6 Steps To Creating Short Videos That Go VIRAL On Social Media

Videos are a powerful way to reach a large audience quickly but VIRAL videos help to spread your name to the world even more quickly! “Going viral” simply means that there was something in your video that is super cute, informative, innovative, or even gross and people want to share it with others in their network quickly.

The best thing is that viral videos are short and sweet. Believe it or not, you can say a lot in a short amount of time or catch someone’s attention enough that they want to follow you and/or explore your profile longer for other videos. Short videos are also easy to produce with a simple smartphone, which cuts down on your expenses and time spent on video creation.

As with anything, planning out your videos will only benefit you, especially if you’re short on time. Knowing what you want to record and learning the music, dance, or song will make your video recording session quick and easy. Once you have a few easy sessions, you’ll want to create more because they can actually be fun!

Are you ready to get started? Let’s get to planning!

Step one: Pick the Perfect Platform to Reach Droves of “Right People”

Instagram Reels, Facebook Stories and TikTok all have one thing in common: you can easily go viral, all with a video that’s only 1-3 minutes long. That said, you have to make sure you’re creating the right type of content for each platform. This first step will help you decide where to create your videos, what types of content to create, and what to include in your videos. 

Let’s review all the places you can post tiny, short videos:

 Facebook Stories (like Instagram Stories) allow you to share content in real time. A Facebook Story video lasts 20 seconds and a photo lasts 5 seconds. This content is usually super personalized and feels less like “marketing” to the viewer and more like connecting with a friend. Facebook Stories show up to those who you’re already friends with on Facebook. Facebook business pages can also post Stories, as well as paid Story ads.

Instagram Reels allow you to share 1-3 minute engaging videos. They don’t expire in 24 hours like Stories and they have a dedicated tab on the “Explore” page, so people who don’t actively follow you can actually find you–aka you can get exposure to a much larger audience than if you just used posts or Stories.

TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform in the world. It also allows you to create 1-3 minute videos to educate, entertain and connect with your audience. 40% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16 and 25. 

TikTok and Reels have a larger learning curve but the potential to be seen by larger audiences.

Of course, you also have the mother of all video sources, YouTube; however, YouTube is home to longer videos, often tutorials or other entertainment. In general, longer videos don’t go viral but we can’t talk about videos without talking about YouTube! 

I often suggest to my clients that they choose one platform for their videos to start, preferably one they already use frequently and which has a following. Planning your content for one platform can be stretchy enough if you’ve never done it before; planning content for multiple platforms could lead to overwhelm or analysis paralysis, which often leads to inaction or procrastination.

If you’re already on multiple platforms, answer the questions about your ideal clients in this first exercise. There’s a reason why you’re on these platforms; do you know what that reason is? Are your social platforms bringing in leads? Are you interacting with your audience or are you connecting with neighbors or college buddies? Nothing wrong with that if they’re in your target audience. If not, it’s time to analyze who will see your videos and where you’ll get the most return for your time.

Since we’re talking strictly about video, we’re going to limit the lists in the exercises to only those that support videos; but you can still analyze your other social platforms to decide if they’re still serving you.

EXERCISE: Choose your viral video platform. 

Answer questions about your target audience and do some research so you’re focusing your time on the platform your ideal clients use the most. 

Step TWO: Get Familiar with What’s Viable to Go Viral

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just wave your magic wand and have your videos go viral? You can dream it but it doesn’t quite work that way. Different types of content work on each platform, so it’s wise to make this your starting place.

Facebook Stories work just like Instagram Stories, which is no surprise as Facebook owns Instagram. Use these platforms for “in the moment” content, like: 

• Behind-the-scenes
• New product or service launches
• Promos (including holiday promos)
• Customer recognition (calling out new sign-ups for a program, screen shot and re-sharing when others praise your business)
• Competitions and giveaways that require others to share your business to their own Stories
• Quick how-to content 
• Challenge updates

Record your video and upload. Doesn’t get much easier!

IG Reels are more produced than Stories, meaning there’s editing involved. Get excited instead of afraid! These are still short videos and with the right tools you can speed up the video to play faster and/or add transitions to make the video more interesting. Remember, they don’t have to be masterpieces. 

