Common Aspects Viral Marketing Videos Share

Viral videos are like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; often fantasized about but not easily found. As a top web development company we are often asked, how can you easily make a viral video? While unfortunately the word easy is not often part of the equation, we have compiled a list of the common aspects viral marketing videos share that can help during the crafting process and increase the likelihood of your video sprouting wings and taking flight.

Science and Sharing

There have been quite a few studies performed and paper written about the psychology behind viral success. Generally speaking there are two primary reasons things are shared:

• Social Motivation – This encompasses the reason you want to share something and is often the broader category. For example people like to share things they think people will appreciate or that will make them appear to share similar values.
• Psychological Response – You have a response to the content in that it creates an emotional response of some sort.

The most popular viral marketing videos typically have aspects that fall into one of these categories.

Common Viral Video Aspects

• Emotional Triggers – If you want to induce a psychological response then you need to have some sort of emotional trigger. Humor is always a good choice because people love to share funny videos often regardless of the message or marketing behind it. Around the holidays you see videos that focus on family connections or nostalgia. Other people use fear such as fear of missing out or concern over loved ones like driving and texting videos to create a trigger.
• Focused on the Message – The message of the video should be clear with branding secondary and in the background. Some of the biggest marketing mistakes have taken place when people put the brand first and the message or focus second. Some of the best videos are the ones where you are invested in the story and at the end your finally realize the branding.
• Connect to Real Problems – What are issues that your target demographic faces? How does your product or service fix or solves those problems? If you are providing something of value that a lot of people would benefit from then it increase the share and viral factor as people will then share it with someone they know who could also benefit. People have successfully mixed parodies of normal situations to highlight real problems people have in a funny way.
• Perceived as Real versus Staged – Products or services should be showcased taking place in real life with real people. Yes, people understand that videos can be crafted but even within that it is the raw moments that get the shares. Savvy marketers have begun to weave real video clips showing their products and services in action into marketing videos to showcase how their business intersects with the real world around us.

Another aspect worth mentioning, although it is not part of primary share reasons, is video length. The longer a video is the less likely it will be shared extensively. The ideal video length is somewhere in the 1 to 3 minute range. That means you need to engage and get your point across quickly.

People simply don’t wish to take the time (on average) to watch long videos so even if they get modest shares, the viral aspect often does not take hold unless the video is truly phenomenal.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that creating a viral sensation is not easy. There is always quite a bit of luck involved in finding that pot of gold. However, these common aspects viral marketing videos share should be integrated into your planning process to ensure that your videos have the best chance possible to find themselves at the end of the rainbow.

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