The Ultimate Formula to Make Your Short Videos Viral Every Time
Written by Jhasmin Vidal
It’s no secret that young people adore and love TikTok or Douyin, IG reels, and other short-form video platforms. Knowing how to go viral on these platforms gives you access to a massive audience that is only growing.
Yes, unlike other social platforms with aging demographics, TikTok and IG reels are only becoming more popular. By the end of this year, TikTok will have 37.3 million Gen Z monthly active users in the United States, while Instagram will have over 33.3 million.
TikTok has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, with Gen Z accounting for 60% of the total. And all of those Gen Z-ers have a lot of purchasing power. They represent 40% of global consumers.
Therefore, making your brand go viral on TikTok and IG reels means going global. But how do you go about it? This is where we step in.
The 6 Key Ingredients to Make Your Videos Go Viral
We’ve compiled a list of the six most important components of every viral TikTok and Instagram Reel ever made. Incorporate one or more of these components, if not all, into your videos and it will almost guarantee your success.
And no, this is not the cliche “pick a trending sound” or “add the right hashtag” article; we will go deeper than that.
So without further ado, here are the 6 key ingredients to the ultimate recipe that will make your videos go viral every time:
1. Controversy
People love controversy. Every person wants to hear about the latest gossip and drama in town, especially all our aunties. That’s why we have the “celebrity gossip” news segments, the “Keeping up with the Kardashians” TV series, and other drama movies.
The key is to create a video that evokes emotions and opinions about the topic and your brand.
A perfect example of this is a TikTok video of a slime company called Slime Shady Shop. They posted a video responding to a comment that they should go to Shark Tank, which is a popular American business series where successful entrepreneurs look for businesses and individuals to invest in.
That video blew up and got over 174,000 likes and 1.6 million views. That happened because many people didn’t agree that a simple slime company would make it, let alone be invited to Shark Tank.
The TikTok account of that company now has over 748k followers and 23.4 million likes. Whether they can get invited to Shark Tank or not doesn’t matter. They got the engagement they needed and they reached a massive audience because of that single video.
Now, that’s one way to get viral. Just keep in mind that you can’t go viral without offending some people. It’s okay. Don’t be afraid to be creative.
2. Sexuality
Humans are all sexual beings, so this is a no-brainer. This is about spicing things up or marketing your product from a whole different perspective.
One great example of this is a video from @africanmoney on TikTok where he discovers what else he can use his massaging gun for. The video became viral and hit 47.5 million views, 8.7 million likes, and over 93,000 comments.
This is just because of one simple massage gun being shown on social media for different uses. Whether that new use works or not (probably not because it’ll hurt) doesn’t matter, but it is funny to millions of people, so it became viral.
However, this is not a video from the massage gun company itself, but it demonstrates how powerful creativity and relating your product in some sexual humor can be.
You can use this element if your products or services have a sexual component or not.
You don’t have to be direct and demonstrate how it relates. You just need to know how to relate it without actually relating it.
One good example comes from toothbrushes. It’s a commodity, but one thing that might help you stand out from your competition is a viral short video. You can do that by using the “I brought you a gift. What is it? It’s a crystal, nothing more, but if you turn it this way, ” sound and show your product. The viewers will instantly get it.
The video of a toothbrush on the left with the sound I mentioned above has over 14.9M views, 3.2M likes, and 77k comments. It has no direct relation to sexual things. It’s just a simple toothbrush with a trending sound, but the viewers still get it. High-class humor at it’s best!
Another way to do it is to weave sexuality (sex topics) into your speech so you can allude to sexual references while making or putting captions on your video. One good example of that is when you sell pain relief products, you can say in the video or captions that “pain relief as fast as you last in bed”. It may sound offending to some people, but it is funny and it will get the attention that you want, making the video go viral.
3. Shock
This element is pretty straightforward.
Basically, you just need to amaze the audience with how much change or benefits your products or services can create for them.
For example, a 15–30 second massive body transformation video can present a shocking element for a gym or fitness program.
Another good example is how much quality makeup can change one’s appearance for make-up brands.
You can use this element in a variety of ways depending on the product or service you sell.
4. Confusion
Confusion is about targeting the analytical mind of your potential target audience. What they see in your video should not make sense to them at first to confuse them.
Your goal is to confuse them in order to activate their unconscious engagement.
Unconscious engagement will make them watch your whole video to understand what’s happening
It will make them scroll through the comments to see what other people’s reactions are and what they think.
Do you happen to stumble upon a meme where everyone is reacting “haha” but you don’t get it? You don’t get it, not because you’re slow, but because it’s somehow a puzzle, a picture with a different meaning, etc.
Therefore, you click the comments to see what’s going on so you can understand. That’s how confusion works; it forces people to engage with your post or video.
You can also do it by posting a ridiculous thing about your product or service that sounds stupid but may actually be true. People will get confused about whether to believe you or not, so they will interact with the post and share their own opinions.
5. Satisfaction
Satisfying videos always go viral or get a decent amount of engagement. You may have come across a good number of satisfying videos like ASMR, restocking the refrigerator, making candy, and other things. If your product or service has some satisfying video element to its creation, usage, or behind-the-scenes, you should definitely post about it.
6. Cool Editing
This should go without saying. The number one element behind every viral video ever is cool editing. You could have the hottest controversy or the funniest humor ever, but if you have bad editing skills and low-resolution video, it will all go to waste.
Besides that, editing goes beyond just making the video appealing; it also has psychological techniques in editing videos to keep your audience hooked and interested.
The analyzation video on the left about Mr. Beast’s videos explains very well why editing is so important to make viral videos.
The Must-Have Checklist of Every Viral Video
Now that you know about the 6 key ingredients to make your videos viral, let’s talk about the other factors that you still need to consider to secure your success.
Aside from the story line and psychology behind your videos you also need to have the following:
- Fast-paced videos. People are very fast at scrolling over your video, so make sure that it is fast-paced to get their attention.
- Good lighting. Good lighting is a must-have to create a good video that people and the algorithm will love.
- One or more viral video ingredients incorporated into your videos. This is pretty self-explanatory. Implement one or more key ingredients we mentioned above in your videos to make it viral.
- Trending sounds. Always use treding sounds to reach more people.
Conclusion
Congratulations on making it to the end of the article! We hope that we have provided you with useful information that will benefit your company or online store.
We know that all of this sounds great but can be a little bit overwhelming. After all, not all businesses have the time and resources to brainstorm ideas, hire more creatives, and be consistent in putting out content on social media.
That’s why companies like New Digital Noise exist. We are your partner in growing your brand and building your online presence across all digital platforms. Let us take care of being creative and putting out good content for your brand so you can focus more on what matters. Feel free to contact us anytime!
