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10 ways to make your video

go viral
Karen X. Cheng Follow
Jul 31, 2013 · 7 min read

I almost didn’t write this post.

Because I wanted to keep the magic behind my viral video to myself. Be-
cause of my ego. Because I would have loved to brag that I just sat back
and it took o> on its own. But that’s not what happened.

I did a ton of marketing, and it started long before the video was re-
leased. Going viral was not an accident — it was work.

I tried a lot of things. This is what worked for me.

1. Don’t be “too good” for marketing
I almost didn’t put together a marketing plan. Because what if I did all
this marketing, and then the video still Copped? That would’ve been em-
barrassing. Then I realized how stupid that was.

It’s better to try your damnedest and fail than to hold back and always
wonder what if.

If you put all this e>ort into your video, why would you rely on luck for
the last leg? Swallow your pride. Give your work a Gghting chance. Put
together a marketing plan. This article will show you how.

2. Understand how things go viral on

the internet
You see videos on YouTube with millions of views and you wonder — 
where did they all come from?

Here’s how my video, Girl Learns to Dance in a Year went viral:

Views per day on Girl Learns to Dance in a Year

Day One: 80k views

 • First, I posted to Facebook/Twitter, and submitted it to social news
sites like Reddit and Hacker News. I personally asked many of my
friends to share it. I tweeted it at well-known dancers. I emailed
bloggers who had covered other viral dance videos.

• Of all the things I tried, Reddit paid o>. It got to the top of the Get-
Motivated subreddit. I did this by following the advice in this
article.

Day Two: 800k views

• Bloggers who had seen it on Reddit the day before started publish-
ing articles about it. First Kottke. Then blogs like Mashable, Jezebel,
and HuVngton Post.

• Blogs drove a ton of traVc. Each blog is a giant marketing engine

with millions of readers and twitter followers. It’s in their interest to
get the article as many views as possible, because each view is an ad
they can serve up. Understand how the money Cows. It’s all about
clicks and advertising dollars.

Day Three: 1.8 million views

• It made the YouTube frontpage. I’m not sure how it got there, but I
suspect the blogs were sending it so much traVc that YouTube’s al-
gorithms picked up on it.

Try many things. You only need one of them to pay o> in order for your
video to go viral. For me, that thing was Reddit. Your thing might be dif-
ferent. Your goal is to get major blogs to write you up, because their mar-
keting power is ridiculous.

3. Release on Monday or Tuesday

People watch YouTube videos when they’re at work. They read the news
at work. Release your video on Monday or Tuesday to give it the whole
week to gain momentum. Weekends are speed bumps.

I chose Tuesday because people are busy catching up with email on Mon-
day. I got lucky with the timing because there wasn’t any major breaking
news that day. Releasing on a slow news day will help you.

Mind your holidays, too. Don’t release when people are not at the oVce.

4. Figure out who has a stake in your video

If your video takes o>, who are all the people and companies who might
want a piece of the action? These people can help market you.

My YouTube description was full of links to possible sponsors — to the

Lululemon and American Apparel clothes I was wearing. To the Lift app I
used to track my dancing. To the BART train station I danced at. To the
music I danced to. They’re all things I genuinely believe in, so I was
happy to send traVc their way.

I contacted all these companies and asked them to share the video. Some
of them shared, some of them didn’t. Try them all.

5. None of this matters if your video

isn’t good
You can get your friends to share. But only the strength of the content
can get their friends to share. If you are serious about making good con-
tent, read Made to Stick.

Why will people share your video? People share things when they feel
emotion. What emotion will your viewers feel?

Some emotions spread better than others. Emotions that spread: awe,
excitement, amusement, anger, anxiety. Emotions that don’t: contentment,
sadness.

6. Tell a story
I’m a decent dancer for a year of practice but I’m nothing compared to
the pros. There are thousands of dancers way more talented whose
videos didn’t go viral.

