It may seem easy to create a viral video: film something that people will laugh at, love, hate, and share. Then the internet takes care of the rest, right? Well, no, because then every video would go viral…but they aren’t!

The viral video that you create will need several key points checked off before you even upload it. Here’s a list of things you’ll need to think about to give your video the best chance of going viral, with an example viral video at the end!

How to Create a Potentially Viral Video

Have a reason for your viral video to exist

Your viral video has to be useful to your target audience, and to your current youTube subscribers. You have to tailor the content to them, you can’t try and make it work the other way. No one who follows a shoe company wants to see a video about cooking. If your account is well known for making people laugh, don’t suddenly delve into a video full of pie charts.

The first goal of any viral video campaign is to go viral amongst the most relevant people. Only then should you worry about going viral amongst everyone online. You need to get o the good side of your core supporters first!

Make your viral video easy to share

There are many online tools that can make sharing your viral video easier. And I’m not talking about YouTube’s own tools on the actual webpage of your viral video itself. I’m talking about tools outside of YouTube as well.

This is important as it takes just a few seconds more for someone to copy and paste a link to their social media accounts, and it often causes people to not bother. An excellent one to look at is called YouTube Channel Gallery.

Check out Viral Video Chart on Twitter for the latest in viral video marketing, get some ideas!

Link up with crowd influencers

Before you even publish your viral video, maybe even before you even record the video itself, take the time to hook up with some crowd influencers. These people could be the key difference between your video being popular within the group of people who already know you, and reaching people who don’t already know you.

If you have no idea where to begin, let our YouTube crowd marketing service help you get things started with this important aspect of your viral video plan. You’ll find the link in my author bio, right after the viral video.

Get on the good side of crowd influencers

For the slow approach to crowd influencers, start out by sharing their content. This will help build them as a new ally. After time you may be able to get them to help you spread your viral video. Then again, they might not! Be sure to really take your time and build trust with them first.

Reward your subscribers and viewers for sharing

Rewards can vary by quite a bit. Some rewards can be collective, such as: “We’ll offer a discount of 5% for the first 1000 shares, and 10% for 5000 shares.” Individual rewards can also be established such as mentions in an upcoming video, thanks on the homepage, or even prizes for those who share your video the most.

Be sure to take the long term view with your viral video

Ok, let’s say that you do everything right and your video goes viral. Now:

• Did you encode a marketing message in it
• Did you think about your longer term goals

Having a video go viral right now is great, you’ll increase your exposure, reach new YouTube viewers, and get a marketing message out – if you had put one in.

For your long term goals though, what have you done? A common way to accomplish long term online goals with a viral video is to have a call to action for people to subscribe to your YouTube channel. That way you capture their attention long term, rather than just the length of the video. Do this with effective calls to action in the video, in the description, and with buttons in the video’s visual display.

A Viral Video Example

Viral video don’t ordinarily just happen by accident. Sure, there are things like Charlie Bit my Finger, but those are exceptions and are not viral video marketing. If you want your video to truly reach a large number of people, you have to put a plan in place.

And now, time for one of my favorite viral marketing videos of all time. Notice the “Click here to Subscribe buttons at around the 3:30 mark where the video gets good. Those aren’t there by accident!

Ernest is a blogger who writes about viral marketing techniques, crowd sourcing strategies, and generally about getting the attention of your following over on the Viral Tactic Social Media Marketing Blog. There, you can find out about services such as their YouTube Promotion packages.