We were sitting down watching one of the funnest videos on youtube , a parody of the song 'All the Leaves are brown by The Sketch Show and we were stunned that it had just under thirty thousand views, so it got us thinking... WHY? do some videos go viral and some don't.
Firstly let's define viral: relating to or involving an image, video, piece of information, etc., that is circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another. "a viral video ad"
If your viewing some of the most watched videos out there, it appears that there is a formula to follow.
These points below we think are key in creating a successful video.
- WHO? is posting it ...and/or sharing it
- A trending topic perhaps
- cutesy/comedic spin on the topic
- Music
- evoking emotion
Yes, the who posting the video is a key factor in creating a viral video. Get a celebrity on board, and you automatically have a successful video on YouTube. They have a much wider audience reach.
Look at Jimmy Fallon he has certainly mastered the formula above to a T! He has some of THE most viewed content on the web.
Look at #Hashtag with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake , its hilarious and at the time Jimmy posted this video #hashtag was a major trending topic... still is result (over 26 million views)
Also Jimmy Fallon and Miley Cyrus and The Roots singing 'we can't stop' a cappella. That was genius from Jimmy Fallon! Why not get one of the most viewed celebrities on youtube in the world and perform her world-wide hit 'we can't stop' , result (over 22 million hits)
In these two specific cases you have double the celebrity power. Sometimes the WHO, doesn't have to be the one starring in the video, sometimes it can be just about the power of showing the video.
Take for example , The Harlem Shake which was a viral youtube sensation started in 2012! Originally uploaded by five teenagers from Queensland, Australia, known on youtube as The Sunny Coast Skate. The video usually begins with one person (often helmeted/masked) dancing to the song by the same name by DJ Baauer alone for 15 seconds, and then suddenly surrounded by other people not paying any attention to the dancing individual. Eventually, more and more people began to replicate the original video and upload their own versions to youtube. The viral spread exploded when celebrities such as Oprah, Ed Sheeran and sportsmen like LeBron James and the entire Miami Heat Basketball Team started doing the Harlem Shake (over 48 million views). Again my point that celebrities can bring attention the way no other can. The original version now has over 26 million views! Quite an achievement by five Aussie teenagers!
So, going back to my initial YouTube video of All The Leaves are Brown by The Sketch Show if you think about the formula we mentioned above, we think it evokes emotion [its hilarious] and the WHO posting/sharing is crucial. It is certainly cute and comedic and it has a classic song of the past attached to it. We can only conclude that if Jimmy Fallon did this parody with a few of his mates such as Justin Timberlake, Drew Barrymore and Seth Rogan the video would certainly hit dizzying heights of viral hysteria. [You can thank me later for the idea Jimmy.]
What do you think? Have you got any videos out there that you think aren't getting the attention they deserve? post them on here and lets see if we can use the power of social media to get them viral.
