Gong viral is often an ambition for companies that invest in video marketing.
The trouble is it’s a bit like winning the lottery. You hear of it happening, but it rarely happens to you. Focus on achieving a viral hit shouldn’t be part of your video content strategy at all. It can actually stop you delivering what your customers are actually looking for and it could well dilute your brand.
Video Content is Competitive
You’ve spent a lot of money getting your video together, you put it online and sit back, expecting it to go viral. After a week you go back and find you have only ten hits on your YouTube channel.
This, unfortunately, is the kind of thing that happens to businesses all over the world. Once you understand that 400 hours of video get uploaded to a site like YouTube every minute, you begin to realise what you are up against.
Should that stop you from investing in video as a marketing strategy? Absolutely not. Here’s what you need to be focused on:
Who is Going to Watch Your Video?
Any video production company executive will give a big sigh as soon as you mention going viral. It’s not just the chance factor involved in getting millions of hits, it’s the fact that you probably haven’t taken the time beyond this to decide what you want your video to achieve.
Successful video content marketing is all about delivering what your customers are searching for. It’s not what will keep these important people clicking and sharing, it’s about what will keep them watching. In other words, is your video useful?
The key for any marketing strategy is consistently creating content to help build a rapport with your customer and keep them engaged. If you build a catalogue of several videos to market your service or product and highlight your brand, the chances are none of will go viral. But you customers will appreciate them, and they will influence how your brand is perceived.
Searching for a Viral Video Takes You Off Track
A viral video has either got to be something quirky, humorous or downright controversial. The trouble with this is that any one of these can damage your brand more than enhance it.
Spending all your time trying to hit the viral jackpot means you’re spending less time on a video content strategy that could actually work for you. You should be focusing on other factors, including:
- Stay focused on the story rather than getting a sale. Video is brilliant for building a more emotional connection with your customers. If you can do this the more engagement you should expect.
- Focus on keeping your viewers watching – many people will jump out of a video within the first 10 seconds if it doesn’t appeal. What can you do to keep them watching? This is all about delivering what they need.
- Finally, don’t be boring. We have high expectations when we view video and our time is limited. Get your message across in an entertaining way and you should expect to maintain attention for longer.
Our advice is to stop dreaming after the impossible and start concentrating on what you can do to make your video more appealing to the customers you are trying to connect with. Contact our Video Consultants to see what we can do for you.