I was online the other day and noticed a PPC advert saying the company could create viral videos.
Occasionally I see things that make me shake my head in disbelief so much I just have to write about them.
Guaranteed Success?
If it was easy to create an online viral video then surely every small business would have one. Someone might have an incredible and unique idea for a video, but there are never any guarantees that it will capture peoples' imaginations and get millions of hits on YouTube.
If you ask anyone who's enjoyed the success that comes with a viral video, they'll tell you it happened completely be accident rather than design.
When someone is advertising 'viral videos' for sale you should run a mile. There are so many different factors in play, it's impossible to make guarantees. I've seen amazing videos that have barely made a ripple on YouTube and some really poor ones that for whatever reason have become incredibly popular.
Give Yourself a Fighting Chance
With huge amounts of video content being added to YouTube every minute of every day, it's harder than ever to make a video that goes viral.
Rather than focusing on big numbers of viewers, it's best to concentrate on making a video your target market will find useful.
Things you may want to consider include:
- Is your idea unique or different in some way to what's already out there?
- Does your video answer a common problem?
- How you're going to promote your video other than just uploading it to YouTube
- Does your video elicit an emotional response?
If you can address all of the above properly, then your online video will at least have a fighting chance of becoming popular. It's worth remembering that only a tiny percentage of online videos do actually go viral.
We'd all love a viral video for our businesses that brought in hundreds of valuable leads every week. The reality is that for most of us it's just a pipe dream. Don't get distracted by shooting for the stars - keep your target market in mind when you're creating your video.