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1.Don't be “too good” for marketing. ...
2.Understand how things go viral on the internet. ...
3.Release on Monday or Tuesday. ...
4.Figure out who has a stake in your video. ...
5.None of this matters if your video isn't good. ...
6.Tell a story.
1. Don’t be “too good” for marketing
I almost didn’t put together a marketing plan. Because what if I did all this marketing, and then the video still flopped? That would’ve been embarrassing. Then I realized how stupid that was.
It’s better to try your damnedest and fail than to hold back and always wonder what if.
If you put all this effort into your video, why would you rely on luck for the last leg? Swallow your pride. Give your work a fighting chance. Put together a marketing plan. This article will show you how.
2. Understand how things go viral on the internet
You see videos on YouTube with millions of views and you wonder — where did they all come from?
Here’s how my video, Girl Learns to Dance in a Year went viral:
Views per day on Girl Learns to Dance in a Year
Day One: 80k views
First, I posted to Facebook/Twitter, and submitted it to social news sites like Reddit and Hacker News. I personally asked many of my friends to share it. I tweeted it at well-known dancers. I emailed bloggers who had covered other viral dance videos.
Of all the things I tried, Reddit paid off. It got to the top of the GetMotivated subreddit. I did this by following the advice in this article.
Day Two: 800k views
Bloggers who had seen it on Reddit the day before started publishing articles about it. First Kottke. Then blogs like Mashable, Jezebel, andHuffington Post.
Blogs drove a ton of traffic. Each blog is a giant marketing engine with millions of readers and twitter followers. It’s in their interest to get the article as many views as possible, because each view is an ad they can serve up. Understand how the money flows. It’s all about clicks and advertising dollars.
Day Three: 1.8 million views
It made the YouTube frontpage. I’m not sure how it got there, but I suspect the blogs were sending it so much traffic that YouTube’s algorithms picked up on it.
Try many things. You only need one of them to pay off in order for your video to go viral. For me, that thing was Reddit. Your thing might be different. Your goal is to get major blogs to write you up, because their marketing power is ridiculous.
3. Release on Monday or Tuesday
People watch YouTube videos when they’re at work. They read the news at work. Release your video on Monday or Tuesday to give it the whole week to gain momentum. Weekends are speed bumps.
I chose Tuesday because people are busy catching up with email on Monday. I got lucky with the timing because there wasn’t any major breaking news that day. Releasing on a slow news day will help you.
Mind your holidays, too. Don’t release when people are not at the office.
4. Figure out who has a stake in your video
If your video takes off, who are all the people and companies who might want a piece of the action? These people can help market you.
My YouTube description was full of links to possible sponsors — to theLululemon and American Apparel clothes I was wearing. To the Lift app I used to track my dancing. To the BART train station I danced at. To themusic I danced to. They’re all things I genuinely believe in, so I was happy to send traffic their way.
I contacted all these companies and asked them to share the video. Some of them shared, some of them didn’t. Try them all.
5. None of this matters if your video isn’t good
You can get your friends to share. But only the strength of the content can get their friends to share. If you are serious about making good content, readMade to Stick.
Why will people share your video? People share things when they feel emotion. What emotion will your viewers feel?
Some emotions spread better than others. Emotions that spread: awe, excitement, amusement, anger, anxiety. Emotions that don’t: contentment, sadness.
6. Tell a story
I’m a decent dancer for a year of practice but I’m nothing compared to the pros. There are thousands of dancers way more talented whose videos didn’t go viral.
Girl Learns to Dance in a Year went viral because it wasn’t just another dance video with cool moves and cool camera angles. It wasn’t about how good the dancing was. It was about how awkward I was when I started, and how I got better with practice.
And it’s not just a story about dancing. It’s about having a dream and not knowing how to get there — but starting anyway.
People want stories. That’s what all TV, movies, and books are. Tell a story.
7. Make your video shorter
The first thing people do when they play a video is check to see how long it is. It helps them decide whether to watch it. 10 minutes: forget it. 2 minutes:I’ll give it a shot. 30 seconds: Heck, might as well.
Make your video as short as possible while still keeping the heart of the story. The editor and I literally spent hours shaving off seconds to get the video down to 1 minute 51 seconds.
Short videos spread better.
