You may on not know it but there are many different alternatives to the classic sales pitch video.
Although the classic info style video has its place, it seldom becomes viral.
Viral videos are by far the fastest and cheapest way to spread brand awareness for an otherwise unknown company.
So what angle do you need to have a chance of creating a viral video?
Native advertising
Native advertising is a style of advertising where the person either reading or viewing isn’t aware that they are looking at an ad. It only becomes apparent that there is a brand attached to the video after the hook is deeply set in the viewers mouth.
Most people initially think that a viral video has to be humorous. And that may be a great option, but it isn’t the only avenue.
The key is great storytelling.
A great story is usually the only exception for a long video. If you are able to engage your audience with great story, you will not only get viewers watching until the end (which is a giant ranking factor for both Youtube and Google) but your clip will get shared and spread about internet.
Storytelling is ingrained in our nature as humans. It has been used since the dawn of man throughout all cultures for many purposes such as teaching morality, propaganda and within religion. So using it for advertising is nothing new.
As children we are all brought up on storytelling. Whether it’s in the form of a storybook or a cartoon or a movie, we are all bred to listen to them. With this in mind, a captivating story will steal a viewers attention for as long as it’s interesting.
This is why animated video production is such a popular choice for native advertising.
Remembering that your video is essentially an advertisement, you don’t have any spare time for additional content you could do without. You only get roughly 200 words out of a minute. With this in mind it will soon become apparent how long your video may drag on for. So keep the content strictly to what you need to make the script work.
Try to evoke some sort of emotion out of the viewer. This is the ‘secret sauce’. It doesn’t matter what emotion it is, just make sure you hit one of them. Humour is very popular, but empathy is also a big winner. If you can get the viewer to resonate with the story where they could think “that’s me”, then you have a compelling video.
If you have done your homework on commercial video production, you would have been warned to keep your video short. But if your story concept it good enough, it can stretch much longer.
A great example of this is a different style of video to you regular clip which is called a ‘video sales letter’ (VSL). These videos traditionally stretch for 30 minutes or more. There is a special art to this called ‘copywriting’ which is a different kettle of fish to a shorter promotional video but is a great example of how long you can hold an audience when you are essentially selling something.
A native video with a great hook isn’t easy to cook up. Otherwise vial videos wouldn’t be a special as they are. Most businesses take the safe road and go for something ‘salesy’ or informative. But if you have a great idea in mind and the creativity and patience to split test its effectiveness the rewards will be monumental.
Give native advertising a try. Just because your clip doesn’t go viral doesn’t mean a failed campaign. If done reasonably well you will generate much more views and a better engagement rate which is something to be proud of.