest when small business brands try to woo their audience with a promotional viral video. This is when brands collaborate with video production houses and influencers to be seen by maximum number of people. However there is no fixed formula to create an ideal viral video. Sometimes it just takes off-the-wall creativity that becomes a conversation starter for your target audience.