As far as video production teams go, we’re extremely fortunate. Why? Because at least several times a year, we’re hired by clients to produce a video that’s a truly special concept. It might be a commercial for a product or service where we lean heavily into off-beat humor, or a fundraising video that tells a heartwarming story, and as a creator you feel that you’re creating something truly meaningful that will truly make a difference in peoples’ lives.
And sometimes, we’re asked to create a video that goes viral.
I love when clients use that word, because it always inspires a great conversation. In my experience, there are two main ways that a video can go viral:
Something has been caught on camera by accident, and it’s truly lightning in a bottle
An incredible stunt. A near accident. An unscripted hilarious or heartfelt moment. Whatever it is, it inspires an emotional reaction so strong that as a viewer, you HAVE to share it with someone (or many people).
Something has been written and created for the purpose of inspiring the emotional reaction described above
It can be a knee-slapper, a tear-jerker, something totally awe-inspiring, or a hoax video. In most cases, it needs to be high production value, and there needs to be a tremendous media budget behind it so that it’s served to many people across many platforms.
One of these paths requires a significant amount of luck, while the other requires a significant amount of money. And I’d argue that they both require a lot of luck as well.
The Harmon Brothers (the production team who wrote and produced early viral spots for Squatty Potty, Poo-Pourri, and more, share their stories of viral success in their book From Poop To Gold, a great read which outlines their formula for how to produce viral content.
When clients come to us and ask us to create something that goes viral, I transparently let them know that one of our priorities in a collaboration is that the work we’re producing together is well-planned and strategic. The more money invested into production, the better the spot can be. The more money invested into paid media, the more people will see it. And we’re happy to strategize how to make the best piece of content for their budget; and we’ve got a great media partner who can strategize the best paid media plan for maximum exposure.
There’s never a guarantee that a video will “go viral,” but there are steps we can take together to ensure that it makes the biggest splash possible with the intended audience.