A Secret Formula for Powerful Viral Videos
Video is king–viral videos get more engagement on social media and rank higher on search engines than posts or pages with just text and photos. This makes video a powerful content component of any social media marketing plan.
Nearly any solopreneur or entrepreneur can leverage video to market your products and services. So, what makes a video go VIRAL? And, what’s the secret to make YOUR OWN videos more viral?
I’ll show you a powerful formula in just a second that will surprise you with just how much of a difference it can make for every video you create.
Characteristics Of Viral Videos
Viral videos tend to have several characteristics in common.
First, they have stunning imagery. They catch the attention quickly and hold it. Let’s face it… for most of us, a talking selfie video just won’t cut it.
Second, they engage many of the senses. The visual imagery moves quickly. The audio track often includes engaging music. And, narration is often overlaid as text captions.
Third, they draw the viewer on, wanting to watch longer. They make the viewer wait with bated breath for what comes next. They give tantalizing hints that something amazing is still to come.
The secret viral video formula I’ll show you in just a minute will help you create powerful videos with all of these characteristics.
The characteristics are important, because they give clues of what search engines and social media platforms look for in their ranking algorithms.
The first important ranking criteria is how long viewers keep watching a given video. Do they only watch the first 20 percent? Or do they hang on and watch to the end?
And the second important ranking criteria is how much engagement viewers give to the video. Do they like it, comment on it, and share it? Do people subscribe to the channel as a result of watching the video?
By knowing all of what I’ve described above, you can better appreciate this viral video formula.
The Formula For POWERFUL Viral Videos
When you examine the top-performing videos on YouTube and Facebook, many have one thing in common…
They follow a format called the listicle. A listicle is an article that’s made up of a list.
The listicle format is powerful because it draws the viewer in with a gripping problem, which it promises to solve by way of a numbered list. Then, it hooks and holds their attention through the end of the video, since the viewer’s mind wants to complete the list.
In addition, since listicles are short and easy to digest, the viewer is more likely to watch to the end. But, importantly, the list portion of the listicle provides real and meaningful value.
Best of all, a listicle is quick and simple to create. Producing one listicle a week is a slam-dunk. Producing one listicle per day is even do-able.
So now, as promised, here is the secret listicle formula for powerful, viral videos:
Listicle — The Pieces-Parts For Viral Videos
A listicle is made up of four simple parts:
- Captivating Title
- Introduction
- Bulleted List
- Call-To Action
Here’s more detail on each of the parts.
1. Captivating Title
In many ways, the title is the most important part of the listicle. It is what first attracts the viewer and creates the gripping desire to want to watch the video.
It should be interesting, to the point, and should convey a powerful benefit. Here are some examples of strong listicle titles:
5 ______ You Won’t Believe About ______
3 Simple Tricks To ______
6 Secrets For Achieving ______ Without Having To ______
Here’s one of the best ways to come up with titles:
Go to the grocery store and stop at the magazine counter. Pick up magazines, such as The Enquirer, and take a look at the article headlines. You’ll find some incredible examples of headlines that will make great listicle titles, with just a little modification.
2. Introduction
The objective here is to introduce the problem or topic and explain the reason for the list that will follow. The whole introduction should be ONLY 2–3 paragraphs. The introduction is made up of just two sections:
Section 1: Introduce the topic of the video and describe the central problem you’ll be talking about.
EXAMPLE:
Did you know that the average adult spends more than 8 weeks out of every year commuting in their car? It’s a shame that so many people essentially waste that time, when it’s possible for their car to be one of their most productive zones.
Section 2: Introduce the list as the solution to the problem.
EXAMPLE:
So in this video I’ll show you 4 incredibly simple hacks you can make in order to turn your commuting time into well-organized, comfortable, productive time.
3. Bulleted List
The list is the bulk of your content. The nice thing is that each item in the list follows its own mini-formula. Since each item is a brief, self-contained bite-sized piece of information, listicles can be written quickly and easily.
