Going Viral: How to Make Viral Youtube Videos

Video content is a powerful tool that can be used to grow brand recognition and, ultimately, your bottom line.

However, making viral videos isn’t a piece of cake. After all, about 500 hours of video content is uploaded every minute, so making your video clips stand out can be a real challenge. It takes consistency and a good understanding of your target audience.

In this article, we’ll provide a few great tips to help you make your YouTube videos gain momentum and influence audiences far and wide.

What Is a “Viral Video?”

Before delving into our list of tips, perhaps the best place to start is to understand what a viral video is. One of the questions we often hear is, “How many hits do you need to go viral on YouTube?”

A video receiving at least five million views in a week or less is considered viral. It’s undoubtedly one of the best things you can do as a video content marketer to build brand recognition and attract new customers.

We must mention here that you don’t need to have a popular YouTube channel for your video to go viral. However, it certainly does help, increasing the chances that future videos will go viral.

If a celebrity has a large following, for example, and uploads a new video on YouTube, subscribers will be notified when they upload that video, and since they already have an appreciation for the artist or his channel, they will click on the video.

What Kind of Videos Go Viral?

It’s important to remember that specific categories are more popular than others. Users tend to view videos on social media platforms for entertainment, so lengthy lectures with little to no music or visual stimulants are less likely to go viral on YouTube. It isn’t surprising that funny videos, film trailers, music videos, and pet videos are the most popular.

Our Top Tips for Creating Viral Videos

Without further ado, here are our top 10 tips to help you create videos that get millions of views.

1. Don’t Neglect the Basics

Making viral YouTube videos is an art and a science. Creativity is essential, but getting the fundamentals right is important. It would be best to focus on elements like the video title, category tags, editing, video description, and thumbnail images.

We recommend using visually appealing illustrations and concise content descriptions to capture viewers’ attention immediately. You should also ensure that your YouTube video has the appropriate tags to appear in search results or YouTube algorithm suggestions.

Furthermore, to make your video more engaging and more likely to be shared, use a video editing tool to employ expert methods like montages, cross-dissolves, or smash cuts.

You should also ensure that your content is tailored to your target audience and has excellent audio and video quality.

2. Be Consistent

Posting content on your YouTube channel consistently is one of the most effective ways to make a viral YouTube video. Doing this lets you learn more about your audience, their preferences, challenges, and more.

Many viewers post comments, which can provide ideas for future YouTube videos, so if you want to make your video go viral, make sure you’re consistently posting quality video content to boost user engagement. Another great reason to post content regularly is that it creates an expectation.

Users will know that they can find quality content on your YouTube channel, which improves the odds of them returning for more. You don’t want to be inconsistent when posting on this social media platform, as viewers prefer to see content regularly and will favor content creators that always have something engaging for them to watch.

We recommend posting at least one video every week. This will give you enough time to film your video and edit it. You should also stick to a day and time, so your audience knows when they can expect new content from you.

3. Use Short Videos to Boost Views on Longer Videos

YouTube shorts are gaining momentum as social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have grown significant followers because of their short video format content.

By creating videos just about a minute long, you can give users a preview of your content without forcing them to commit to a lengthy YouTube video. This is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement.

You can make terrific short-form videos that stand on their own and attract visitors for your long-form content by tidying them up a little, including a few captions, and ensuring they have a good loop.

4. Make a Series

Once-off videos are fantastic, mainly when they feature a great hook, but a series of videos can be more exciting and engaging.

With a logical progression from one video to the next, a series can keep your target audience interested and wanting more. You can simplify more complicated subjects into several digestible, quick videos by distributing your videos as a series. Additionally, if you put a phrase like “Part 1” in the video’s title, viewers will be mindful that they should stick around for the other videos in your series.

5. Spread the Word

Marketing is essential, and it’s no different regarding YouTube shorts and long-form videos.

To create a YouTube video viral, you should promote it on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. Share snippets of the video or series you’re promoting to get viewers to head over to YouTube to watch the whole video.

6. Try Addressing Controversial Issues

Another excellent tip for YouTube creators hoping to make a viral video is to discuss something controversial. Many videos went viral when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars last year. Some YouTubers decided to talk about what Will Smith had to have gone through to lead him to that point, while others expressed their concern about Chris Rock and applauded him for his composure.

In both cases, viewers were watching video after video about this controversial topic.

7. Make It Relatable and Emotional

The truth is that people don’t like being spoken down to, so if you want to create content that will get millions of views truly, then creating content geared toward your audience is the way to go. The trick here is to think about your viewers’ struggles and how you can address these challenges.

A great way to make an impactful and memorable YouTube video is to appeal to the viewer’s emotions. People have developed associations with sounds and images throughout history. To safeguard us, the brain links these queues to specific emotions. High-pitched noise, for instance, and the color red both denote danger.

Videos can be made to evoke particular emotions. In films, this enables audiences to relate to the character’s experiences, and in marketing, it allows content creators to recreate scenarios in which customers are likely to use your product.

Video marketing should aim to elicit one emotion from the spectator, such as hope or happiness, to be as effective as possible. This is accomplished by combining action, movement, narrative, scripting, editing, and cinematography.

8. Use Trendy Music in Your Videos

Another reason why people click on YouTube videos is because of the music. As we have already seen, auditory cues can be a powerful tool, so choosing music that your audience enjoys is a great way to improve your chances of your content going viral.

9. Talk to Other Creators

An excellent way to learn more about creating viral videos is by talking to others who have done it before. Sadly, too many content creators believe they are alone, but this is untrue.

There are more than enough views to go around, given the billions of daily views that YouTube videos receive, so you don’t have to worry about affecting the performance of another creator’s videos.

Working with others is an excellent way to expose your work to new audiences, increasing the views you get for your videos.

10. Search for Inspiration Outside Your Niche

If you’re struggling to get enough views, experimenting a little might be a good idea. Look at topics outside your niche to boost user engagement and ensure that you keep things fresh and new.

Analyzing the Performance of Your YouTube Videos

Before we go, we’ll leave you with one final tip: ensure you’re assessing your videos’ performance. By looking at the statistics, you can tell what works and what doesn’t and learn from your mistakes. This is an integral part of the content creation process, allowing you to understand your audience better.

An essential tool to use is YouTube Analytics. It provides a general overview of metrics such as the number of views a particular video received, the watch time, subscribers, and more.

YouTube Analytics also provides insight into your content and audience and gives you tools for research.

Invest in High-quality Video and Audio for Your YouTube Channel

Although these essential tips would be ineffective without high-quality video and audio, after all, YouTube is a competitive platform. If you want to stand out, creating an engaging and flawless cinematic experience is crucial.

At Mosaic Media Films, this is what we do best. With growing your brand and bottom line at the forefront of our focus, you can rest assured that you are better equipped to create content that will gain millions of views.

Contact us today to learn more about our services!

Frequently Asked Questions

The section below answers some of the most-asked questions about creating viral videos.