The viral video is the pot of gold at the end of the video marketing rainbow that every brand dream about. Yet it remains to most, frustratingly elusive. The fact is that viral videos are, more often than not, user generated and a complete accident rather than the result of months of careful planning.
That being said, there are many things that you can do as a business or up and coming brand to increase your chances of viral success. Let’s look at a few now.
What Constitutes Virality in 2019?
Virality promises every wannabe brand millions of fast, unpaid clicks and shares, but the reality is that it just doesn’t happen as much as it used to anymore (at least not for brands). This is partly because platforms like YouTube and Facebook have altered their algorithms and switched their focus from virality to saturation to ensure that they are promoting content audiences want to see and fully capitalising on every penny that is there to be made from every impression.
The other reason is that the definition of virality has changed with the growth of YouTube and online video more generally. Nowadays many YouTubers have huge follower counts, so their content is constantly getting hundreds of thousands or millions of views. Many of these may only be getting exposure within a certain niche, so to call it viral is not to say that it’s universally known.
If your video secures several thousand shares for every million views you will have made it into Facebook’s top 5% of the most viral advertisers. These figures don’t really reflect true virality and are in fact more indicative of a high engagement rate. So, determining what viral success means to you from the outset will ultimately provide a clearer picture of what you want your brand videos to do and help you to measure your outcomes more effectively.
Successfully creating and promoting a viral video is no easy feat and although there are no guarantees, there are things that can be done to increase your chances of securing a golden ticket to video virality.
Avoid Overtly Promotional Content
Most viral videos don’t spend any time highlighting specific features or benefits and they certainly don’t discuss pricing structures. If virality is your aim, you’re going to have to switch your focus from product promotion to brand awareness.
Reebok’s 25,915 Days campaign encourages viewers to make the most out of their every day. Similarly, to mark the revival of the Reebok brand in China, the ‘Be More Human’ brand film seeks to inspire viewers to rediscover the motivation within themselves to be brave and to start doing the things that they have always wanted to do, regardless as to whether those endeavours will be a success. Neither film overtly promotes Reebok or its products, rather they seek to align the brand with feelings of aspiration, motivation and encouragement.
The Story is Everything
Storytelling is one of the most effective ways to forge important connections between your brand and your audience because it facilitates mutual understanding and enhances understanding of your brand identity.
Google’s ‘Homeward Bound’ film tells the inspiring story of Saroo Brierley, who was adopted as a child, as he uses Google Earth to find his way back home to his birth mother. Brierley’s story remains the primary focus throughout as he explains how technology helped him to rediscover his roots. This approach demonstrates how technology can enhance lives, whilst also aligning Google as a brand with a sense of aspiration, determination and hope.
Evoking emotion from your viewers is also important. If your story has enough depth to encourage your audience to become emotionally invested in the outcome, they will watch to the end and ideally remember its messages long into the future. A prime example of this is Always’ ‘#LikeAGirl’ campaign, which seeks to challenge the stereotype that doing something ‘like a girl’ is a bad thing. Its message of empowerment is inspiring and this 3-minute film takes viewers on a powerful and memorable emotional journey.
Strive for the Unexpected
Some brand films go viral because they stand out from the crowd and do something unexpected. All viral content is talked about and not all the discourse surrounding your content will be wholly positive, but that’s normal and okay because the whole point of striving for virality is to get people talking.
PooPourri’s ‘Girls Don’t Poop’ film undoubtedly fits into the unexpected category, bringing light to a lesser-talked-about topic that many people experience. Its comical narration, quirky locations and unusual storytelling strategy has clocked up more than 40 million views and counting.
Don’t Neglect a Solid Marketing Strategy
As there is so much content out there, a comprehensive activation and marketing strategy is essential to ensuring your brand film is seen by the right people at the right time. In addition to creating the type of content that audiences want to watch, your marketing strategy should also include:
- The SEO and optimisation tactics you will utilise.
- How you plan to ensure your audience are excited about the launch.
- The steps you will take to guarantee that your video is easily discoverable.
- Details of your on-site landing page that will showcase your brand film, including meta descriptions, URL keywords and calls-to-action (CTAs).
Although there are no guarantees that your brand film will go viral, video marketing is still one of the most effective ways to increase brand awareness and connect with your ideal audience in meaningful and valuable ways.
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