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What Makes a YouTube Video Go Viral? Discover the Hidden Formula

youtube video

Creating a viral YouTube video might seem like a mysterious art, but let me take you back to a personal experience that made it all clear to me. I remember the first time I stumbled upon a YouTube video that exploded seemingly overnight.

It was the infamous “Double Rainbow” video—just a guy marveling at the beauty of a double rainbow he spotted in the sky. Simple, right? But something about his raw enthusiasm and genuine wonder struck a chord with millions of viewers, including myself.

I was hooked not just by the video but by the idea that something so ordinary could captivate so many people. I started digging deeper, trying to figure out what made this and other videos go viral. In this article, I’ll break all of it down for you.

3 Key traits of viral YouTube videos

 A marketing professor Brent Coker claims to have discovered an algorithm for videos going viral and why people will some videos and ignore others and has titled this the “Branded Viral Movie Predictor”.

These include 4 key elements of

  1. Congruency
  2. Emotive strength
  3. Network involvement
  4. Paired meme synergy

He cites examples such as the QuikSilver YouTube video that went viral in 2007.

This formula that supposedly breaks down the science of sharing into an equation is not really quite within the grasp of scientists yet, though it does provide some insights.

Who knows what research will reveal in the future.

What we do know is that there are some basic reasons that online videos capture popular culture’s attention and at a TED Talk, Kevin Allocca the “Trends manager” at YouTube provides 3 reasons why videos go viral.

1. Tastemakers share it

These are the influencers with large tribes of followers that introduce us to new and interesting things and bring a larger audience.

In 2010 Jimmy Kimmel (a late night US talk show host with over 1.6 million Twitter followers) tweeted “My friend Todd has declared this the funniest video in the world- he might well be right -https://ow.ly/dpxTY  “

A intriguing character who calls himself Yosemite Mountain Bear had uploaded a video a  few months previously that had hardly received any views but on receiving a tweet to a Twitter audience that large, it took on a life of its own and today has over 35 million views.

Tastemakers can indeed make a difference!

2. Communities of participation

Rebecca Blacks music video “Friday” is an example of what can be labeled as the power of communities of participation.

When Rebecca first uploaded it there was very little reaction and few views. Blogs started picking it up including Michael J. Nelson (who was originally from the popular TV show “Mystery Science Theater” and now the isnpiration behind Rifftrax.com).

Different online communities then started to create their own versions. These communities have currently remixed over 10,000 parodies of Friday!

Now there are parodies for every day of the week.

The video and all its remixes have been seen nearly 200 million times. So a group of tastemakers share it with a larger audience which then accelerates the process. It is as if these communities for,m that are all sharing a big inside joke.

Another example is “Nyan Cat” which is a video loop with the most inane music track that struck a note with online communities and has received over 83 million views.

Even the 3 hour version of Nyan Cat has been viewed 4 million times.

Remixes have been created from countries all over the world. Including Japan(more than 1.5 million views), Mexico (over 6 million views), France and Russia (with over 2.3 million views).

As Kevin Allocca says, we don’t just passively view anymore as YouTube allows us to actively create and participate.

3. Unexpectedness

Sometimes viral YouTube videos are the result of someone passionately taking their protests online. Casey Neistat was fined $50 for not riding in the bike lane in New York. He decided to take his protest online via YouTube.

His complaint and protest was centered on the fact that “there are obstructions that stop you from riding in the bike lane” and was not happy about receiving what he thought was an unfair fine.

He got his point across and it has now been seen over 5 million times!

This principle applies to many viral videos.

The 8-step YouTube video formula that can get you there

1. Informational, inspirational, educational, or entertaining value

YouTube has many use cases, but viewers broadly look for videos by creators who either educate, teach them new skills or keep them entertained.

YouTube trends report (that I shared above) found that successful creators tend to have an element of comedy. A survey of viewers even found 47% agreeing that their favorite creators are difficult to classify under one genre.

But what do successful channels and videos have in common?

They appeal to viewers’ interests and passions – it’s even more important than production value, the presence of celebrities, and the like. Here are the three reasons – clubbed together under “personal relevance” – indicating the same:

What's-Your-Number-One-Reason-To-Watch-A-Youtube-Channel

So, if you want to make a living through YouTube or promote your brand effectively on the platform: follow your audience. Research their preferences, listen to their feedback and create videos on topics that interest them. If you haven’t already chosen a niche for your channel, then go back to the drawing board and do it first.

Narrow down your channel’s video production efforts to a few “true” fans to whom you want to appeal. If you haven’t heard of the 1000 true fans theory, then Tim Ferriss gives a great overview:

Next, use a tool like TubeBuddy to perform some keyword research on what topics are getting decent searches every month yet are relatively less competitive.

TubeBuddy-Keyword-Explorer

These subjects would be worth going after so that once you rank, you can snag traffic from YouTube search for a few months (if not more).

2. Clickworthy thumbnails

Hundreds of hours of videos are uploaded on YouTube every single minute. They end up in homepage feeds, subscription feeds, and other parts of the YouTube platform, appearing in front of your prospective viewers based on different factors.

The only commonality for getting a user to click on a video is a compelling thumbnail. It’s a seemingly ordinary image, but it’s pivotal in getting more clicks on your videos from those casual browsers on the platform.

As per a YouTube help center article: “Half of all channels and videos on YouTube have an impressions CTR that can range between 2% and 10%.” Depending on your channel’s size, even a 1% increase could result in hundreds to one thousand extra YouTube views.

Of course, using clickbait is out of the question because YouTube recommendations also take the average view duration into account. Videos with clickbaity headlines and images typically fail at them.