Best content types include: 

• Tips, tricks, or secrets your audience can implement
• Educational content (anything that teaches your audience something new)
• Behind-the-scenes (what you’re working on, what you’re launching)
• “Day in the life” videos (especially good for personal brands to build connection)
• Humorous videos also work well on Reels. 

TikToks are also more produced than a Story. The same types of content work on TikTok as on IG Reels, but TikTok “trends” are what truly can help you go viral. TikTok also favors humorous content, as well as content commenting on current events (if this works for your brand). 

In these exercises, it’s time to familiarize yourself with the content that tends to work well on each platform. Download the apps and then set a timer so you don’t get lost going down a TikTok rabbit hole. Discover different user accounts, watch their videos, and take note of how many views their videos have received. Jot down different notes and picture whether a certain content theme or trend would work for your business.

Also, don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis! Overthinking will stall your progress and will propel you into a cycle of inaction. Instead, review your notes, decide on your content, then find your smartphone to start shooting! Done is better than perfect and the more you stretch yourself to produce these videos the easier it will become.

Stretching out of your comfort zone is important. Many people avoid videos because they don’t want to be on camera or for some reason are insecure about their looks. If you feel nervous and your palms are sweaty, go for it anyway! Nervous excitement is often a sign of personal growth and that you’re expanding your comfort zone.

EXERCISE: Familiarize yourself with the content that tends to work well on each platform.

Choose content that you know will resonate with your audience. Study others in your market and track your own results. Use the worksheets on the next pages.

Exercise: Journal your answers to the questions below.

Step three: Leverage Trends to Fast-track Your Success

TikTok is one of the few places where it’s perfectly OK to copy what someone else is doing in their video. Trends on TikTok often last for months (as opposed to days with other platforms) which allows new followers to still find your video after a trend nears its end.

What are trends? TikTok trends can vary from songs to dances to specific video effects or transitions to hashtags. When you “jump on” a trend, you actually make creating content easier as you don’t have to come up with an original idea that no one has tried before. Instead, you simply plug your topic into the current trend and go.

Of course, you can also try to create your own trends. You might upload a song and create your own dance/style of content with your own unique hashtag. Challenges often tend to do well. The key is to have fun while creating your TikTok videos and add some humor to your brand. 

These TikTok trends can also inspire your Facebook Stories and IG Stories as well. Don’t just upload the same exact video; tailor it to meet each platform’s audience but at least you won’t spend hours trying to figure out what to film. Use trends as your starting point and get creative, especially since other platforms allow longer videos.

If you’re unsure whether TikTok is worthwhile, I urge you to take some time to explore it and check out Dr. Hunter Finn (@drhunterfinn). He’s a young veterinarian from Texas who puts a funny spin on his educational pet videos. Those who enjoy TikTok for the entertainment value will get a laugh and others who have pets will glean some knowledge, too. He has a following of 2.1 million and is getting his followers to talk about him on other platforms. I was introduced to him on Facebook by one of his clients who couldn’t believe he was on TikTok.

So, even if you can’t possibly imagine (right now!) what you would talk about on TikTok, I encourage you to approach the exercises in this section with an open mind. They are meant to stretch you a bit and to discover ways you can add some whimsy to your videos. 

First, make use of the “Discover” tab on TikTok. This is where you’ll find current trends for sounds and topics. You can also follow the hashtag #trendalert. Take note: What shows up on this page will differ user-to-user, so if you’ve already been using TikTok, you’ll see videos that appeal to your personal interests. If you want to use TikTok for business use, be discerning about which trends you decide to leverage and make sure they make sense to your people. Over time, if you engage with content in your niche and your ‘right people’ engage with your content, you’ll see more and more content that’s tailored to your niche.

Second, you might see multiple trends that you’d like to explore but don’t want to overwhelm your schedule with multiple videos to produce. In this case, you can save trending content to use later by using the “Add to Favorites” button on TikTok. On Instagram you can search for specific sounds (including ones you might’ve seen on TikTok). You can also explore Instagram’s Reels page for trends the same way you would on TikTok.

EXERCISE: Discover trending content on TikTok and Instagram. 

Take note of the trends and brainstorm ways you can modify each trend to suit your target audience.

EXERCISE: Save trending content you might want to reference later.

