Price Engines

Renegade Conservatory Guy has asked how to create a viral video. Knowing what a success the Will it Blend videos have been for the blender manufacturer who makes them, RCG thought it would be an interesting exercise to create an equivalent for the double glazing industry, but as yet hasn’t found the perfect formula.

Much like Carlsberg, Price Engines don’t make viral videos – but if we did, they would probably be the best viral videos in the world. Without further ado, then, we present 10 Tips for creating awesome viral videos:

1. Stop trying to sell your product.

This one is definitely the most counter-intuitive of the tips, so it’s as good a place as any to begin. People don’t go to YouTube to be advertised at, and besides, there are enough Google Ads on that site already. People go to YouTube to be entertained, and the only way your video will become popular is if it’s genuinely entertaining. Stop trying to sell your product, and start trying to make a fun video about it.

2. Be Funny.

You’re not making a promotional video, you’re making a comedy clip. Think ‘You’ve Been Framed’. We don’t watch ‘Will It Blend’ to think about whether a Blendtec blender is right for us, we watch it because watching somebody push shoes, Tom Toms and iPhones into a blender is hilarious. Humour sells, so be funny.

3. Be Stupid.

Let’s face it, putting electronics equipment in a blender is really stupid. That’s its charm. That’s its purpose. Don’t forget, this is the world which brought you the TV Show Jackass. Do something outrageously stupid, that nobody else would do, and you’re halfway to greatness already.

4. Think about your target audience.

Who are you trying to convince? Think about who’s likely to be interested in your product after they’ve watched your video. Whilst you shouldn’t be selling your product with your video, if the kind of people who want to watch your video are not the kind of people who would be interested in your products, you’ve not done your job right at all. Give some thought to whether your video idea will be interesting to the people you want as your future customers

5. Don’t underestimate your audience’s intelligence.

Yes, you know that women with big boobs sell products, and so does your audience. No, that doesn’t mean that the way to sell a product is to have a woman with big boobs using it. Don’t forget that they know the game just as well as you do. What’s more, if you concentrate on the young-to-middle-aged male market, you may be forgetting your target audience (see point 3).

6. Have strong production values.

Make it good. Sweat the details. Make sure your video is well lit, that you can see your subject, that you can hear their voice. If necessary, do a voice-over. Learn to use digital video editing software. Make sure you know how to use a camera. Buy a tripod. Buy a better camera. If you can’t do this, hire somebody who can. This is your video – you want it to look good, don’t you?

7. Make sure it’s yours.

What’s the point of making the video if it hasn’t got your product in it doing something that only your product can do? Remember, we’re not selling your product, but it won’t do any harm to show it in the best light possible compared to the competition. Try to think of something that’s special about your product, something which differentiates it from the others. Then demonstrate it in a really stupid way.

8. Edit.

   Your video needs to be long enough to tell a story, but short enough to retain interest. If there’s a second which isn’t telling your story, remove that second. Keep people interested in your video right up until the end. If you can do it in under a minute, great. 3 or 4 minutes, just on the edge of acceptable. 5 minutes is too long unless you’ve got something really amazing to show.

9. Don’t imagine you can go viral all on your own.

‘Will It Blend’ is not the product of a single clever person at a blender manufacturer, it’s the product of a marketing and PR company – and likely has a lot of promotional legwork going on in the background. Just putting up a video and seeing what happens won’t get you very far unless your video is truly amazing – or ridiculously stupid. Consider hiring a PR firm to promote your video, or creating some controversy around it which will make an interesting story for newspapers to pick up. Email popular bloggers and talkers. Send messages out on Twitter. You can’t do it all on your own – get help.

10. Give up.

Stop trying to make a viral video. Start making a good video, and take it one step at a time from there. Ask yourself if you would watch it. Show it to friends and see how they react – you want to see them laughing uncontrollably and trying to tell their friends about it, not just assuring you that it really is great, no honestly I loved it. Until you can have your friends passing it on to their friends, you haven’t got a viral video on your hands.

So, with all that in mind, what viral video would we make to sell double glazing? That would be giving away all the secrets! I may have said at the top that Price Engines don’t make viral videos, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t start! If you’re interested in what we have to offer you can email our IT department to fin out more by clicking here.