Thousands of “Call Me Maybe” remake videos swept the nation. Gangnam Style went viral in a matter of seconds. And now, The Harlem Shake is the newest dance craze. All of these over night sensations have the new media leader YouTube to thank for their stardom. But every time a new, and in my opinion incredibly ridiculous, fad invades every single one of my social media platforms I can’t help but ask “why not me?”. I’m sure I’m not the only person bewildered by how Rebecca Black has more YouTube hits than me, so I went searching for the answer.
Hook, line, and sinker! Within the first 10 seconds, your video should have viewers “lmao”-ing. You must create content that catches viewers attention and keeps them watching over and over again. Today’s generation is plagued with short attention spans, so it is important to keep your video short yet sweet. Popular YouTube videos are typically 2-3 minutes long, hooking the viewers immediately to make sure they don’t skip through the content.
Giving audiences something visually satisfying is one of the most important elements to overnight stardom. Take Justin Bieber for example. Do you think anyone was actually listening to him? Heck no! Every one was too fascinated by that beautiful, shiny, flowing hair to give two hoots what he sounded like! (Just kidding, well kind of.) Seriously though, visual quality is just as important as the content of your video. It’s vital to invest in superior production equipment and put effort into the creation of your video. It may seem like all those YouTube senesations just stumbled upon stardom, but their moves were much more calculated than you think. It takes research and planning to create content that keeps audiences coming back for more.
It is impossible to force your video to go viral. It takes effort, consistency and insane creativity. Sure, a person can make a copycat video that’s entertaining and gets thousands of hits, but the videos they post on YouTube won’t become household names. It is important to know the demands of your audience and make videos about what’s hot right now. The video needs to be over the top entertaining, while still relating to your audiences lives. Take Life According to Jimmy and Sh*t Girls Say for example. These channels continue to get thousands of hits daily because they know what their audiences want to see. Their videos are passed around all social media platforms and quoted daily. Immediately after viewing your video viewers should want to post it on their friends Facebook walls and tweet it out for all to see!
Follow these few tips, sprinkle a little insanity in there and you’ll be well on your way to YouTube stardom!
— Laura
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