Now that you have an idea of what type of content will be popular with your audience, create a process for saving inspiring content from other influencers or those in your industry. Use this spreadsheet or create a digital swipe file in Evernote or Google Drive.

Step four: Brainstorm Unique, Internet-Breaking Content

Even though following trends is fun and easy content creation, you still want to add your own promos and expertise into the mix. Now that you have an idea of what others are doing in their viral videos, it’s time to start brainstorming your first month of content.

If you’ve never had a content calendar in the past, embrace this new idea as a way to save time during your day. No more stress in the morning, wondering what you’ll record. No more stress in the evening because you’re running out of time to record something. When you have a plan of action, you know exactly what you’ll record and when.

Some people might argue that scheduling like this takes away some of the spontaneity of social media. If you’re in this camp, then I invite you to do some scheduling and the leave some spaces blank so you can be spontaneous. Facebook Stories lends itself to more impromptu content and less planning, so this platform is perfect for behind-the-scenes type videos (like photoshoot day or product launch day).

TikTok and IG Stories allow more editing, so that’s something to consider in your planning phase. Shooting a video AND editing in between client calls or other engagements will be challenging. Think of how much you can get done if you schedule half a day to film TikTok videos and do the editing without interruptions!

The first exercise in this section is about creating a calendar. Begin by adding any launches or promotions that are already scheduled. Mark them clearly so they don’t fall through the cracks. Think about some fun, humorous videos that will support those launches. Work backwards from that launch date and decide far in advance you want to publish them. Every piece of content you publish should have an end goal, so figure out where in your sales sequence these videos will appear and what their purpose is.

In the second exercise, it’s all about getting creative and thinking of how you can customize the trends you saw in your research to your unique business. What’s a common pain point? Is there a song or other trend that compliments that pain point where pairing the two will make you stand out?

Consider asking your kids and/or spouse or other family member to become part of history by being featured on one of your videos. Showcase where you live, your pets, your favorite hobbies. All of these may seem non-business related but it shows your human side instead of just the face of your brand.

Let your imagination run wild! Most importantly, have fun filming and be proud to show off your creative video.

EXERCISE: Get clear on what’s on your calendar.

List out your promotions for the month to plan relevant videos. 

EXERCISE: Brainstorm content that fits into 1 (or more) of the trends you found.

Step five: Finesse Your “Films” with Fame-Creating Final Touches

No matter what platform you choose, videos are meant to catch the viewers’ attention, not put them to sleep because they’re dull. When given the option to edit, go for it! These unique final touches can help you increase your chances at going viral – or at least being seen by more of your audience.

Let’s explore some differences between each platform:

Facebook Stories:

1. Promoting across multiple platforms is a wonderful practice because not everyone in your audience uses every platform. Instagram and Facebook make it even easier by allowing the option to share any IG Stories right to Facebook.
2. Shoot vertically, which means holding your smartphone upright while you film. Think about what the Stories location looks like: It’s upright/vertical, not sideways/horizontal. Hold your phone in the same direction to fill up the entire Stories frame.
3. Add captions. Lots of people watch videos/Stories on their phones without sound on and if you want them to view the whole story, make it easy for them by identifying what’s happening. 
4. Use Stories features to add interesting elements like text, stickers, music, etc. Why not? It’s a fun way to shout out your location, your client, a JV partner, or to drive traffic to your website or sales page.
5. Add custom links and buttons. A great feature about Facebook Stories is your viewers will be able to click “See More” and go to anything from a landing page to your Facebook business page.

Instagram Reels:

Use transitions. These are fun because they give the illusion that you’re creating magic on your video. Transitions are likely already a part of the trend you’re jumping on but be sure yours as good as they can be before posting the video. Some popular transitions include: the conveyor belt, cover the camera, clap, snap, and hair toss. Another clever one is the shoe toss, where the first clip of you tosses the shoe into the air, and magically it lands on your foot in the next clip! 

Transitions are most frequently used by fashion and lifestyle influencers, where they magically change from one outfit to another. But this is where your creativity comes in! How can you use transitions to showcase your business? A professional organizer can use transitions to show the transformation of a messy house to an immaculate house. Think ‘before and after’ shots and make friends with the align setting.