Your list should have between 3 and 10 items. Fewer than 3 doesn’t give meaty enough information and more than 10 will overload the viewer.
Step #1: State The Numbered Item
EXAMPLE:
#1 — The Driver’s Seat
Step #2: Describe The Common Problem
Use no more than 2 to 3 sentences to describe the common problem viewers find with this problem.
EXAMPLE:
For most cars (even the expensive luxury ones), the driver’s seat is shockingly uncomfortable. The lack of basic ergonomics can leave your legs, back, and neck feeling terribly cramped and sore.
This distracts from your driving safety, gets in the way of feeling productive in the car, and leaves you in a bad state of mind when you arrive at your destination.
Step #3: Tell About Your Alternative Solution
Spend 1 to 3 paragraphs describing your alternative solution that will solve the problem from Step 2.
EXAMPLE:
A simple way to cure a poorly-designed driver’s seat is to invest in a lumbar-support cushion. By simple supporting your lower back, a good lumbar support will actually address many of the worst driver’s seat design problems. And, getting your lumbar in the proper position will do wonders for your back and neck during a long drive.
This simple, 3-step formula repeats for every item in your list. Focus on making every step short, simple, and interesting, with just a bit of punch.
EXAMPLE List Item #2:
State the list item:
#2 — A Recording DeviceDescribe the common problem:
Driving time is great thinking time. And while thinking in the car, you can get some of your most powerful ideas. But without a way to record these ideas, they’re often lost forever.Tell About Your Alternative Solution:
Since trying to write while driving is a bad idea for safety reasons, it’s helpful to keep a hand-held voice recorder in the car. You can dictate your idea onto the voice recorder while driving, and then write it down in your notebook after you reach your destination.
4. Call-To-Action
EVERY video that you create should include a call-to-action. What that call-to-action will be depends to a large extent on your purpose for creating your video.
At the very least, your basic call-to-action should be an invitation to like, share, comment, and/or subscribe. These are all fundamental actions that you want your audience to take, in order to help your video go viral.
Your viewers almost never will take these actions on their own. But if you include the invite in your call-to-action, a large percentage of your viewers will.
In addition, you may want to include an additional call-to-action, such as subscribing to your email newsletter, or downloading a free report via Messenger.
Here are some call-to-action examples:
EXAMPLES:
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Engage Viral Drive
Everything I’ve described about the listicle formula gives you the foundation (or script) for a riveting viral video. So, here are a few more key points that will take your video over the top.
Video Variety
The visual appearance of your video should have as much attention-grabbing variety as possible. This is necessary to grab your viewer’s attention in the first place, and then hold tight to that attention all the way to the end of the video.
Use a number of quality, spectacular, and even breathtaking pictures throughout the full duration of the video. Then, apply a variety of layouts and transitions to keep the interest level strong.
Thumbnail Image
Your video’s thumbnail image is often the only part of your video that your viewers will see, particularly while scrolling on social media. So, the thumbnail image should be so compelling that it drives your viewer click on it in order to watch the video.
Always create a custom thumbnail for your video. It should include a vibrant, colorful picture, and the title of your video.
Visual And Audio Narration
Many viewers will first see your video without any sound, while scrolling through their feed. Because of this, you should include both a visual narration that your viewer can read with the sound off, and an audio narration (preferably in your own voice) that they can listen to with the sound on.
The way that you create your visual narration will depend on how you create your video. You can leverage YouTube’s captioning capabilities, which will add closed caption text after the fact.
A better approach is to build the visual narration right into the layout of your video. This makes the narration text part of the video’s layout variety, as I described above.
Finally, round out your narration with a moving, compelling music track. Studies have shown that videos with music draw more engagement than videos without. But make sure that it is the right music, so that you don’t run into copyright issues.
And THAT is is the secret formula to creating POWERFUL viral videos. By making use of the listicle formula, and by incorporating the final, key elements, your videos will perform better than they ever did before.
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