With six billion hours of video watched on YouTube every month, the odds are stacked against any one video breaking away from the crowd. Though the opportunities for users to interact with videos on the site are not in question, with more comments and shares logged than ever before, it is the lack of uniqueness and usefulness of the majority of videos that dissuade users from sending them viral.
Three rules to go viral
Setting out a plan to make videos viral-ready, social video advertising CEO Dan Greenberg shared his three golden rules for making popular videos on media news website MashableUK. Greenberg covers the use of statistical information, which enables content providers to tailor future content to their chosen demographic, and the importance of making videos easy to share with a range of built-in social media features.
Although having your video shared is the primary way to get its views soaring, internet users will only share if certain psychological criteria are met. According to Greenberg the viewer must connect to the video on an emotional level, gain useful information that may also interest those in their peer group or see a positive aspect of themselves reflected in the video’s content if they are to hit the share button.
Video platforms and animation
The wide range of video platforms available to content providers means there are more channels to reach audiences through than ever before. Forbes explains how certain types of content are more at home on certain video platforms than others.
Companies such as Dublin Web design agency rycomarketing.co.uk are on hand to handle animation work and general graphic design for content providers who wish to utilise short-form video. As designers in Dublin and the south-west for a number of years, the company is familiar with platforms such as Vine and their usefulness in showcasing animated content.
As detailed by Forbes, a range of platforms and types of video should be utilised if content providers wish to create viral videos. Short animated videos are often at home on smaller platforms such as Instagram or Vine, while Vimeo’s niche positioning may be more useful to certain content makers than YouTube’s large user community. Experience of each platform’s usability and features enables video producers to maximise the reach of their content.