Here are some other tools to get the most exposure for your Reels:

1. Use hashtags related to the trend or include hashtags related to the specific content and your business. Hashtags assist in getting you discovered by anyone searching for a specific hashtag. For extra exposure, check trending hashtags at Hashtagify.me.
2. Add captions to help viewers understand your video if they’re watching without sound.

1. Instagram advises not to post reels that are low res, have a border, or are covered with text and this all makes common sense. Low res will result in blurry video; borders take up precious space on an already small mobile device screen; and what’s the point of shooting a video only to hide it behind too much text?
2. Instagram also warns that if they can tell the content isn’t native to IG Reels, it’s less likely to get seen. So, if you plan to use both TikTok and IG, don’t just save your TikTok and then upload to IG with a TikTok watermark on it. Upload your video separately to IG so they “think” it’s original to IG.

However, the opposite is true with TikTok and Facebook Stories. Facebook apparently doesn’t have any problem with sharing TikTok videos on their Stories platform. 

TikTok:

1. Transitions are a big deal on TikTok, so do your best to use them and use them well!
2. Hashtags: Some experts suggest using approximately 5 hashtags, although you can use up to 33 on TikTok, 30 in Instagram Reels. 
3. Stitch is another unique feature on TikTok which allows you to ‘stitch’ other users’ videos to respond to questions or trends. You can also pose a question and then ask others to stitch you.
4. Duet allows your video to play alongside someone else’s. These are often great for “reaction” videos or for adding your own commentary to someone else’s video.

 As you can see, there are pros to using each of these platforms to create viral videos. Keep an open mind and think of the possibilities. You may even have some fun!

EXERCISE: Write out a list of hashtags for each individual piece of content.

Having a list to reference will help brainstorm relevant content and save time when you’re ready to post your trendy videos.

STEP SIX: Post at the Right Times to Skyrocket to Stardom

You can definitely go viral after one post but you stand a better chance at expanding your reach by creating more than one video and doing it consistently. Not every single video will go viral but why stop at one? Creating consistent high-quality content will only increase your chances of people discovering your videos and more than one video can “go viral” at a time!

Going viral is the result of combining the correct posting schedule with the best posting practices for each platform. If you can determine when your audience will be online, posting during that time frame will get you immediate results. The guidelines are based on research and when you examine your own analytics, you’ll discover your ideal time to post.

Planning your posts for when your audience will be live online benefits you because they will start engaging right away. Whether they’re sharing or leaving comments, you’ll be there to witness the activity and to answer questions or add to the engaging comments. What a treat for your followers to have a real-time conversation with you, even if done in the comment section of the social platform.

When it comes to timing, think about when your audience will be online and actually scrolling on these platforms. Think about commuting hours, lunchtime, after work and weekends. This is a bit more important for Facebook Stories since they will disappear in 24 hours just like IG Stories. Even if you post during an “off” time, you’ll know when to come back on to engage because you’ve paid attention to your analytics.

 Here are the general posting guidelines for each platform:

• Facebook Stories: 1 time a day minimum, no more than 2 a day (per Hootsuite)
• IG Reels: Instagram recommends 5-7/week
• TikTok: 1-3 videos a day (can be very short, though!) (per Hootsuite and TikTok)

In this first exercise, you’ll create an ideal work schedule for yourself, determine how many videos per day/week you’ll need for each platform, then look at your analytics to determine prime publishing time. This schedule is meant to be fluid; just don’t make the schedule and then forget to check back. Nothing says you don’t care more than ignoring the comments.

The last exercise will help you choose a content calendar (which often comes with an automation tool) so you can plan ahead and always be working ahead of the game. There’s nothing fun than getting behind.

One last bit of advice: Don’t be too hard on yourself when you get started with these videos! They are meant to be fun and to show some humor, so go with the flow and give it a try. You might just surprise yourself.

EXERCISE: Choose which days and times you’ll post and how often you’ll post each week.

Consistency helps your production schedule and gives your audience something to look forward to.

EXERCISE: Insert all of the above into your own content calendar of choice–and get creating!

Merging this viral video content into a master calendar that also includes your promotions is a must-do. If you try to manage separate calendars, something inevitably will get lost. 

Just get it done!