How to Help Your Non-Profit Video Go Viral

With upwards of nearly 100 thousand videos a day being seen on YouTube, it doesn’t take much for your video to get lost in the crowd.

Oh the aspirations of that magic word: Viral.

You’ve got to stand out, stay on top and offer a video that’s going to get bounced around by viewers and shared all over the place.   Combine the power on Facebook and YouTube, and you’ve got a potentially massive viewing audience.

Let’s look at some of the key factors when developing the video and then we’ll talk about going viral.

  • Humor is universal.  People receive messages much better when they’re delivered with humor and they’re more likely to share with others if it’s good for a chuckle.
  • When making the video, have a specific demographic of your audience in mind and focus your design towards that demographic.
  • Parody’s are a great way to get some chatter and attention.  Ride the skirt tails of an already big item.  There’s no shame in that.  Do what you gotta do!
  • Something has to grab their attention.  Shocking stats, amazing images, weird visuals or catchy music.  It’s got to have something that makes people say “Wow!! I’ve got to show this to everyone I know!”

If you want your nonprofit video to go viral, you have to figure out how to stand out from the crowd.

Let’s look at the top five factors to help attain that magic word: Viral

1. Get your video on the most viewed list 

The most viewed list is the top bar across the YouTube page. This is where folks go when they’re looking to dig around through the site.  In order for a video to  make it to the most viewed list, they’ve got to achieve 50,000 hits first.  Those first 50,000 hits don’t happen overnight.  It takes a lot of work through blogging, social media, email- however you can get your video to people to get them to watch it.  Every click counts towards that magic 50,000…

2. Change things up with the title. 

Your title doesn’t have to be set in stone.  Come up with a few different ones and simply edit periodically and get some fresh views.  You’ll also be able to get a feel for what sort of titles are grabbing people’s attention.

3. Tag Tactics. 

Think outside the box when you’re tagging your video.  Keep the tags relevant but mix it up to reach a broad audience.  Think of common, general ways people who are unaware of your message might “accidentally” stumble across your video when doing a search.  For example, a message for an endangered feathered friend might have a tag containing the word wild (wild feathers, wild danger, wild cry).  The word wild will more than likely be a more popular search term than endangered or feathered friend.

4. Encourage conversation and comments. 

Interact with your video viewers. Enlist the help of friends and co workers to interact with each other.  Get some chatter going and everyone is going to horn in and see what all the excitement is about.

5. Timing is Everything.

Do a little bit of homework and get your video out there when it’s going to be the most effective.  If there are other events being marketed that can help bring attention to your cause, get involved with their marketing efforts.  Comment on their blogs, articles, tweets… whatever you can do to share your information with the audience they’re hitting.

While not an easy task, it’s not impossible.  With the right content and the right strategy, your Non Profit can hold the coveted “Viral Video” title.