So, how do you create a viral video?

Aside from a few fortunate anomalies, most viral videos are the product of a lot of hard work, a bit of luck, and a touch of impeccable timing.

Making a viral video is similar to cooking. Having a decent recipe and the key ingredients helps, but you’ll probably fail the first few times you try it. As you get used to your equipment and learn its quirks, the food starts to turn out better and better until you’re consistently producing impressive dishes.

The strategies and ideas we present here are neither a simple fix nor a guarantee. Putting the ingredients together and stirring a few times does not guarantee success. Instead, use these pointers as a starting point for developing your own secret recipe.

– Keep it brief and to the point.

What is your attention span? What kind of attention span!? Remember that viral Microsoft study that said human attention spans had fallen to the level of goldfish? Our time is becoming increasingly valuable. Advertisers, entertainment medias, family members, job commitments, and adorable animal videos are all competing for a piece of the pie. Viral videos, like the social media sites where they are posted, are disruptive. You don’t look for them on YouTube or Google. They appear in your social media feed and must compete to get your attention by breaking through the noise. That is why short videos are so successful. You can easily justify spending 60 seconds watching a funny sketch about procrastinating. However, the longer the video runs, the more difficult it is to justify to yourself why you aren’t working on the project due tomorrow!

– Make a catchy, branded thumbnail.

When you share your video on social media, the thumbnail is the first thing your followers or the audience will see. This is particularly true for non-autoplay social media sites! Create a thumbnail that catches the essence of the video and excites the audience to click. If possible, stop using text since it can appear blurry on certain screens and in certain formats…and might also reveal a bit too much.

Keep it simple.

Just talk about that one message and expand upon it. The best kinds of content are concise, transparent, and easily understandable. That is important for both high-converting landing pages as musch as viral videos. Be sure you have a clear idea about the subject you want to address before getting started; the more accurately you can do that, the better.

Now, it’s time for you to start experimenting depending on your niche, knowledge and content, in order to find that perfect formula to skyrocket your views and engagement!