YouTube has a plethora of videos capturing life’s amusing moments, helpful DIY tutorials, and even has an interesting take on conveying top news happening in the world.
It has kept us entertained and well-informed in these trying times with its comment-intensive community that has grown vastly since February 2005. YouTube has surely inspired many of us to take our cameras out and broadcast ourselves and our ideas.
Stand-up, in particular, has become one of the rages on YouTube these past few years, often offering hilarious and witty comments on the current world events.
If you are a stand-up comedian with a unique set, just starting out with a video editor free online, but have no idea how to go viral on YouTube, here are some of the strategies that you can use to get yourself trending.
1. In First Place Comes Marketing
Been familiar with the term “Know your audience”?
The viral videos that show up on your homepage are not there just by accident. A lot of research and meticulous planning goes into making a video that the audience can relate to at a specific time.
Especially with platforms such as YouTube, the amount of similar content is humungous. So, starting your channel with an effective marketing plan is highly recommended.
2. The Spell of Social Media
This one is a no-brainer.
Social media has become the lifeline of our community, not just for entertainment purposes but for professional purposes as well.
As a stand-up comedian, you have the unique power to mix business and pleasure and use social media to entertain your audience and propagate your business. Keep in mind that each social platform such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Snapchat provides a different perspective to connecting with your audience.
3. Catchy Hashtags
Just tweeting about your routine on social platforms does not cut it anymore.
Come up with an interesting, catchy hashtag that both gets your point across and gets instilled in the minds of your audience. Try using alliteration and funny words and maybe even tagging well-known stand-up comedians.
4. Timing is Important
This has been mentioned several times before and cannot be stressed enough: Timing is important!
Time your work depending on the hours of the day. Especially with stand-up comedy, people find that it relieves stress only when it relates to them personally.
A simple example would be if your comedy is aimed at students, try releasing your videos around the time the schools disperse so students can watch your video while on their way home. This also tends to make them share it with other people who might find it relatable also.
5. The Pull of Blogs
Once your video grabs the attention of a bunch of users, you will become the interest of bloggers. YouTube is such a large community that there are even certain vloggers who run their own “YouTube-centered” news channels.
Such bloggers write their content based on the up and coming videos and channels of YouTube and paste their brand of approval on them.
Blogs are monster marketing engines with hundreds of thousands of readers and twitter followers. Your clip becomes their content, and each view to their article could subsequently translate as a view for you.
6. Create Stakes
The online community is usually extremely helpful, expecting you to only spread their news in return. Make a list of people and the companies that might help you in marketing your video when it takes off.
Make your YouTube description full of links that can get you, possible sponsors. In this way, you send traffic their way, expecting them to share your video in return. Never mind even if it’s only one of them who shared your video in response. You only need the right one of them to make your video go viral.
7. Tell a Story
If you want your stand-up clip to grab the attention of the audience on YouTube, you need to cook up content that sells itself while keeping it short and snappy.
Always focus on the audience and their preferences and shape your content accordingly. Alternate between emphasizing your relatable stories and adding fillers to ease your audience and allow them to watch the entire video.
8. Maintain a Giving Attitude
Viral videos are those which are intrinsically useful to the audience. If you’re entertaining, educating, or informing, make sure your stand-up clip conveys the right message to your viewers.
Although you must keep the content relatable to your audience, add in a dash of your own unique persona to give them something that only you can present. Inspiration may arise from other stand-up comedians, but it starts with you and your surrounding.
9. A Catchy Title and Branded Thumbnail
The thumbnail of your video is what people see first and what appears on stories and posts. So make sure it sends the essence of your content through. Your titles set the expectations for your video. Make them catchy and click-worthy.
Making your catchphrase funny and entertaining to say, might even form the basis of your fanbase. Give them something that would make it enjoyable for them to find each other online.
A very obvious example would be Lilly Singh’s previous alias Superwoman. Her catchphrase, “One Love, Superwoman,” provided her fanbase with a fun way to recognize each other in other communities and platforms.
10. Video Recording
It doesn’t matter if your budget is limited or you lack fancy cameras to make your videos powerful. With advancements in the tech field, you have a pool of editing software available on the web.
Use transitions and annotations. Trim your mistakes and use cuts to give your video a perfect flow. Comedic editing can do wonders for your video as well. Ensure that your audio is clear and crisp without any background noises. Try using an online outro maker panzoid to end your video with a bang.
11. The Outro
The previously mentioned are only a few basic strategies you can use to help your video go viral. With the right content and software, you have a surefire way to the top of the trending list.
Get ready to go viral.
Now that you have all the basics and even the lesser-known secrets behind successful viral stand-up videos on Youtube, you can be prepared to be the next viral comedian!