Girl Learns to Dance in a Year went viral because it wasn’t just another
dance video with cool moves and cool camera angles. It wasn’t about
how good the dancing was. It was about how awkward I was when I
started, and how I got better with practice.

And it’s not just a story about dancing. It’s about having a dream and not
knowing how to get there — but starting anyway.

People want stories. That’s what all TV, movies, and books are. Tell a
story.

7. Make your video shorter

The Grst thing people do when they play a video is check to see how long
it is. It helps them decide whether to watch it. 10 minutes: forget it. 2
minutes: I’ll give it a shot. 30 seconds: Heck, might as well.

Make your video as short as possible while still keeping the heart of the
story. The editor and I literally spent hours shaving o> seconds to get the
video down to 1 minute 51 seconds.

Short videos spread better.

8. Write a viral title

Here’s a quick test. How would you Gnish this sentence:

“Hey did you see the video of __________”

Fill in the blank. That’s your title.

Here’s a bad title: My Journey of Dance, a Year of Movement

Better: I Learned to Dance in a Year

Even better: Girl Learns to Dance in a Year

Best: Girl Learns to Dance in a Year (TIME LAPSE)

9. Know what you’re willing to

compromise
What are you willing to do for views? Are you willing to compromise on
your beliefs? If so, which ones?

I made a compromise. I believe that grown women should not be re-

ferred to as girls. Then I named the video Girl Learns to Dance in a Year. It
rolls o> the tongue better than Woman Learns to Dance in a Year. I had
decided I could live with that compromise.

I almost named the video Asian Girl Learns to Dance in a Year. I’m really
glad I didn’t do that.

You have to decide what you can live with and what you can’t. Figure this
out before you release because once you hit publish, you can’t take it
back.
10. What to do once you go viral
People will criticize your work. This is good because it gets them talking.
There are lots of comments about how I’m a terrible dancer, or how I got
worse on Day 365. People left racist and sexist comments. They even de-
bated the deGnition of time lapse. Try not to let all this get to you. Con-
troversy is good.

Viral videos have a short shelf life. You have 15 minutes of fame, and
your job is to open as many doors as possible in those 15 minutes. Create
as many opportunities as you can. Ironically, the week I released the
video, I barely danced at all. I didn’t go out and celebrate. I went home
and responded to as many emails and tweets as I could.

Make sure the media can get a hold of you, and it’s not hard to Gnd your
email address. Media interview requests will start coming in. Accept
them. National TV may contact you. Feed the media beast.

Know where you want to direct your traVc. I linked to my blog, website,
and Twitter from the video. They were all ready to go. One thing I
messed up was I didn’t have an email signup form ready on the Dance In
A Year website. I’ve Gxed that now, lesson learned. Be prepared.

Why I did it
I wanted people to see the video because it represents what I believe in.

When you watch a professional perform, you’re seeing them at their mo-
ment of glory. It’s intimidating because you don’t see how you could ever
get to where they are. You don’t see the moment they started, when they
were a beginner just like you. I wanted people to see the beginning.

The best response to the video has been all the people who reached out
to me, newly inspired to learn. Learn dance. Learn guitar, Korean, beat-
boxing, drawing, parkour. That brings me a lot more fulGllment than the
video view count numbers.

After hearing from so many people, I’m now working on a site for people
to make their own learning time-lapse projects: 100. I’m really excited to
see other people level themselves up in all sorts of skills.

None of this might have happened if I had decided to sit back and just
hope it went viral.

. . .
After publishing this article, a bunch of startups have asked me to create
their videos, which I enjoy doing. Get in touch at karenx.com if you’re
interested.

For more viral video tips, follow me on Facebook or Twitter, or schedule

a call with me.

Thanks to Cedric Dahl, Alex Debelov, Nikolay Valtchanov, Lynn Tao, and
Orion Hombrebueno for marketing help and advice for the video.

This article was originally published on Fast Company.