The Secret Sauce That Made Our Facebook Video a Viral Hit and Get 1.3M Views
Users upload 100 hours of video on YouTube every 60 seconds and share more than 4.75 billion pieces of content on Facebook every 24 hours. Add to that 500 million new tweets per day. How does one break through the clutter?
How does one please the Viral Gods?
Voila! We discovered the secret sauce that helped send our video through the roof. And, this wasn’t a cat video.
No one had heard of Live Braille, a device invented by 21-year-old Abhinav Verma and his classmates. Worn like a ring, the device helped the visually-impaired walk freely, even run without any support. The product can transform the quality of life for the blind and Abhinav is fundraising to begin manufacturing.
A week later, the video we made about Live Braille had 1.3 million views. Here we are, sharing the recipe with you.
1. Release on Friday
According to Fast Company, engagement rates on Facebook are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays. Twitter sees a 17% surge in activity on the weekends. We decided to release our video on Friday at 12 p.m., giving it the weekend to gain momentum. Weekends act as super speed enhancers.
Our timing was probably one of the biggest factors that helped us.
2. Nothing Will Work If Your Content Isn’t Good
Before deciding to put up a video, ask yourself:
· Does it tell an effective story, one that’s emotional but not depressing?
· How well does it relate to the brand?
· Why will people want to watch and share it?
· Does the video come across as an overt promotion?
Giving your audience ‘the feels’ is what matters most. Since June 2014, Facebook has averaged more than 1 billion video views every day. Today, Facebook videos have a certain definite style.
They cater to an audience that is always on the go. The video should have a powerful first few seconds that can captivate even without sound. Visuals and the messaging are important — short, simple, smart. Optimise your videos for mobiles. Add a call-to-action on your video to encourage viewers to visit the website or take the desired action.
After the content of the video is finalised, run it by your co-workers and friends. If you get a thumbs up from them, then you are on the right track.
Live Braille wasn’t just another video. It had a strong subject — a path-breaking technology for the visually impaired; a 21-year-old fundraising to change the lives of the visually impaired. It made a statement that the audience wanted to support.
As digital marketeer, Abhash Kumar says, “Audio is out. Forget the VO. Focus on amazing visuals that stand out — raw footage, imagery with basic animation and spotlight text. People are watching FB videos on the move, in that Monday meeting, that boring college classroom and all sorts of places where they can’t have the audio on, or earphones plugged in. Attention spans are down to seconds, in single-digit. Newsfeed is full of attention-whoring posts. This is where ‘spotlight text’ comes in. Text to go along with the amazing visuals/imagery in the video. Have big, bright colours and nice, highly readable fonts and see your video views/engagement go through the roof. Don’t forget that majority of these video views will be on mobile. Hence, the text size needs to be BIG. Always think Mobile!”
3. Aim for Optimal Video Size and Quality
Aren’t we all too familiar with the current generation’s attention span the size of a gnat?
Keep that in mind while making your video. The first thing people do when they play a video is check to see how long it is. Prepare to watch your efforts go wasted if a video is 10 minutes long? Two minutes or anything less works best. Having a short video maintains better focus than long videos.
The Live Braille video was 53 seconds long. We made sure to have limited text on the video. All the fluff knocked off and the story-telling kept powerful. Make it as simple and clear as possible.
Coming to the quality, shaky video, bad audio, pixelated graphics, and bad acting are a strict no-no. Our film-maker, Ruchir, managed to do a great job with that.
Once you hit publish, you can’t take anything back. So, before you release the video, be absolutely sure this is the video what you want.
4. Keep a Track of the Performance
More often than not, behind every online phenomenon, you’ll find a person with an action plan and marketing strategy to make it happen. In our case, our Social Media Manager Kaustubh and our Digital Marketing Manager Suhas made sure to leave no stone unturned in making the video such a success.
Facebook provides metrics like video views, unique video views, the average duration people viewed your video, and audience retention for gathering performance information. Use them to maximize engagement with your audience.
Day 1–5:
By day five, the video had achieved 250K views. The Facebook’s algorithms had picked up on it.
We kept a close watch on the traffic with FB tools. The minute we saw a dip, we gave it an extra boost with a FB video ad.
When should you take a call in terms of boosting the video?
Take the monthly average reach of your Facebook posts. A video should get 1.5X-2X of the average reach. If the video is getting more than 3X reach, it is showing potential to go viral. Closely monitor the video. Try analysing the hourly reach. If you see the reach numbers dipping for 2–3 consecutive hours, boost the video for small amounts like $2–3.
This strategy helped us take our marketing efforts to the next level. Having a strategy in place can aid you in making the most of your organic reach.
5. So, You Have Gone Viral, What Next?
Your job doesn’t end at publishing your viral video. Then comes the next phase — one where you deal with people who appreciate and criticize your work.
Does dealing with the comment section give you the heebie-jeebies?
If yes, don’t you worry. You’re not the only one.
You will receive love and flak for your work. But, don’t let it get to you. Reply to all the comments.
Viral videos have a short shelf life. Create as many opportunities as you can within that short duration. Also, know where you want to direct your traffic. We linked it to the campaign page, where people could get more information about the device and contribute.
What Are You Waiting for?
Don’t let your marketing budget get in the way of your business goals. Any business can cut through the clutter and win the Internet lottery. Ultimately, it’s all about understanding the science behind human behavior, a clever idea, and good execution. So, do you have what it takes to make a viral video? If yes, then it’s time that you created one.
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