As YouTube viewers relate to personalities better than brands, begin using your pictures or photos of the people who present the video. Also, create a consistent template for these thumbnails so that they become recognizable for your subscribers. Choose a color palette, font, and the like, and stick with it. Here’s an example of Nick Nimmin’s channel:

Nick-Nimmins-Channel-youtube video

Note the consistency in his colors, titles, branding, and overall style?

Also, understand that the click-through-rate (CTR) is dependent on the traffic source of your video. Your subscribers vs. search can have substantially different numbers. Your goal should be to keep improving your CTR year-over-year realistically.

3. Engaging hook

Retaining your viewers once they click through your thumbnail and start watching your videos is crucial. It determines if the YouTube algorithm will push your videos further in user feeds.

So don’t turn off your viewers. Once they click on your video, you have to meet the promise you made through your thumbnail and title. Get to the point directly – delivering the information your viewers are after at the start of the video itself. If it’s an entertaining sketch, try using an attention-grabbing precap.

Noah Kagan does a great job at this on his channel. In the video below dissecting the Dude Perfect channel, he begins with a quick, interesting fact about them in 20 seconds. Then he transitions seamlessly into their first income stream:

Calls-to-action to press the bell icon, watch their videos, buy your stuff, and other such “fillers” could lead to a drop off in the viewership. So keep them short and preferably place them in the middle of your videos.

Once you’ve hooked a viewer for about a minute, they tend to be more forgiving of the creator’s mistakes. But a compelling introduction is important for higher retention.

4. Crystal clear audio quality

Ironically if your video quality isn’t HDR, your information and content quality can make up for it on a “video” platform. Viewers don’t choose what to watch based on the production quality of videos. But without clear audio, your viewers will get annoyed and drop off your channel because the information you share won’t be comprehensible.

That’s why the first investment you should make in your video production is buying professional audio equipment.

Keep the background music subtle

The music you use in your video should aid the “mood” you’re trying to create. It should blend such that the viewer doesn’t even remember if your video used any background music or effects.

It especially shouldn’t be so loud that the voices of the actors and narration in the video aren’t audible – else you’ll end up attracting dislikes and troll comments from angry viewers.

Here’s an example of a comment on a professionally produced video series by Beastly.

Keep-The-Background-Music-Subtle

5. Persuasive call-to-action (CTA)

If your video ticks all of the above boxes, congratulations! The viewers who watched it till the end are primed for you to make an ask. They would love to return the favor in exchange for the value you provided.

The most common CTAs you might already know are liking, sharing, subscribing, and commenting on your video. These are fairly common and acceptable to a majority of YouTube viewers – it’s even a running joke:

CTAs-Liking-Sharing-Subscribing-Commenting-Youtube-Viewers

Socialmediatoday

As a brand, you can also consider inviting viewers to sign up for a webinar, download a lead magnet, check out a blog post, or even view another related video. Just keep it crisp and clear. Also, multiple CTAs might confuse viewers, so tread carefully.

Here’s an example from vidIQ, where Rob, the host, shares his advice on starting a YouTube channel. Then he draws attention to a video guide on setting up a video channel:

Starting-A-YouTube-Channel-From-VidIQ

If you change your frame or the energy from the last part of your video to the CTA, viewers might immediately disengage. So consider placing a CTA in the middle of your videos for subscribing to your channel because viewers might not expect it there.

Experiment with creative CTAs so that the viewers don’t “see them coming.” Crack a joke, have fun, and keep it lighthearted – making the viewers smile could just get them to take the action you want them to. For instance, in the video below, the HubSpot channel’s host dances and wishes the viewer good luck with implementing the strategy they shared.

How-To-Understand-Facebook-Video-Insights-youtube video

6. Get your keywords right

First of all, you should learn which words from your niche come up frequently on YouTube and how many people usually search for a particular word by using a SEO tool such as Google’s keyword planner.

However, don’t fight over the most searched keyword terms because that would be really hard to rank for. We recommend using longtail keywords instead: they’re longer and contain more specific phrases, which do include your main keywords, but have less people fighting over them.

Longtail keywords drive precise views from potential customers way faster, helping your video to rank under the main keyword too. Once you find your own, don’t forget to use them everywhere in YouTube: titles, descriptions, tags, etc.

Check out our guide on YouTube SEO.

7. Optimized titles and descriptions

Descriptions explain what your video is about. You need to make them short and accurate (around 2 sentences are perfect) but don’t forget to use your business keywords.

Titles help people get what your video is about before hitting the play button, so it’s vital to place your keywords in it.

Now don’t forget to keep your titles brief and direct. We recommend using less than 70 characters, because longer titles are cut off in the YouTube results page.

On the other hand, try to avoid writing titles that don’t represent the true content in your video. Tricky or misleading titles cause a huge drop-off that will reduce your video’s performance.

8. Promote your video

Promote your video the same way you would any piece of great content.

  • Embed the video in a blog post.
  • Tweet a link to that blog post on Twitter.
  • Embed a YouTube video on your Facebook Page.
  • Embed it in your website if you have one.
  • You can automatically post an update to Facebook or Twitter and other Social media channels when you enable this feature on YouTube (see the bottom of the image in section 6 showing the  “AutoShare” feature)

Final thoughts

YouTube is the home of online video, and 2021 remains an opportune time to start a new channel or grow your existing one. The tips I shared for producing videos in this article will hopefully give you an edge over other creators.

Ready to monetize your YouTube content? Learn more about how to make money on YouTube.

Do you have other tips for creating successful YouTube videos? Let me know in the comments below.

Guest author: Chintan specializes in content marketing for SaaS businesses. He also helps creators build sustainable businesses from their crafts at Elite Content Marketer.

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