Are you watching The Apprentice? Episode 4 tasked the teams with making a viral video. We wondered what we can learn from their approach.
And in the news, VAT changes set to bring in a standard return across all European countries is on hold, as the UK worries about the extra paperwork.
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A recent survey showed that more than a third of businesses said they don't have the real-time insights needed to tackle cyber crime.
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Self-employed people who miss out on a lifetime of employer contributions forgo an average of £91,500 in company pension scheme contributions, according to research by pension company Prudential.
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Companies may have to buy specialist office furniture or pay for dietary advice for overweight workers if a European court rules that obesity-related problems qualify as a disability.
Key dates for your diary
Come and meet our lovely team at The Business Show 2014 on 27th and 28th November at Olympia, London.
Creating a viral video: learning from The Apprentice
Anyone who has ever set out to create a viral video will know that it can be a challenge - predicting what will go viral is a tricky business.
But there are ways to make it easier on yourself. If The Apprentice participants had used some of these ideas, their videos may have been more successful.
Know the medium
The Apprentice teams really seemed to struggle with the challenge and many of them stated that they didn’t know anything about social media or YouTube.
If that applies to you, do some research. YouTube itself has some good information about how to use it. It’s also worth taking the time to see what’s popular on YouTube to help you understand the audience.
And don’t forget to include a great title and description - more on that later.
Understand what people like
If you’re looking for views, you’ll need people to watch your videos and share it with others. This means that it needs to connect with them on some level.
There’s a number of ways to do this. Videos which are short and snappy and more likely to be shared - and in general, the shorter the better. While YouTube videos are getting longer (with people watching full TV episodes online now YouTube no longer has a 15 minute limit), the ideal length seems to be less than 2 minutes. Wistia has more detailed statistics.
You also need to have a video which either provokes a reaction or helps people in some ways. Some of the top ways to keep videos engaging is to make sure they’re:
- Funny
- Informative
- Cute
- Unusual
Your video only needs to tick one of these boxes to be successful - something that The Apprentice teams seemed to forget.
Keep it current
Some things, like cat videos, are always popular. Other things have a cultural moment (like Harlem Shake) or are seasonal (like videos about how to cook a turkey). Putting out the right content at the right time will help to increase your views.
Piggybacking on another viral video can also work well. People will be searching for these videos and may find yours at the same time. And people like to see references to things they understand. Just be sure it reflects your company’s brand and that it’s still current - online, things go from hot to not very quickly.
Have a plan
Don’t jump straight in to filming without a plan. This should include a script and some storyboards before you get anywhere near a camera. This saves time when it comes to filming and ensures your videos match your ideas.
It seemed that neither of the teams on The Apprentice did this - and it showed.
Understand the filming and editing process
While the teams had the advantage of the YouTube staff to help with their filming, you won’t be so lucky. But with almost every phone equipped with a decent video camera and loads of apps that can help you to create effects, you needn’t spend money on expensive equipment. Just be sure to follow your storyboards and you should have a good video.
If you can, edit the final piece so that it’s short and snappy and feels professionally done. There’s free software for both Mac and PC that can do this for you. Keep effects to a minimum if you want the final product to look professional.
Get the basics right when you upload
Don’t forget to add a catchy title and description to your video (like one of the teams did). This is a key area and makes a big difference to the number of views you’ll get. The title and description not only affects how people search within YouTube but also within Google and other search engines.
The keywords you need to use are similar to those you would embed into web pages. There’s a few key places you need to include the right keywords:
- Title
- Description - this should be short, keyword-rich and engaging. Explain your video in a sentence or two (and give the benefits of watching if you can). Don’t forget to include a link to your website.
- Tags - it’s a good idea to look at those that YouTube suggests, as they’re based on search volume.
You need to choose a category for your video.
It’s also worth adding a transcript. These help people who can’t hear the audio (if they have hearing issues or are listening in an environment where they need to use mute). But they also translate the audio used in your video into text, further boosting your search ranking. YouTube can automatically create a transcript but be sure to edit it to correct any errors as it’s not normally that accurate.
Get links to your video
If you’ve got your content right, others will link to it. Although The Apprentice teams struggled to get links, if your video is in the right niche or has interesting content, then getting links will be easier.
As The Apprentice team showed, approaching other popular YouTube users to cross-post videos is an important part of getting a video shared and liked. Choose to pair up with people who fit with your brand and have a good reach. Also identify bloggers who may be able to post or tweet about your content.