YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world, not to mention that it makes up an enormous part of our lives. With so much time spent watching videos on YouTube, you would think there are a whole lot of ways for your video to go viral. However, there are just a few key aspects that will make your video take off and get millions of views!
Here are the top five ways to make YouTube go viral :
Link to a relevant influencer
This is the best way to go viral, and it doesn’t cost a single cent. Make sure that you choose the influencer of your niche or someone who has at least 100k subscribers. If they like your video, they will share it on their social media and give you a shoutout at the end of their video. The best part is that this works for free!
Making people laugh or smile
People love to watch videos where they can feel good about themselves – either by laughing, crying, feeling inspired, or even having fun. People like watching videos that can make them feel something.
This means you should be more creative with the content of your video. Try to incorporate some key elements like humor, fun actions, or even music (if it’s relevant). For example, if you’re cooking a recipe try to add funny dialogue in-between steps and keep people entertained throughout the whole process!
Share your videos on social media platforms
The most common way to make the youtube video go viral is via social media. When you are posting your work on Facebook or Twitter, making it public allows other people who don’t have an account with that particular platform to see this content too! Make sure to use hashtags and tag people in the comments so it stays on top of their feed.
Embed Your Youtube videos on relevant websites and blogs
Today, the internet is crawling with websites and blogging platforms that are focused on one specific topic or subject. If your video relates to such a site/blog, you can embed it there so as to allow other people to watch it while they read up about its relevant content. Try to find at least ten sites like this for every video.
Use Youtube Ads to promote your video
You can make a paid promotion on Youtube to drive more views and subscribers for the videos you own or work for. YouTube ads are a great way to increase exposure for your videos, but you need to make sure that the content of the video is engaging enough so people will click on it.
You can also use Google Adwords in order to promote your brand or product effectively via Youtube channels and videos with a good relevance score. There are several other ways in which you can promote your videos via paid advertising, for example through Facebook ads.
In order to have a successful YouTube Ads campaign, you need to create an ad that is relevant and engaging with high-quality content in it so people will be interested enough in clicking on the video or link within the advertisement. It is also important that keywords are properly used in the advertisement so people can be easily directed to your video.
Creating a viral YouTube video is both an art and a science, involving strategic planning, creative content, and effective promotion. Here are expert tips to help you increase your chances of making a video go viral:
1. Create Compelling Content
Unique and Original: Ensure your content is unique and stands out from the millions of videos on YouTube.
High Quality: Invest in good quality production. Clear audio, sharp visuals, and professional editing make a big difference.
Emotional Appeal: Videos that evoke strong emotions—whether it’s laughter, inspiration, shock, or empathy—are more likely to be shared.
2. Engaging Titles and Thumbnails
Catchy Titles: Craft compelling and descriptive titles that grab attention and include relevant keywords for SEO.
Eye-catching Thumbnails: Design custom thumbnails that are visually appealing and accurately represent your video content.
3. Optimize for SEO
Keywords: Use relevant keywords in your video title, description, and tags to help it rank in search results.
Descriptions: Write detailed descriptions with relevant keywords and links to related content or your social media.
Tags: Use a mix of broad and specific tags to reach a wider audience.
4. Engage with Your Audience
Call to Action: Encourage viewers to like, comment, share, and subscribe at the end of your video.
Respond to Comments: Engage with your viewers by responding to their comments and building a community.
Interactive Content: Create polls, ask questions, or encourage viewers to participate in challenges.
5. Leverage Social Media
Share Widely: Share your video on all your social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Collaborations: Collaborate with influencers and other content creators to reach a broader audience.
Hashtags: Use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts.
6. Utilize Cross-Promotion
Email Newsletters: Include your video in your email newsletters to reach your subscribers directly.
Blogs and Websites: Embed your video in blog posts or on your website to increase views from your existing audience.
7. Consistent Posting Schedule
Regular Uploads: Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.
Series and Playlists: Create video series or playlists to encourage binge-watching.
8. Engage with Trends
Trending Topics: Create content around trending topics, challenges, or events to capitalize on what people are currently interested in.
Seasonal Content: Make videos related to holidays, seasons, or special events that people are searching for.
9. Optimize Video Length
Keep it Concise: Shorter videos (around 5-10 minutes) tend to perform better, especially if they are engaging and to the point.
Viewer Retention: Ensure that your video maintains viewer interest throughout to improve watch time, a key factor in YouTube’s algorithm.
10. Use YouTube Analytics
Track Performance: Regularly check YouTube Analytics to understand how your videos are performing.
Audience Insights: Use data on viewer demographics, watch time, and traffic sources to refine your content strategy.
11. Engage with YouTube Community
Comments and Forums: Participate in YouTube comment sections and forums to build relationships with other creators and viewers.
YouTube Stories: Use YouTube Stories to give behind-the-scenes glimpses and engage with your audience in real-time.
12. Paid Promotion
YouTube Ads: Invest in YouTube Ads to promote your video to a targeted audience.
Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers to feature your video or content, leveraging their large followings.
13. Create Shareable Content
Shareable Elements: Include elements in your videos that encourage viewers to share, such as humorous moments, inspirational messages, or valuable tips.
