00:00:00
is there a formula for going viral this
00:00:02
is the million-dollar question I get
00:00:04
asked by Brands every single day and the
00:00:06
answer is yes I've made over 300 videos
00:00:09
my viral hit rate is about 1 in six so
00:00:11
I've had about 50 videos get over a
00:00:14
million views or more and all I've done
00:00:16
the last 2 years is make videos and
00:00:18
study virality so I'm going to break
00:00:20
down the full formula it has six
00:00:22
components and all of these translate to
00:00:24
long form and short form video first you
00:00:26
need to understand how virality works
00:00:28
the good news is it is very very
00:00:30
straightforward all you need to do is
00:00:31
get a lot of people to share your video
00:00:34
with others I call this share rate that
00:00:36
is literally all that matters in content
00:00:38
total shares divided by total views if
00:00:40
this share rate is above 3% your content
00:00:43
will go viral as long as that share rate
00:00:46
stays above 3% so in simple math for
00:00:48
every 100 people that watch you need at
00:00:50
least three to share that video with a
00:00:52
friend now it's simple straightforward
00:00:54
but it's very difficult to achieve this
00:00:56
consistently and my formula each of the
00:00:58
variables is designed and optimized to
00:01:01
increase that share rate that's all
00:01:03
we're doing here so the first one is a
00:01:05
unique content idea to get people to
00:01:07
share you either need to be first to
00:01:09
Market with a common idea or have an
00:01:11
uncommon idea first to Market with a
00:01:13
common idea would be something like
00:01:15
covering a new Apple product release
00:01:17
event and being the first one to post
00:01:19
your video but this alone doesn't
00:01:21
guarantee virality because for one lots
00:01:23
of people are quick to react to the news
00:01:25
and for two it takes a couple hours for
00:01:27
the algorithm to really heat up and
00:01:29
start start sharing your video by then
00:01:31
other people will have posted and you
00:01:32
lose that First Market Edge so even if
00:01:35
you beat the market by a couple of hours
00:01:37
you need a couple of these other factors
00:01:39
to be true if you go the common idea
00:01:41
route the other route is to choose an
00:01:43
uncommon idea now this is something that
00:01:45
people haven't really seen before could
00:01:47
be a story a product a concept an idea a
00:01:50
framework anything unique to find
00:01:52
uncommon ideas you have to look in
00:01:54
uncommon places you need to find blogs
00:01:56
or YouTube channels or newsletters that
00:01:58
are super unique and weird I personally
00:02:00
spend a lot of my time hunting for these
00:02:02
resources because having uncommon ideas
00:02:04
is almost a cheat code to virality and
00:02:06
once you find a weird tree that tree
00:02:08
tends to bear fruit often so to
00:02:10
summarize for this first variable you
00:02:12
either need to be first to Market with a
00:02:14
common idea and have other things go
00:02:16
right or have an uncommon idea and the
00:02:19
best way if you're just turning this
00:02:21
switch on is to go The Uncommon idea
00:02:23
route now to get more specific what are
00:02:24
some examples of uncommon ideas let's
00:02:27
say you're a tech content creator Maybe
00:02:30
it's an obscure app that no one's heard
00:02:32
about or it's a new startup that just
00:02:33
launched or maybe you find a story that
00:02:36
there was a third Apple co-founder that
00:02:38
accidentally sold his stock for 2K all
00:02:40
of those would be uncommon ideas that
00:02:42
you could use in the tech category and
00:02:44
the reason uncommon ideas work is
00:02:46
because people share stuff when they
00:02:48
feel like they can earn credibility or
00:02:50
social status from either their friends
00:02:52
or Professional Network if it makes
00:02:54
people laugh if it makes people think
00:02:55
they're smart if it makes people respect
00:02:57
them that's why they share it's a form
00:02:59
of currenty uncommon ideas are more
00:03:01
sharable because people wouldn't have
00:03:03
heard of them before and if you're the
00:03:04
fourth person sharing the same common
00:03:06
story you don't get that social credit
00:03:08
so you either need to be the first one
00:03:10
to tell it or tell people something that
00:03:12
nobody's ever heard okay I think we hit
00:03:14
unique idea enough the second variable
00:03:16
is large applicable audience and this is
00:03:18
where they start stacking on each other
00:03:20
the reason common ideas if you're first