8. Write a viral title
Here’s a quick test. How would you finish this sentence:
1.Don't be “too good” for marketing. ...
2.Understand how things go viral on the internet. ...
3.Release on Monday or Tuesday. ...
4.Figure out who has a stake in your video. ...
5.None of this matters if your video isn't good. ...
6.Tell a story.
I almost didn’t put together a marketing plan. Because what if I did all this marketing, and then the video still flopped? That would’ve been embarrassing. Then I realized how stupid that was.
It’s better to try your damnedest and fail than to hold back and always wonder what if.
If you put all this effort into your video, why would you rely on luck for the last leg? Swallow your pride. Give your work a fighting chance. Put together a marketing plan. This article will show you how.
2. Understand how things go viral on the internet
You see videos on YouTube with millions of views and you wonder — where did they all come from?
Here’s how my video, Girl Learns to Dance in a Year went viral:
Views per day on Girl Learns to Dance in a Year
Day One: 80k views
First, I posted to Facebook/Twitter, and submitted it to social news sites like Reddit and Hacker News. I personally asked many of my friends to share it. I tweeted it at well-known dancers. I emailed bloggers who had covered other viral dance videos.
Of all the things I tried, Reddit paid off. It got to the top of the GetMotivated subreddit. I did this by following the advice in this article.
Day Two: 800k views
Bloggers who had seen it on Reddit the day before started publishing articles about it. First Kottke. Then blogs like Mashable, Jezebel, andHuffington Post.
Blogs drove a ton of traffic. Each blog is a giant marketing engine with millions of readers and twitter followers. It’s in their interest to get the article as many views as possible, because each view is an ad they can serve up. Understand how the money flows. It’s all about clicks and advertising dollars.
Day Three: 1.8 million views
It made the YouTube frontpage. I’m not sure how it got there, but I suspect the blogs were sending it so much traffic that YouTube’s algorithms picked up on it.
Try many things. You only need one of them to pay off in order for your video to go viral. For me, that thing was Reddit. Your thing might be different. Your goal is to get major blogs to write you up, because their marketing power is ridiculous.
3. Release on Monday or Tuesday
People watch YouTube videos when they’re at work. They read the news at work. Release your video on Monday or Tuesday to give it the whole week to gain momentum. Weekends are speed bumps.
I chose Tuesday because people are busy catching up with email on Monday. I got lucky with the timing because there wasn’t any major breaking news that day. Releasing on a slow news day will help you.
Mind your holidays, too. Don’t release when people are not at the office.
4. Figure out who has a stake in your video
If your video takes off, who are all the people and companies who might want a piece of the action? These people can help market you.
My YouTube description was full of links to possible sponsors — to theLululemon and American Apparel clothes I was wearing. To the Lift app I used to track my dancing. To the BART train station I danced at. To themusic I danced to. They’re all things I genuinely believe in, so I was happy to send traffic their way.
I contacted all these companies and asked them to share the video. Some of them shared, some of them didn’t. Try them all.
5. None of this matters if your video isn’t good
You can get your friends to share. But only the strength of the content can get their friends to share. If you are serious about making good content, readMade to Stick.
Why will people share your video? People share things when they feel emotion. What emotion will your viewers feel?
Some emotions spread better than others. Emotions that spread: awe, excitement, amusement, anger, anxiety. Emotions that don’t: contentment, sadness.
6. Tell a story
I’m a decent dancer for a year of practice but I’m nothing compared to the pros. There are thousands of dancers way more talented whose videos didn’t go viral.
Girl Learns to Dance in a Year went viral because it wasn’t just another dance video with cool moves and cool camera angles. It wasn’t about how good the dancing was. It was about how awkward I was when I started, and how I got better with practice.
And it’s not just a story about dancing. It’s about having a dream and not knowing how to get there — but starting anyway.
People want stories. That’s what all TV, movies, and books are. Tell a story.
7. Make your video shorter
The first thing people do when they play a video is check to see how long it is. It helps them decide whether to watch it. 10 minutes: forget it. 2 minutes:I’ll give it a shot. 30 seconds: Heck, might as well.
Make your video as short as possible while still keeping the heart of the story. The editor and I literally spent hours shaving off seconds to get the video down to 1 minute 51 seconds.
Short videos spread better.
8. Write a viral title
Here’s a quick test. How would you finish this sentence:
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
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