7 Practical ways to make your video go viral on social media

By Kenneth Horsfall

Have you ever wondered how your favourite creators like Mark Angel, Mr Macaroni, Basket Mouth and a whole lot more, manage to make their videos go viral? Or have you been thinking about how to make your videos go viral in this digital age where video content is king?

Well, welcome on board; you are on the right flight to finding all the answers you need to make your video go viral on any digital platform you can mention be it Facebook, YouTube or even Instagram we have all the answers to make your next video go viral.

So, let’s begin our journey to find the answer to all your questions on how to make your videos go viral.

For starters, what exactly is a viral video? A viral video is a video that becomes popular and attracts huge traffic through a viral process of internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram as well as social media and email. 

According to recent statistics by SEMrush 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute worldwide. That means 30,000 hours of video are uploaded every hour. And 720,000 hours of video uploaded every day to YouTube.

Not just that, according to YouTube Growth Trend Statistics In 2021, there are approximately 1.86 billion YouTube users worldwide, up from 1.47 billion in 2017. It’s estimated that by 2022, there will be 210 million viewers in the U.S. alone, up from 192 million in 2018. In May 2019, there were 500 minutes of YouTube videos uploaded every minute.

What about Facebook? According to the Editor’s Choice Facebook Video Statistics, More than 4 billion video views take place on Facebook every day. 500 million viewers watch 100 million hours of video content on Facebook daily. 65% of all Facebook video views come from mobile users.

A recent statistic shows that 5 million videos were posted within 24 hours of the launch of Instagram Video. 50% of business Instagram accounts have posted an Instagram Story. 5.2 million users watched branded Instagram videos during Q1 2017.

The question now is, how do you get your video to compete favourably with this overload of content in the digital space?

Practical ways to make your next video go viral

Now that you understand how huge video contents are in this digital age, what are the practical ways to make your next video go viral? Below we’ll go into detail on each of the tactics for making your next video go viral on any platform be it YouTube, Facebook or even Instagram

Do some research first 

Creating videos on non-relevant topics will make it extremely difficult for you to succeed. S don’t just post a video on any video sharing platform be it YouTube, Facebook or Instagram.

It’s important for you to study your niche. Study the kind of videos you want to create, ask yourself what kind of videos I may be comfortable in creating? Would it be comedy videos, cooking videos, or even motivational videos?  This will help you uncover the popular subjects in your niche.

Write compelling and informative Titles

Titles are a make-or-break when it comes to your video’s performance. Ask yourself: are you presenting your content as “must-see” or “meh?”

The key to crafting killer titles is grabbing your audience’s attention without resorting to clickbait headlines. People crave content that is entertaining, and they likewise want to know what your video is about from the onset.

The takeaway here is that you should definitely spend time mulling over engaging titles rather than sticking with the first idea that pops into your head.

In terms of specifics, an oft-cited study from Tubular Insights notes that YouTube video titles should stick between 41 and 70 characters. Meanwhile, tools such as CoSchedule’s headline analyser recommends 55 characters for an engaging headline. 

Use the correct tags and hashtags

Using the right video tags can help you get a sharp edge over your competition. Many video content creators are not using this strategy. This is why they are having a tough time with getting a significant number of views for their videos.

Make videos on trending topics

Trending topics will give your videos more exposure. Your targeted audience will always make an earnest effort to keep abreast of the latest news. They want to know more about the subjects and topics that interest them.

Consider your timing

If your goal is to go viral, you’ll probably want to post your content on a weekday. Some people recommend posting early in the week, too, so that you have as many days before the weekend as possible when you have a captive audience. 

The reasoning behind this distinction is that many people are digesting content at work, on lunch breaks, or when they are otherwise browsing the Internet during the workweek.

While you can still definitely go viral on the weekend, there may be fewer people looking for content at any given time. Additionally, you’ll want to avoid posting on holidays (unless your content is relevant to the holiday). 

Keep it short

In the digital age, attention spans are shorter than ever. What does that mean for your content? Nobody (okay, almost nobody) wants to watch a ten-minute video unless it provides really clear value to them. Content that is most likely to go viral tends to be shorter in nature, ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes at most.

Stay engaged

Finally, when you hit the “post” button, your job isn’t over! For one thing, you’ll want to keep monitoring the engagement and potentially interact with your audience if you start to gain traction. If your content is successful, you’ll also need media outlets to have a way to contact you to continue to fuel your success. 

On the other hand, if your content isn’t successful, treat it as a case study and adjust for future content. Note any trends in engagement, what worked and what didn’t work, and any flukes that may have affected your content. Then, use that information to optimize your approach next time you have great content. 

With these tips in mind, you’ll have the best shot at getting your content to go viral. May the odds be ever in your favour! 

Kenneth Horsfall is the creative director and founder of Kennysoft STUDIOs Production. Kennysoft STUDIOs is a Nigerian Video and Animation Production Studio. He is also, the founder and lead instructor at Kennysoft Film Academy. I can be reached via [email protected]