00:03:22
often go viral is because there's
00:03:24
usually a large applicable audience or
00:03:27
Tam total addressable Market of people
00:03:29
that would consume and share it if we
00:03:31
use that Apple new product release event
00:03:34
there are a lot of people that care
00:03:35
about tech that would be willing to
00:03:37
consume that video and there are a lot
00:03:38
of people that if shared to them would
00:03:40
consume it as well that's a large
00:03:42
applicable audience the larger the
00:03:44
applicability of the content the more
00:03:46
people you'll have that might like it
00:03:47
now like we said the problem with common
00:03:49
ideas even if they have a large
00:03:50
applicable audience is that if you're
00:03:52
not first to Market and they've already
00:03:54
been shared all of those new eyes have
00:03:56
already been sucked up so there could be
00:03:58
a lot of people you'd share to but so
00:04:00
many people have seen the story that if
00:04:01
you're late they won't share it now on
00:04:03
the other side the problem with uncommon
00:04:05
ideas is that usually they're so n that
00:04:08
they have a small applicable audience
00:04:10
there just aren't that many people that
00:04:11
would be willing to receive and then
00:04:13
share it again and if you think about
00:04:14
psychology it makes sense sharing an
00:04:16
uncommon idea with your friends is a
00:04:18
little risky from a social credibility
00:04:20
perspective it might be a weird rabbit
00:04:22
hole that you're into that most people
00:04:24
aren't and so if you share that it can
00:04:25
actually be a social inhibitor this
00:04:27
would be like if you tried to share a
00:04:29
video about the history of licorice
00:04:32
there's a chance people be like oh wow
00:04:33
that's really cool but for the most part
00:04:34
people will be like this guy's a weirdo
00:04:36
so to summarize so far across the first
00:04:38
two variables the highest probability of
00:04:40
viral success is finding an uncommon
00:04:43
idea with a large applicable audience
00:04:45
that's the sweet spot for me an example
00:04:47
in this bucket would be the video I made
00:04:49
about Taylor Swift's eras Tour stage
00:04:52
construction so the stage construction
00:04:54
itself was super niched I found it on a
00:04:56
really small YouTube channel of somebody
00:04:57
that recreates these 3D stages but
00:04:59
Taylor Swift as a concept has a very
00:05:02
large applicable audience so I combined
00:05:04
uncommon idea with large applicable
00:05:06
audience that gave me the best surface
00:05:08
area for luck for that to succeed
00:05:10
another example is this video I just
00:05:11
made about life-size floor plants this
00:05:14
company on Australia renders your home
00:05:16
design floor plan on a projector and
00:05:18
blasts it in a onetoone scale on the
00:05:20
warehouse floor so people can actually
00:05:22
walk around and move furniture around
00:05:24
that inherently is a very uncommon idea
00:05:27
but there's a large applicable audience
00:05:29
of people care about home design that
00:05:31
video has done 8 million views in 6 days
00:05:33
and I knew that combination had the
00:05:35
potential if executed well to go viral
00:05:38
so this is what you're looking for
00:05:39
uncommon ideas plus a large applicable
00:05:41
audience now the third variable which
00:05:43
can change things is a unique point of
00:05:45
view the best way to make a common idea
00:05:48
go viral is to apply a unique point of
00:05:51
view on top of it I call this a story
00:05:53
lens it's the lens through which you're
00:05:55
going to tell the story and this is
00:05:56
important because it's really hard to
00:05:58
find these uncommon ideas consistently
00:06:00
so a lot of my mega viral videos
00:06:02
actually come from common ideas with a
00:06:04
large applicable audience but with a
00:06:06
unique point of view story lens on top
00:06:09
of it a good example of this is my Leo
00:06:11
Messi signs with inner Miami video which
00:06:13
is the biggest one I've ever made 17.5
00:06:15
million views on Instagram 11 million
00:06:16
views on Tik Tok certified Banger why
00:06:18
did that one work it was a common idea
00:06:20
Leo Messi signing with interner Miami
00:06:22
biggest news in soccer it was a large
00:06:23
applicable audience both soccer and Leo
00:06:26
Messi but I put a unique point of view
00:06:28
on top of it talked about the business
00:06:30
impact of the deal a non-unique point of
00:06:33
view would have been just to report on
00:06:34