End Screens and Cards: Use YouTube’s end screens and cards to promote your other videos and keep viewers engaged with your channel.
By combining these strategies and continuously refining your approach based on feedback and analytics, you can increase your chances of creating a viral YouTube video.
Making a YouTube video go viral is not guaranteed, but there are proven strategies that can significantly increase the chances of it reaching a larger audience. Here’s a guide to help you maximize your video’s potential for virality:
1. Create Compelling, Shareable Content
Unique or Trendy Topics: Address current trends, viral challenges, or evergreen topics that are widely relatable. Videos with unique concepts, humor, or highly emotional appeal tend to get shared more.
Strong Hook in the First 10 Seconds: Capture attention immediately by creating an intriguing intro. A strong hook in the first few seconds keeps viewers watching longer, which boosts your video’s chances of going viral.
Emotional Appeal: Videos that evoke strong emotions—whether humor, inspiration, or surprise—are more likely to be shared. Try to trigger emotions that resonate with a broad audience.
2. Optimize Video Title, Description, and Tags
Catchy and Searchable Titles: Craft an attention-grabbing title with targeted keywords, but also make sure it’s descriptive and aligns with the content of your video.
SEO-Friendly Descriptions: Write clear, concise descriptions that include relevant keywords to improve the discoverability of your video on YouTube search results.
Use Effective Tags: Include a mix of short and long-tail keywords that are relevant to your video. Tags help YouTube’s algorithm understand and recommend your content.
3. Engaging Thumbnails
Eye-Catching Thumbnails: Thumbnails are the first thing viewers notice, so ensure they are visually striking and representative of your content. High-quality, well-designed thumbnails with bold text and bright colors can attract clicks.
Consistent Branding: Use similar colors, fonts, and designs across your thumbnails to create a recognizable brand.
4. Encourage Likes, Comments, and Shares
Ask for Engagement: Encourage your viewers to like, comment, and share your video within the content itself. Engagement signals to YouTube that your video is worth recommending.
Reply to Comments: Engaging with your audience in the comments section can boost interaction and create a sense of community around your content.
5. Leverage Social Media
Cross-Promote on Multiple Platforms: Share your video across all your social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok. Customize the message to suit each platform’s audience.
Join Communities and Groups: Share your video in relevant Facebook groups, forums, or subreddit communities where it’s likely to resonate. Just make sure it’s allowed and that your content adds value.
Influencer Collaborations: Collaborate with influencers or others in your niche to promote your video or feature your content on their social media. Influencers’ followers can help your video reach a much wider audience.
6. Engage with Trending Topics and Hashtags
Ride the Trend Wave: Use trending topics and challenges to create videos that tap into what’s currently popular. This increases the chances of your content getting discovered by people searching for related videos.
Use Hashtags: In addition to relevant tags, use popular and niche-specific hashtags in your video description to increase visibility in searches.
7. Leverage YouTube’s Algorithm
Audience Retention: Aim to keep your viewers engaged throughout the video. YouTube rewards videos that have high audience retention, meaning viewers watch most or all of the video. Create interesting content that keeps viewers hooked from start to finish.
End Screen and Cards: Use end screens and cards to encourage viewers to watch more of your videos. This can increase overall view time on your channel, which helps boost the video’s ranking in search results.
8. Create Shareable Content
Easy-to-Share Format: Videos that are easy to share, such as “how-to” videos, guides, inspirational content, or funny videos, tend to get more shares. Make your video informative, entertaining, or valuable.
Encourage User-Generated Content: If possible, inspire your viewers to create content around your video, such as reactions, challenges, or memes. This can help your video spread to a wider audience.
9. Collaborate with Other Creators
Cross-Promotion with YouTubers: Collaborate with other YouTubers in your niche or with similar audiences. This exposes your video to their audience, which can significantly boost views.
Shout-Outs and Mentions: Even informal mentions from well-known YouTubers can increase visibility.
10. Utilize Email Marketing
Email List: If you have an email list, notify your subscribers about new video uploads. Direct traffic from your existing subscribers can help boost the initial view count, increasing the chance of the video trending.
Encourage Sharing in Newsletters: Include shareable content in your email campaigns to prompt recipients to share with their own networks.
11. Consistency and Frequency
Regular Posting Schedule: The more consistently you upload videos, the more likely your channel will attract and retain subscribers, which can increase the chances of a video going viral.
Create Viral Formats: Regularly experiment with content formats that are proven to go viral, such as reaction videos, listicles, tutorials, or challenges.
12. Analyze and Improve Based on Data
Use YouTube Analytics: Monitor key metrics like view time, click-through rates, and audience demographics to assess the performance of your video. Based on these insights, tweak future videos for better engagement.
Learn from Viral Content: Analyze other viral videos within your niche to identify common themes, topics, and strategies, and try to replicate their success with your own twist.
While going viral is never guaranteed, applying these strategies consistently increases the likelihood of your YouTube videos gaining traction. Focus on creating high-quality, shareable content that aligns with your audience’s interests and leverages social media, influencers, and SEO techniques to enhance discoverability. With time and persistence, you’ll improve your chances of viral success.