The real cost of viral video and why your video wont go viral
Viral Video, every body would love to be a part of one. To get the 15 minuets of internet fame. Businesses want one so they can drive sales and increase exposure. Viral videos are great for that, but let’s be honest the next video your company makes probably isn’t going to go viral. I have countless companies that come to me and say we want to make a viral video, we want to blow the internet up and make this huge. I inevitably ask the same questions I do for many potential clients, I will ask what did you have in mind? whats your vision? and they will tell me oh well we want it to be huge like this companies viral video or that companies viral video. The videos they reference like Dollar Shave Club or Dove are all great videos and yes they had a sense of virality to them. But what these potential clients don’t understand is what it took to get to that point.
Why your video isn’t going to go viral
Yes, your video has the potential to go viral, any video really does. Think about your viral video examples that you want to emulate. Are they funny? are they heartfelt? what is it that made them viral? Your video could be the funniest thing put out on the web in decades, it could be the most heart-felt, tear jerking, hit your audience where they feel it kind of video, and it still wont go viral. Write the best piece, hire someone like me to make it look awesome and well polished and beautiful. Post it on YouTube, Facebook, tweet about it, Instagram it whatever social media you want. It still isn’t going viral. Why? blame the writers, blame me for making crap video (definitely not the case, I am very passionate about not creating crap) Blame the unknown dark side of social media, or the Millenials for that matter, they get blamed for everything. Now that we know what it isn’t, and who isn’t to blame. Why didn’t your video go viral, because it didn’t have the one thing in common that most corporate viral videos have. That one thing, budget.
Why didn’t your video go viral, because it didn’t have the one thing in common that most corporate viral videos have. That one thing, budget.
What does budget really have to do with it?
Budget is obviously important, but not for the reasons you think. It’s easy to think we hired a team of writers, we hired you to shoot a beautiful quality video, we put it out on social media and we paid top dollar for all of it. We spent almost $20,000 between video, writing and a social media manager why didn’t it work? because its more than just putting it out and hoping that people like it. Even with the best content and on every social media channel that is wildly unpredictable. So why do videos like Dove go viral? Because they pay to advertise it out constantly on every aspect of social media and internet advertising. It’s not really viral, it’s just been paid to be put everywhere, and when people see it everywhere they click on it to see what the fuss is all about. Rarely does viral content, especially corporate content naturally go viral, its given a huge boost a massive kick in the advertising and distribution budget. It’s a viral push start.
Wait, are you saying there is no such thing as real viral content?
No. I’m not saying that at all. Videos go viral all the time, sometimes with out a budget. Corporate viral videos usually don’t naturally go viral they are helped along until they get to a point of saturation that can be considered viral, ultimately becoming truly viral from that point. There are lots of non corporate, non branded videos that go viral all the time. And there is a chance that your branded video can go viral, it has been known to happen. its just not predictable, and it’s not practical to just expect the viral lightning to strike.
So how can I leverage viral content?
I want my brand to get viral and get noticed. The best way to do that is stay true to who you are and to your brand. Stay genuine, honest and make meaningful connections with your customers. Doing that will give you a higher chance of getting struck by that viral lightning. That and hiring me to create your quality video.
Another thing that can be done, leverage viral content that you can relate your business to and capitalize on. The very best (and current) example of that is the Chewbacca lady video.
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What gets better, is how it was reacted to. She had mentioned Kohl’s in her video and Kohl’s took it upon themselves to leverage this free viral advertising opportunity. Watch what they did here. I think what they did was the best way to leverage this content and get even more free advertising. Well played Kohl’s, well played.
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So you may not make the next viral video, and that should be ok. You make a video and pay for a push start and see some viral success. You may even get lucky and be able to successfully leverage some current trending content. (Get creative with it) Going viral isn’t easy, and if you don’t do it organically it isn’t cheap. At the end of the day, stay true and honest to your brand, and let going viral be like winning the lottery.
The thing about winning the lottery is, you have to play to win. Want a video to go viral? you need a video in the first place, that’s where I come in with all of this. Call me, lets talk about your video.
Let me know in the comments below what your favorite viral video is, and don’t forget to share and subscribe.