the news and say that he signed lots of
00:06:36
people would do that and that's not
00:06:37
going to cut through you'd have to be
00:06:38
first to Market with all of those and
00:06:40
execute it well what I did is take a
00:06:42
unique point of view a unique story lens
00:06:44
at the intersection of culture and
00:06:46
business and that's why my video cut
00:06:48
through what I find is that people are
00:06:50
willing to share a common idea if it has
00:06:52
the unique point of view layer on top
00:06:54
interestingly the unique point of view
00:06:56
or the unique story lens actually acts
00:06:59
kind of like an uncommon idea in a weird
00:07:01
way and this is even more interesting I
00:07:03
found the uncommon idea plus unique
00:07:06
point of view actually doesn't work as
00:07:08
well as a common idea with unique point
00:07:10
of view or an uncommon idea with a
00:07:12
normal point of view it's weird you
00:07:13
would think uncommon and unique point of
00:07:15
view would have a multiplier effect but
00:07:17
it's actually too Niche and there aren't
00:07:19
enough people that would react for
00:07:21
example it'd be easier to go viral with
00:07:23
a video about Taylor Swift plus her
00:07:25
business strategy or Taylor's dad and
00:07:27
something he said to her verbatim then
00:07:29
would to be about Taylor's dad and his
00:07:31
business strategy it makes sense you're
00:07:33
getting too Niche and cutting it too
00:07:35
fine when you go uncommon uncommon so
00:07:38
the best case scenarios of the three
00:07:39
variables so far are common idea plus
00:07:42
large applicable audience plus unique
00:07:44
point of view or uncommon idea plus
00:07:46
large applicable audience plus normal
00:07:48
point of view those are the two sweet
00:07:49
spots now the fourth variable of the
00:07:51
formula is a world class hook if you
00:07:54
nail just the three variables we've
00:07:56
talked about so far you should guarantee
00:07:58
at least a Medi performer six figure
00:08:00
views maybe small seven figureure views
00:08:03
but if you're trying to go Super Saiyan
00:08:04
and have one video completely change
00:08:06
your business you pretty much have to
00:08:07
have those three variables tied and a
00:08:10
world class hook the hook is probably
00:08:12
the most important aspect of going viral
00:08:14
when people share your video they either
00:08:15
repost it as a story or send it in the
00:08:18
DM and when it gets reposted as an
00:08:20
Instagram story it only plays the first
00:08:22
10 seconds so it's critical that those
00:08:24
first 10 seconds actually rehook someone
00:08:26
who it's been shared to that plus the
00:08:29
viewer curve is an exponential decay so
00:08:31
you're going to have the most eyes at
00:08:32
the beginning and in order to have the
00:08:34
platform algorithmically boost they want
00:08:36
increased average view duration the hook
00:08:39
will hold people longer so the hook is
00:08:41
critical if you spend 80% of your effort
00:08:43
on the first 5 Seconds that's probably
00:08:45
the Right Mix that's how important a
00:08:47
hook is now I've talked a lot about what
00:08:49
makes for a good hook in the past I've
00:08:51
got a bunch of videos on that I will
00:08:53
link those at the bottom and I'll link
00:08:54
them in this upper right corner I also
00:08:56
share a lot about my latest learnings
00:08:58
and trends and insights around hooks in
00:09:01
my content newsletter which I'll link
00:09:02
below but I'll share a couple things
00:09:04
that could help the first thing is you
00:09:06
want to open a curiosity loop after one
00:09:09
sentence ask yourself is the viewer
00:09:11
curious enough to want to continue
00:09:13
watching to find the answer if not you
00:09:15
need to remap rewrite the hook and go
00:09:17
again the second piece is actually to
00:09:18
design a visual hook turns out that if
00:09:21
you just write and speak a compelling
00:09:23
first line even if it opens the best
00:09:25
curiosity Loop in the world that's often
00:09:27
not enough you need to add a visual hook
00:09:29
that usually includes b-roll with motion
00:09:32
and text on the screen people can read
00:09:34
faster than they can hear or consume the
00:09:36
context of a visual scenario so you want
00:09:38
to actually put the text on the screen
00:09:40
for every video this takes the visual
00:09:42
hook and combines with the Curiosity
00:09:43
Loop and this should accomplish the goal
00:09:45
and the last little quick tip on hooks
00:09:47
is a quick delivery you want to
00:09:49
concisely and as short as possible
00:09:51
