Clickability and Shareability

10.01.2017 |

Episode #7 of the course How to make a viral video by Carlos P. Beltran

 

Welcome to day seven! By now, I hope it has become clear that making a successful online video—and yes, success can be measured in many different ways—is more than mere luck, flashy subjects, or quick money shots. Whether your primary focus is to create a deep, personal connection with millions of viewers or have your brand promo video become the next thing to break the internet, it all comes down to two things:

1. Following the 4 Principles of Viral Videos
2. Understanding the importance of clickability and shareability

So you’ve produced a video following the 4 principles. How do you get it out to as many eyes and ears as possible as quickly as possible? And if your story does strike a chord with a viewer, how do you get them to share it with the rest of the world?

To this day, unless you already have a well-established, exclusive community built elsewhere, YouTube remains the best and most effective host for your video. Not only because it’s free, but because it still trumps Facebook’s native video host platform.

 

Let’s get practical: Clickability

Great, now let’s make your video clickable. Clickability means that your video title and thumbnail image (the image that appears as the cover of your video on YouTube and any other social media) are attractive and enticing enough that most people would be prompted to click. Personally, I never go for low blows—meaning I never try to lie about the content of the video so someone clicks on it. Why? The viewer will click on your video (giving you a unique view) but won’t share it if they hate it or feel deceived.

Here are a few headline/title examples of videos I’ve produced:

• National Geographic “Hot sauce made out of ants, would you eat it?”
• The New York Post “Drug Traffickers in the Murder Capital of the World”
• Discovery Digital Networks “Miami from Dawn to Dusk”

These are simple, self-explanatory titles that are easy to digest and hopefully prompt the user to click on your story. Note that the thumbnail image is very important in order to drive the viewer to commit to clicking on your video. Think of it as packaging. Have you ever been intrigued or enticed by the cover of a cereal box at the grocery store? Or the label of a beer brand? The same applies for videos, only it is much easier, because on YouTube, most videos are free. The only thing your audience has to lose is time. What you have to win is their effort to share your video to their circle of friends.

 

Shareability

At this point, the concept of shareability is tangible. If your video has complied with the 4 principles of viral videos and has great packaging (headline and thumbnail), then your audience will certainly be enticed to share it with the world.

Now why do we share videos with our friends? We want to portray ourselves as sensitive, informed, aware, and educated. If your video has value (whether emotional or educational), it will strike a chord and will be shared.

 

Note

No, not all of my videos have gone viral. In our next lesson, we will see the 4 principles in practice along with the clickability and shareability concepts applied.

 

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