Viral Video Starter Kit

Posted in: going viral in ilbiscom's Blog

Here is short way how to increase your videos visibility:

Increase your connections

A network is formed by creating connections. Links are the connectors, the more links to your video the more likely it will be found. Found by search engines, by blog engines, forums, etc.

Locate audiences

The audience of one is in the billions on the Internet. However there are a few destinations that command an audience of millions. Find them and of course, use them.

Exploit verticals

As they say, there can only be one number one. Increase your chances of being number one by finding an appropriate vertical. Will also help your video find a receptive audience.

Don't wast time worrying about search engines

Google is great, but only useful if you know what you are looking for. The likelihood someone is searching for your new video by name is pretty low. If you work to increase connections (as stated above) it is likely that Google will find and index your site on its own. Note: This only applies to viral marketing. Everyone should worry about search engine optimization, a topic was covered in the past.

At first you must upload your video to a personal site or free video hosting site (YouTube, Revver, Google Video, Yahoo Video, etc...), they should have tools for promotion (codes, widgets, etc). After that you must start with promotion activities, which simply means that you start to publish your codes, or just links to these services:

Social bookmark services

Social bookmark services have gotten pretty popular with a large group of Internet users. More importantly they create instant connections. Sign up and bookmark the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permalink">permalink</a> to your video. Some social bookmark services:

del.icio.us
The grand daddy of social bookmarking. Much hyped for being Web 2.0 and can be said to have a more techie audience.
StumbleUpon
Better known for its toolbar then bookmarking, more of an in-between. An in-between that can drive serious traffic, don't skip this one.
Furl
I'm not a fan of the design but I can't argue with the traffic it generates.
Blinklist
Very similar to del.icio.us but with more pizzazz.
Ma.gnolia
Great design and interface. It's free like the rest so just add a bookmark to your video.
Shadows
Popularity is based on tags instead of links. Unique approach could help your video find an audience.
Blogmarks.Net
Less features then del.icio.us or Blinklist but has a large user base that you should not ignore.

General Aggregate sites

Popular aggregate sites pull large audiences and allow anyone to post a link. Check them out, get a feeling for what they consider appropriate content, and post a link to your video. If your video is not appropriate, your post stands the chance of getting removed or just falling to the bottom and being forgotten.

Digg
The most popular and includes video categories. Because of its popularity your post will only be on the first page of "upcoming stories" for so long. If your post fails to catch on it will fall to the bottom and be forgotten. But don't afraid, having any link from Digg is still a good thing.
Reddit
The content is all over the place, which means if you can find an angle to pitching your video it might just take off. Lacking categories like Digg it can also be harder to catch on with the techie audience.
Netscape
Less popular then either Digg or Reddit it seems to be gaining users. The lack of popularity will also give your post more time to catch.

Vertical Aggregate sites
General aggregate sites are great but have traditionally catered to technology and news. But the web audience is expanding and new vertical aggregate sites are lending a hand. The services below focus on video (to an extent) so you instantly knock off the people looking for tech news as with the general aggregate sites. They are also relatively new, so keep an eye on them. Also, they're important , because they give you revenue for posting video. I mentioned them in one previous post (Flixya, Magnify.Net, InfectiousVideos, Thevideosense, MediaFlix, etc).

Message Boards

Some community message boards encourage you to announce your new video. Find a community site that caters to your type of video, say machinima, and see if they have an announce message topic.

Social Networks

Turn your friends list into a marketing list. Is it spam? Probably, but they're your 'friends' right? Many social network sites will also have less intrusive tools to promote your site or video.

Video Hosting Service

If you're using a video service to host your video they should also have tools for promotion. YouTube seems to have completely copied the MySpace model to help users promote and find appealing videos.