deliver the words so you can show the
00:09:53
visual hooks you can get out of the way
00:09:54
and get into the body of the video you
00:09:56
don't want to linger and spend too much
00:09:58
time on the hook you want to go as quick
00:09:59
as possible in a normal rhythm again if
00:10:01
you want more tips on how to write these
00:10:03
hooks I'll link my content newsletter
00:10:04
this is where I go really in depth on
00:10:06
the things I'm seeing that are working
00:10:08
how the trends are changing and exactly
00:10:10
how I'm applying it video to video all
00:10:11
right the fifth variable is to have a
00:10:13
compelling story now it's interesting is
00:10:15
if you've nailed the first three and you
00:10:17
have a compelling hook you almost don't
00:10:18
even need that good of a story those
00:10:21
will carry you for the rest of the way
00:10:23
you just need a decent enough story to
00:10:25
keep the viewer kind of entertained and
00:10:27
the best way to do this is to hook
00:10:28
rehook and rehook throughout you want to
00:10:30
think of the body of the video like a
00:10:32
dance with context and conflict give a
00:10:34
little context add a conflict rehook
00:10:37
them add a little more context to solve
00:10:38
that conflict add a second conflict you
00:10:41
just go back and forth with the dance
00:10:42
it's interesting but the story is
00:10:44
actually not that important if you've
00:10:46
nailed the others if you haven't nailed
00:10:48
the others you have an average idea you
00:10:49
have a good hook but you have a low
00:10:51
applicable audience size you need a
00:10:52
great story to make it go and people
00:10:54
will share it just because the story is
00:10:56
so good this is more of an outlier
00:10:57
strategy though I wouldn't try really
00:10:59
hard to optimize for this type of
00:11:01
Storytelling just get the viewer from
00:11:03
the beginning to the end I'm actually
00:11:05
working on a software that will extract
00:11:07
all of my storytelling Frameworks into a
00:11:10
simpl to use SAS tool where once you
00:11:12
identify the uncommon idea and you add
00:11:14
your lens on it it will go ahead and
00:11:16
write the hook and the story for you
00:11:18
that's called sand castles it's not
00:11:19
ready yet I'll link the weit list below
00:11:22
if that's interesting I'm trying to
00:11:23
abstract away a lot of the additional
00:11:25
effort to write the story because that's
00:11:27
not really the highest leverage thing to
00:11:29
spend time on all right and the last
00:11:31
variable is of course luck nobody wants
00:11:33
to hear it but a lot of what virality is
00:11:36
just comes down to luck and if the right
00:11:38
people share your video initially to get
00:11:41
that Viral crank moving one reshare from
00:11:43
somebody with over 100,000 followers can
00:11:45
mean the difference between a 10,000
00:11:47
view video and a million view video and
00:11:49
so if you have friends with big accounts
00:11:51
and you see something breaking out with
00:11:53
a high share rate go ahead and DM them
00:11:54
and ask them to share it that will
00:11:56
really add gasoline to the viral fire
00:11:58
because big accounts sharing your video
00:12:00
both mathematically exposes it to a lot
00:12:02
more people but also psychologically
00:12:04
shows that it's something that should be
00:12:06
watched It's a coign to other viewers
00:12:08
that they should take a look and both of
00:12:10
those things matter but luck is huge the
00:12:12
truth is you could post the exact same
00:12:14
video seven different times on sever
00:12:16
different days and only one or two of
00:12:18
them would go crazily viral if it's a
00:12:20
great video the other five will do
00:12:21
pretty good but the absolute Super
00:12:23
Saiyan outlier returns are fairly luck
00:12:26
dependent so to revisit the formula as
00:12:28
we wrap up virality equals unique idea
00:12:31
plus large applicable audience plus
00:12:33
unique point of view Plus World Class
00:12:36
hook plus compelling story plus luck if
00:12:39
you have those six and all switches are
00:12:41
turned on sayanora all right that's all
00:12:43
I've got for this video that was a
00:12:44
jamack tactical session so if you like
00:12:47
that and you want more like it drop in
00:12:49
the comments what you want to see for me
00:12:50
next I'm trying to figure out how to map
00:12:52
my kind of content ideas on YouTube
00:12:55
where can I add value what do people
00:12:56
need so drop in a comment what you want
00:12:58
to see from me next time and we will see
00:13:00
you then peace
