Imagine yourself scrolling social media. While going through viral content, you decide to stop and watch the presented video from time to time. You don’t watch all of them, right?
Why?
Why exactly did specific videos catch your attention? Is it because of the nice visuals, exciting plot or a surprising product?
Going even further, some videos just go viral. Suddenly they appear in internet space and become hits that people share, comment and love. Sometimes, they are not very spectacular, but they manage to make people watch, like and most importantly share the presented content with others, creating a spiral of virality.
What is the secret behind those viral videos? What are the key components?
4 steps in going viral
Research suggests that reaching virality with advertising requires 4 steps:
- attracting the attention of the potential viewer
- retaining that attention
- giving viewers a reason to share the video (CRUCIAL STEP)
- persuading viewers
It might sound simple. However, the challenge is to effectively mix all 4 ingredients and make an enjoyable & effective campaign that will stand out in the fast-paced social media world.
How to do it?
First, attract and keep the attention
Based on the data from the research the best way to catch a potential customer is to evoke a surprise. Presenting an unexpected story, a visual with a plot twist or a standing-out colour will catch the customer's eye. However, “to catch”, doesn’t mean “to keep”. To maintain the focus of your viewer, the video should put a smile on their face. Making the content enjoyable - presenting a funny story, an emotional plot, a satisfying adventure, or interesting characters - can make a difference in “staying” or “skipping”. In simple words to make a person watch a video - surprise and make the viewer smile.
However, as you probably know from your experience, people don’t share everything they watch.
To make viewers share the watched video, the ad must not only evoke emotions but must represent their personality.
Secondly, to gain shares focus on the viewer's personality
Studies suggest that the main motivation for sharing content online is egocentricity. The viewer has to feel that they gain something from sharing the video - the most common gain is reputation creation and presentation of the personality. People want shared content to present their values, needs, and personality. They want their “social media wall” to be their online representation.
Therefore, creating a video ad, it’s about making the customer look good in the eyes of friends, family, and followers. Would you like to share your brand’s campaign on your social wall?
This idea is referred to as “advertising symbiosis” - both advertiser and the customer benefit from the act of sharing.
Finally, make the content about the brand
The final step is not to forget to make a video about your brand. That’s where the next challenge comes. If you present the product too much and too obviously - you will lose your clients. If the presentation won’t be clear, viewers won't connect the video to the brand. The “golden middle” lies in the technique called “brand pulsing” - present the brand repeatedly through the whole video, but don’t make it intrusive. Make the brand part of the bigger picture, part of the story. Make the product a crucial aspect of the whole video experience.
Conclusion
The process of making the video varial is challenging. Sometimes, people are unexpected and suddenly trends make one content more popular than the other. However, this is exactly what makes it so intriguing!
To achieve desired results, be sure that your brand, by being the powerful part of the big picture, evokes emotions and connects with the viewers’ personalities to make them benefit from sharing and be satisfied with the choice that they made.
Ready to grow?
If you want your videos to go viral, and therefore engage potential customers, create a good reputation for your brand and benefit your sales - click the button below to find out if you qualify for a free strategy session with one of our specialists.
