Article

Dror Ginzberg
Dror Ginzberg 6 June 2017

10 Ways to Take Your Facebook Videos Viral

While getting your content to go viral may be an incredible challenge, it is still possible. Whereas ten years back, you would have needed special skills to create video content, now anyone can create and share with a few clicks. For those struggling with creating viral content, there are a few things you can do to stack the odds in your favour.

A recent three month long study by video marketing agency Wochit, which looked at 4,000 videos from 100 publishers around the globe, found was that a mere 1.2% of Facebook’s social videos actually goes viral. Virality is defined as those videos achieving 1 million views or more. Even more shockingly, video content already accounts for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, meaning that chances of virality are getting more and more rare.

While it may seem hopeless to even aim for virality, there is hope at hand for marketers and publishers. Our research also found that “popular social videos” - those videos viewed 100,000 to 1 million times, made up 16% of video content over three month period.

What does this all mean? While getting your content to go viral may be an incredible challenge, it is still possible. Whereas ten years back, you would have needed special skills to create video content, now anyone can create and share with a few clicks.

For those struggling with creating viral content, there are a few things you can do to stack the odds in your favour. Firstly (and most critically), know your audience. Know who they are and what they want will save you a lot of pain down the track. Our study found that viewers are looking for short, snappy videos that aren’t too hard to get to within their feeds. Videos running 60-90 seconds were most often viewed but those running 30-60 seconds were most often shared. We also found that people were more interested in news than entertainment, viewing this twice as frequently.

These insights are a good springboard, but now you need to adjust your content to fit these tastes. Below are ten ways you can improve your video content to make it more engaging to your audience and, maybe - just maybe - obtain video virality.

  1. #GetTrending: Social media is based on conversations and user engagement. Look at what topics are trending, what are most relevant to you and create content that is appropriate.
  2. Know what, where and why: ‘One size fits all’ may be appropriate for some things, but it doesn’t work when it comes to social media. What works on Facebook probably won’t work on Twitter or LinkedIn in terms of video content. Knowing what channels to use and customising content for each is important.
  3. Make the ask: Gaining followers is not a social strategy. Instead, try ending your videos with calls-to-action (CTAs) that give viewers options for next steps. This could be sharing the video, using a hashtag or visiting a homepage.
  4. Brand with style: Branding comes in many forms beyond logos and opening or closing splashes. Ask yourself - who is my audience and what are they looking for? Then set the tone in accordance - don’t be afraid to get creative!
  5. Make it moreish: You want to keep your viewers wanting more. Listicles are an example of a great piece of  “snackable” content - viewers know exactly what they’re getting and what to expect. Trying something like this and experimenting with similar formats is a great way to find what works for your audience and what they’d like more of.
  6. Ready, Steady, Action!: Start strong - use your best action shots and, if possible, set your video to play automatically. Videos with slow or stationary beginnings are significantly less likely to be viewed and shared.
  7. Get with the times: Our research shows that people want to watch content in-feed, as it doesn’t disrupt their experience. Make sure your video is formatted to square, in-feed content, which is viewable across devices.
  8. Balance is key: There are so many editing tools you can use to give your video pizzazz - music, filters, text - just don’t overdo it. You want to make your video content exciting and engaging but also make sure it isn’t too overwhelming to the viewer. This keeps people watching throughout the video. 
  9. Feel it out: Research found that connecting with viewers on an emotional level improves chances of video performance. People are more interested in content they identify with at some level - personally or otherwise - and including such content will improve you views, likes and shares.
  10.  Find the good: Uplifting content drives engagement - positive videos that improve people’s moods are more likely to be shared.

Video virality is every publisher’s goal, and for good reason. Viral video can make up to 60% of all shares for a publisher over a quarter, and while making successful content may be overwhelming, following some of the above tips can really help improve your chances of being part of the 1%.

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