There are two things I have trouble passing up: Any meat on a stick and any chocolate candy. I have a serious sweet-tooth. It's my blessed weakness, I try to resist, but only half-heartedly.


Shannon Newton, Director of Creative Development for Market7

Your viral video or vblog should be like C-A-N-D-Y. Your audience may have a small tinge of guilt upon consumption, thinking they should be spending their time doing something "more productive". If created properly, they will still gobble up your scrumpdelicious treats. Seven of my favorite candies are listed below, each representing what your video content must be for maximum viral or word-of-mouth growth.

1. York Peppermint Pattie



Your video should have a purpose just like this little treat. It gives you a wonderful little sugar rush, makes you feel refreshed and makes your breath minty. Gum and candy in one (just don't tell your dentist). Your video should provide some value your audience might otherwise pay for. Think like Costco. Give them a bit of real value while they are walking around the store and they will stay longer and return more frequently. 

You must know exactly what minty-fresh value you are providing. It should be clearly stated in your video creative/production brief and revisited frequently. If you are selling a product, make the free stuff near the front of the store but not right in the front. They should walk by a few aisles before they get the treat (but not too many, no more than two clicks away from your value-added content).

2. Snickers



Your video should tell a story like this perfect combination of ingredients. The video starts with the introduction (chocolate), immediately sets you up with what to expect (smooth caramel), slaps you with a salty problem to solve (peanuts), and brings you back down with the solution and resolution (creamy nougat). Every video should be a story and every story has a beginning, middle and end, Setup – conflict - resolution, chocolate & caramel – peanuts – nougat. 

We, as humans, are evolved to transfer and receive information in the form of stories. This was our library before we had books or paper. Even a 3 minute video should have a beginning, middle and end. 15-20 seconds (possibly in the form of a narrative introduction) to set the stage so we know what is going on. A minute or two to explain the challenge, conflict or problem we are facing as well as how we faced it. And then finally, 30 seconds to let us know how it all turns out.

3. Hershey's chocolate bar



A classic, no more or less than it absolutely needs to be. Unspoiled by any unnecessary bells and whistles, this candy bar doesn't offer any distractions from its perfection. Like the Hershey's bar, your video should be no more complex than it absolutely has to be. Similar to most creative endeavors, the video is truly created in the editing. It's not that wafers, fancy packaging and filling are not tasty additions, but rather that they risk distracting from the simple perfection of your video. Nothing that doesn't have to be in should be. 

The other reason for mindful and liberal editing is time consideration for internet videos. Watching your online video should take no longer than it takes to peel and eat an orange. Cut the length down, then cut again. When it starts to hurt, cut the video down one more time and you probably have it. As Mark Twain once said: "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." Your video is the same.

4. M&M's

I love these little morsels of goodness. It seems a fairly simple candy but as you eat them, you are surprised by the versatility. Crunchy yet soft, doesn't melt in the sun, different colors, skewed ratios of color quantities, different sizes and shapes of peanuts, double peanuts, no peanuts, some with "m" and some with "n". Sometimes when you chew off the candy coating and chocolate, the peanut still has the skin, sometimes not. This is NOT a simple candy. 

Your video must be like a pack of M&M's. It should feel very simple, easy to consume, and unintimidating. But for those brave souls who wish to dive into a deeper experience, you should have that experience available for them. This can take the form of additional value added content, links, related videos or whatever might feed those who end your little piece of content wanting more. Most importantly, don't dictate the experience to them, let them discover the hidden complexity on their own.

5. KitKat



The KitKat was made to share. I mean, the little pre-partitioned wafers are just begging to be broken off and handed to your friends. Your video should be set up to share. I am not just talking about making it easy to email out, but also to have a shared experience. As you munch away on the tasty little chocolate-housed cookie, you can see the pleased smiles of your friends at the same time. 

Your content should allow for social interaction. Whether it is simple commenting in a message-board format or creating supporting/counter content as an addendum to your content, it doesn't matter. Your audience wants to interact with you as the content creator, as well as the other members of the audience. Provide them the opportunity and they will reward you with full engagement, referrals to your site, and repeat visits.

6. Almond Joy 


Is there any question that there is Almonds inside this thing? In case you think the name might be some metaphor, the little football-shaped protrusions remove any doubt. Your content should be as clear as possible about what is inside. A dog-training video blog called "Canine School" will get much more search traction than another called "Sit-up and Stay". The content can be delivered in a slightly elusive and mysterious way, the title, however, should not. You need your audience to know exactly what they are getting into. 

The title and thumbnail are the most important tools you have for quickly conveying content type. A good test is to tell five friends the name of your show and see if they can guess what it is about without any supporting information. Do the same with the thumbnail image. Keep refining both until you have the right mix of clarity and creativity. If you are in love with a name that doesn't provide clarity, try adding a sub-title to help out like "Sit-up and Stay (for dogs)".

7. Milk Duds



Have you ever started watching a movie with a box of these little fellas? They are a perfect movie food: easy to eat, easy to share and they seem to last FOREVER. Long after the Butterfinger and popcorn are gone, there will still be a 'Dud' or two in the bottom of the box. Your video should have some sort of regular distribution. Whenever people want to snack on a morsel of your content, there should be another, easy to find, right at their fingertips. Frequency and regularity is not as important as content, but a close second for online video. 

You want them surprised at just how long they can go before running out. Keep your content short as mentioned above which will help you keep it more frequent with a regular distribution. If you want to release a new episode every week or month or whatever, then declare it to your audience and STICK TO IT. Your audience will start to develop Tivo-guilt around your content: afraid to stay away too long or else they will fall far behind on your valuable content.

There are other sweet tricks that will help build an audience like "stir up a controversy", "report on a current event before anyone else", and "cross-promote with other content" but those are all a matter of personal style. They are good things to do but may not work for you or your content. The seven sweet tips above, however, are perfect to whet any appetite.

One final word on viral wildfire videos: Everyone wants that perfect viral video that spreads like wildfire, encourages repeat viewing, and turns you and everyone you know into instant celebrities. This dictates that you do one of three things: 

1. Know a former Saturday Night Live celebrity to coax into doing a skit.
2. Have a video camera trained on your baby/cat/dog/rat/gerbil, waiting for them to something truly hilarious.
3. Go on some political rant using as many polarizing bubble-gum talking points as possible.

If you want to follow that path, then I encourage you to do so. It requires more luck that I have the patience to wait around for. I prefer a more methodical and proven approach. It may not be a lightening strike, but the road is much sweeter.

About:
Shannon is the co-founder of Nickel Tour Productions and is the voice of the producer within Market7, a company building software for video producers and their clients.  Shannon has produced content for over 40 clients and does his best to keep his foot out of his mouth although, is still occasionally unsuccessful.