“Will this video go viral?”

“How soon till this video goes viral?”

” His video went viral, what about mine?”

If I got a nickel for everytime someone contacts me asking, “What do I have to do to make this video  go viral?” Its  got to be one of those classic lines social media folks get. Right up there with, “How do I measure social media results and what is twitter?” (these questions will be answered in upcoming posts).

So the answer to this question? Let us keep in mind that this answer is not limited to video. It can be a blog post, podcast, (insert media type here).

Well lets start with there is no simple answer. Its about timing, community, the message, oh and….Content. That maybe the simplest and best answer. …Content.

Content is King.

If your putting something out there that is amazing, well done and grabs people, then you have a better chance of going viral.

If your putting something that is just Blah, well then that’s what your going to get back.

My friend Tim Street, who is the brains behind French Maid TV, shared with me a simple secret to help increase the odds of a video going viral. He says ” A video must make you feel at least two emotions to go viral.” Be it sadness, happiness, anger, love, etc, etc. I think he is dead on with that. So my tips for things you should do to help a video go viral? Let me share them in list form, people like lists:

-Feel at least two emotions (thank you Tim.)

-Its got to be simple to share. So have  the sharing tools already embedded and available for the person. A simple tool like ShareThis will do it all.

-Its got to be simple. Something Straight and to the point. Do not make people think to hard.

-If they share it what is in it for them? Maybe making their friends laugh? Could it be helping a cause they believe in? Are they maybe getting linklove?(Wait for upcoming blog post to explain linklove)

-Timing. I believe the time of day and day of the week play into the release of a video too. If you do it at night people may be sleeping, but they check webpages in the morning and forward things on. Then you need to factor in other countries too. Remember we need to think global, not local sometimes.

Again, I use videos as the example but it about content in general.

Posted under Blog, Video

Video.. its a powerful tool. I thought I would share with you a video LSF Interactive is directly involved with. Its a video about why you should vote. This 1:42 video sends a powerful message. Here take a look:

This video should make you want to take action. Make you to want to get involved. Make you well…want to vote. I think it does all these things. This is a great example of social media being used with a specific purpose and a specific message.  The hope here is that you will take action and of course forward and share the video.

What do you think? Is this a great way to send a message? Does it make you want to take action?

Posted under Blog, Video