How To Go Viral On YouTube 2023: 10 Tips For Creators

1. Create unique content

Every minute, more than 500 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube. Essentially, you must create quality and unique content for your video to get a spotlight. 

The best approach is first to recognize your niche and the type of videos that go viral. Always think of how your video would relate to particular kinds of individuals. 

One of the best ways to uncover what people are looking for is to use YouTube search. When you have a content idea, conduct a quick YouTube search to see what comes up.

Then, examine the search results to see whether it is competitive or whether there is opportunity to produce a unique video.

You can use vidIQ or TubeBuddy to examine how competitive a keyword is.

You can also explore YouTube-specific trends and find popular and viral content to get information on what tools your competitors utilize, their customer base, and current popular topics that can attract massive interest.

2. Share your content via social media

Nowadays, nearly every person is on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Always make your videos easily accessible on social media platforms. 

Most millennials spend most of their screentime on social media, providing the best opportunity for your YouTube video to get attention.

An excellent idea is to create small clips or snippets and share them widely across social media. This approach would provide the biggest shoutout to your YouTube content. 

Regularly publish your content to your social followers and encourage them to view and share the video.

3. KEEP YOUR VIDEOS BRIEF

Ideally, create brief and succinct videos of 2-8 minutes. The idea is always to engage your audience throughout the video, and they don’t get weary and stop viewing. 

People have limited attention spans or are too hectic to watch and enjoy lengthy videos. 

A shorter YouTube video is more likely to go viral. Always try to captivate the audience and catch their attention within the first minute. 

Use your wit to maintain their focus throughout the video. A viewer is likelier to share a video if it’s short and captivating rather than long and boring.

Also make sure to keep your intros and outros very short.

4. CREATE ENGAGING, MUST-SEE TITLES

Presentation is key to videos going viral. Does the title grab your viewer’s attention? YouTube content creators use creative and engaging titles that provoke the audience to click on the video. 

People crave entertaining content, and it starts with the title. The most popular videos heavily rely on listicles, question-based titles, or hyperbole. 

For instance, “10 best ways…” “What is the worst…“. Sometimes “Best-of” lists and “How-to” titles can engage the audience. 

Always include relevant keywords that inform the viewer what the video is about. Take your time creating titles, which may be the critical factor in your video going viral. 

5. CUSTOMIZE YOUR THUMBNAILS

In addition to creating engaging titles, creative thumbnails can entice the audience to watch your videos. Usually, YouTube takes a screenshot within the video and uses it as a thumbnail. 

Most times, the thumbnail can be blurry or fails to be an attention grabber.

You want your YouTube thumbnails to be appealing and professional. As such, customize your thumbnails. 

For the best results, it is recommended you use the free YouTube thumbnail templates from canva to give your audience a preview of your awesome content. 

With Canva, you can create a beautiful template with desired graphics and fonts that you can use for your subsequent videos.

6. CREATE RELATABLE EMOTIONAL VIDEOS

Always make your YouTube videos authentic and genuine. YouTube rewards videos that keep users on their platform.

Create relatable videos where you can be genuinely emotional. Never fake emotions. For instance, laugh when something is not funny or show despair when you shouldn’t. No one likes pretension.

Humor is also a great way to get people to love your videos. However, use humor intelligently, making sure not to create awkward videos. A dash of realistic humor creates content the audience would love and probably share with others.

7. Reach out to other content creators

Another useful idea is to reach out to established content creators within your niche. An excellent approach is to reach out to them in a creator community. 

These platforms allow creators to interact, reach out and collaborate with other content creators. Another way to reach out to them includes using social media or sending a pitch via email. 

Sending an email should be the first option before sending a direct message.

Ask them how to create viral content and how they became successful. You can also request you collaborate on future videos, or they give a shoutout to your content. They will help your video go viral.

8. MAKE CONTENT THE ALGORITHM RECOGNIZES

You need to make videos that YouTube Algorithm is familiar with and there are several ways in which you can do this. 

Your keywords should be included in the tags and description, and you can utilize the same tags as other successful videos in your niche. This will help the algorithm to understand your content better.

Your title should also have keywords to describe what the video is about and make sure you do not use misleading titles. Doing so will affect your watch time. 

You can model your titles after videos that are going viral at the moment, Make sure you do not copy the titles exactly, you should add your own twists. 

Modelling your titles and keywords after viral videos can get you into the suggested video loops of those videos. 

9. UTILIZE YOUTUBE SHORTS

YouTube Shorts are square or vertical videos that last no more than 60 seconds. 

Creating YouTube Shorts is one of the quickest way to go viral on YouTube.  It’s not just YouTube. Shorts are very popular on TikTok and Instagram.

When compared to regular YouTube videos, shorts can help you get millions of subscribers very fast and this is because people enjoy watching shorts since they are still new, and the YouTube algorithm is also promoting the reach of YouTube Shorts.

One advantage of YouTube shorts is that viewers can share, comment, like, dislike, or subscribe to your channel while watching the video.

10. Continue to do what is working

The final tip is to double-down on whatever is working for you. Once a particular video gains momentum on YouTube. Make sure you create and use similar titles, thumbnails and format for other videos.

You can take advantage of the 33 rule ; which implies that after posting 33 videos and none of them are taking off, then it’s a signal to stop and change the content.

Don’t give up after posting 33 videos, instead change the type of videos you are posting and as soon as one takes off. You should replicate that success to other videos.

Bonus tip : jumping on trends

You can capitalize on trends. For example, over a hundred million million Americans watch the Superbowl every single year. 

A common search term on the day of this event is “how to watch the superbowl for free”. You can create a video around this search term. Use tools like Google Trends & Keywords Everywhere to see other searches that are common on days like this. 

There are several annual events you can jump on like Black Friday, NBA All Star Games, etc

Keep in mind that the shelf life of these topics is not for long, so try as much as possible to produce many videos prior to the event date.

Conclusion : How To Go Viral On YouTube

There’s no guaranteed formula for how to go viral on YouTube in 2022. Making viral videos isn’t an easy process. Regardless, these tips will go a long way in helping your content go viral on YouTube. Keep these factors in mind; soon enough, your videos will trend. 

• Create Unique Content
• Share Your Content via Social Media
• Keep Your Videos Brief
•  Create Engaging, Must-See Titles
• Customize Your Thumbnails
• Create Relatable Emotional Videos
• Reach Out To Other Content Creators
• Make Content The Algorithm Recognizes
• Utilize YouTube Shorts
• Continue To Do What Is Working
• Jump On Trends