A Beginner's Guide for Viral Video Marketing

Looking for the secrets that make a video go wow? Here’s everything you must know about viral video marketing!

Why Viral?

Don’t we all love those fun videos packed full of rib tickling humor? Have you shared a video lately because of its unique message, imaginative appeal or creative factor? How important is it for you to see the number of views and shares on a video before you hit the ‘play’ button?
Let’s face it. Viral videos are IN and here to stay.
Viral video marketing is one of the most effective methods of marketing on the internet. Not only is a video a powerful medium that allows you as a brand to stand out, but it also triggers sharing on a more personal level. Most people share video content when they feel that they are able to establish an emotional connection within the content, and once a video goes viral, a brand has more chances of reaching out to a wider clientele and increase their popularity and sales easily.

• Viral videos have the cool factor!
• Viral videos increase brand awareness.
• Viral videos provide a catapulted reach making your name and your brand go places!
• Viral videos spread your ideas faster without strings of geographical boundaries attached.
• Even a single successfully viral video can prove to be a perfect foundation for a series or vlog.

If official figures are to be believed, surveys show that over 169.3 million in US alone watch videos online. On the other hand, almost 50% of internet users worldwide try and watch a funny video every single day.
So what is it about a video that makes it go viral? Is there some hidden secret formula that you must include to increase the number of shares or is it all a stroke of luck?

Understanding the Concept behind Viral Video Marketing

Here are Quick and Easy Steps to Create a Video that’s Bound to go Viral!
Creating a video and making it go viral is easier said than done. Many believe that making a video go viral is a stroke of luck, but a lot depends upon the imaginative appeal, marketing strategy and personal passion behind the video.
And yes, making and marketing a viral video does not empty all your savings – in fact you can create interactive and amazing viral videos on your own without splurging too much and without any professional expertise or experience.
The following steps on creating online viral videos will prove to be gold for beginners. Take a look:

• Go for an Idea
  Are you aiming for a funny video or something with sentimental value to the audience? Decide on a couple of ideas and themes and then bring them to life visually. Remember, it is the idea that sells any brand in the world and at the end of the day, your idea will be the very reason your video went viral.
• Storyboarding and Scripting
  First things first, create a storyboard for your video. Decide how long your clip is going to be, what elements and situations are going to be in there and then write a script with the storyboard as the basis.
• Animating Your Idea
  While shooting videos with your camera is a good idea, beginners may find it tricky to comprehend. Shooting a live video requires professional expertise in handling the camera, lighting and editing so that the final result isn’t blurry, wobbly or out of sync. There are a couple of software options available for editing, but a more feasible choice for creating online viral videos is to go for animation.
  Animated videos are more likely to go viral, as they are aesthetically pleasing, visually appealing and offer a more versatile approach for all kinds of target audience, situations and products. Animaker is one of such kind. It is user-friendly tool that makes animated video making easy and fun for beginners!
• Selecting the Audio
  Once the graphic details are finalized, you have to give the right voice to your video. You can do a voice over yourself, but for more professional results in audio mixing, go for resources such as Mixcraft, DubIt and Audacity. Same goes for the background score – royalty free music for which you can purchase copyrights can be found online at websites like AudioJungle, Incompetech and Audionautix.
• Marketing While Creating: Call to Action!
  Lastly, online viral videos almost always have a message that compels people to share and relate to it. Decide your end game and call to action and make sure that the video does full justice to it!

Viral Video Marketing – How To Do It?

It’s The Way You Market That Can Make ANY Video Go Viral. So your video is live but you can’t seem to generate enough views and shares. You have used all the right resources, the charisma and punchy creativity is there and everything from the graphics to sound is perfect. Why the dipping share figures then? Creating a fun and creative video is one thing, but marketing it to the masses with the right tone is another. Whether you are a business looking to shine in the limelight with a fun and imaginative video or an individual, the following tips will prove to be a great guide for viral video marketing.

1. Decide Your Target Audience

Have you been focusing on the right target audience? Your goal should be to create a video that instantly clicks with your target audience. For example, if you are targeting the young gaming generation, an animated video featuring the popular games of the 90s will prove to be a great idea. Your audience will relate to the action figures and games that they grew up with and are more likely to share it with their pals, making your video go viral!

2. Emotional Value

Take for example, The "First kiss" video which took the internet by storm was revealed to be made by a clothing brand named “Wren”. Having received 24 million views, the online viral video managed to increase sales for the company by nearly 14,000%. This is hard to believe but numbers make sense when they revealed that 95% of the customers that purchased the products were first time buyers.

3. Get Social Media Attention

Social media is one of the best tools for viral video marketing. When your video strikes a personal connection with a viewer, they will have the urge to share the content with friends and family. You can even start sharing the video on your own until it is able to gain momentum and spread on its own.
If you have a business page on Facebook, you can provide incentives to users who are willing to share the video on their personal Facebook pages.

4. Mailing Lists

Mailing lists may seem a thing of the past but they’re still surprisingly effective. A mailing list not only spreads the content to a large number of people but also to your target market. While online viral videos are targeted at everyone, the mailing list can be focused on influencers who will be more than willing to share it.

5. Crunching the Numbers

Analytics are the only way that you can actually measure the success of your viral video. Not all views are built the same and the analytics software can help give you an indication of how your viral video is being received.
In addition, you can also keep an eye on the engagement graph which also tells you how many people left off the video in between. It will give you an indication of the time stamp where people actually closed the video and chose not to continue with it.

6. Video SEO

SEO is the most important factor when it comes to making your content searchable. Implement accurate and relevant keywords that will make sure your video is delivered before in the results. Understand the components of a YouTube search result and optimize your details accordingly.

Nailing Viral Video Marketing with Animated Videos

Viral Video marketing is a tricky but extremely rewarding tool. While there are an array of options to invest in, beginners and startups can equally take advantage of the viral video marketing concept with a simple yet engaging video that woos over the viewer the first time.
Animaker (Alpha Version) is a great tool to create animated videos on your own, with a simple drag and drop approach minus the hassle and technicality. With animated videos, you have a greater choice of exploring different elements and telling diverse stories, which means even greater chances of making a video go viral! ( For Early access Sign up our adopter's list).