YouTube is one of the best platforms to boost your discoverability. You can get in front of a new audience and direct them to your website and offers. Ever since I incorporated YouTube into my digital strategy, it’s become a critical platform for my future plans.
When most people think about gaining traction on YouTube, they think about creating viral videos that suddenly take off on the algorithm. While viral videos involve a combination of luck, skill, and timing, it is possible to statistically increase your chances of creating a viral video.
In the case of a viral video, we are talking about a video that does dramatically better than your other videos.
At a little over 2,000 views, my Airbnb IPO video didn’t exactly go viral in the traditional sense, but it dramatically outperformed all of my other videos to date.
As you get better at creating videos like this one that dramatically outperform your prior videos, you’ll eventually create viral hits that get over 1 million views.
I haven’t created a video yet that hit 1 million views, but it’s definitely in the cards within the next few years.
But how can we increase our odds of coming up with video ideas that become viral hits? Follow these strategies when coming up with future ideas.
Look At The News In Your Industry
News spreads like wildfire. Anytime you go on Twitter and see the trending topics, it’s always about the news nowadays.
News items in your industry are extraordinarily popular in the moment, but if you cover the news too late, it can fade into the background.
If you look at the Airbnb IPO video, you’ll notice that the views shoot up the first 3 days and then fall relatively flat the rest of the way. That’s because the video was very news oriented.
I was sharing my thoughts about a heavily anticipated IPO. Now that Airbnb is a publicly traded company under the ticker ABNB, people are looking more for Airbnb stock analysis than pre-IPO thoughts.
This isn’t evergreen content like the blog post you’re reading today, but they help build momentum. You’ll get a surge of new viewers who will engage with your future content.
Combine Your Content With The Current Season
At any given moment, we are rapidly approaching a holiday. Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s Day, and Memorial Day are some of the many holidays and special occasions in a given year.
You can ride seasonal traffic by talking about how these holidays apply to your industry. Anything from stocks to buy before Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day gardening decorations, and how to sell more romance novels near Valentine’s Day are some of the many ways you can incorporate a season into your content.
Riding seasonal events with your content is a great way to gain momentum.
Get Inspiration From Current Viral Videos
I wasn’t the first one to talk about the upcoming Airbnb IPO. I saw other YouTubers talk about Airbnb and get additional traction for their videos.
This was part of the inspiration for me to create the Airbnb IPO video. If videos about specific stocks perform well, I do research on the company, form an opinion, and then create my own video.
When a video becomes viral, you have to ride on it quickly. Creating and publishing a video on the same day as the viral hit will give you far more traction than if you publish the video 1-2 days later.
Viral videos are less about video quality and more about timing. If you view yourself as a reporter who reports on real-time news within your niche, you’ll gain momentum quicker and eventually produce a viral hit.
Want To Decode YouTube?
Going viral on YouTube is great, but what about making money? If you only rely on Google Adsense, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
I recently wrote a book called YouTube Decoded that explores how to create videos that gain visibility and turn your viewers into customers.
Grab your copy of YouTube Decoded here.
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