5 Key Components of Viral Videos

These are five elements to creating viral videos

I’ve spent many days trying to crack the code behind viral content and in specific videos. I know the amount of hard work that goes into creating quality videos, as well as the painful heartbreak that we get after realizing many people don’t see it. That’s why I found it necessary to analyze popular videos to see what it is that they all have in common.

Here is the list of elements that all viral videos have at least one of them. There’s a bonus viral effect if you can put more than one of these into a video.

1. Money

Money is a desirable commodity in today’s world. Naturally, we are all drawn to the topic. Whether it’s about; “earning money,” “spending money,” or even “giving money.”

The point is: if there’s a figure and it’s being spent, earned, given or won, then nine times out of ten people are going to be interested. A typical example of this is the viral video trend of people revealing how much Youtube paid them off a video with x amount of views.

2. Reactions

The second most common element of viral videos that I found was that they tend to show people’s reactions. We all can connect with emotions. When someone is sad, happy, angry, lonely, we feel something too.

Let’s be honest. It’s intriguing to watch someone be so raw and honest in a video. In a society filled with lies and toxic behaviors, it’s always very refreshing to hear relatable, and real feelings are coming from others, even if they are just talking through a screen. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be your sob story; sometimes, it’s people’s reactions when receiving something.

3. Famous people

It’s no doubt that this is often a very successful technique. Mention of famous names can drive plenty of views to your content as people are already highly interested in them.

Many viral videos are reactions to or collaborations with already well-known people. If you sneak someone famous into your videos, then it’s bound to gain traction.

4. Challenges

Challenge video creations are for the adventurous and those who love a bit of a competitive streak. It’s no doubt that people enjoy watching competitions and I think we can all agree that something is intriguing about it. Who will win, or even if it’s a solo challenge, we’re left wanting to know more about whether the person will reach the goal or not.

5. Drama

Videos that bring in some dramatic event or other, always bear in plenty of views. There’s no doubt about it. People are naturally curious about exciting or even tragic events.

As a general rule, the more of these you can include in one video, the more interesting the video will be. Let’s recap the five critical components of viral videos are:

1. Money
2. Reactions
3. Famous People
4. Challenges
5. Drama