- So the whole concept behind a viral video
is that you don't know it's going to go viral
before you publish it, right?
Unless of course, that is entirely predictable.
So predictable in fact,
that we asked the creator of this video
to send us loads of screenshots
as it was going viral.
So come join me, sit down, settle in, grab some popcorn.
As I take you through the life and death
of a viral video.
- [Narrator] This the story of the tallest tower
mankind has ever built.
- [Rob] And this video has over 3 million views
but it's not the video we're talking about today.
I just like this image and this man's voice.
- [Narrator] It is the story of the men and women
who live and work inside this building.
A story told deep behind the scene.
- Slight voiceover ASMR.
All right.
The viral video is about this.
- [Commentator] Stafford.
Going in the end zone
reaching out and making the grab
Odell Beckham Jr.
- [Rob] Yeah. I'm so terrified of a copyright strike
that I had to mangle this video so badly
that you might not even realize
that this is from the NFL Super Bowl 56,
which coincidentally if you search for on Google
has this cool little fireworks animation.
Rough figures suggests
that over a hundred million Americans
watch the super bowl every single year.
And thanks to modern technology in this day and age
there are so many options in how you can do that.
So what a lot of Americans search for
on the day of super bowl is how to watch this for free.
And that's where YouTube comes into play.
It knows what people are searching for.
So much sure of it that auto completes this search.
And it's this video we have a particular interest in,
because in the space of two days
it has got more views than a channel has subscribers,
and that's always a good thing.
Now, just to be clear here
there's nothing illegal going on in this video.
It is a creator showing people how to watch the Super Bowl
legitimately in the U.S. for free over streaming services.
And it's not clickbaity either
as the likes to dislikes ratio shows.
And that's some really impressive likes.
It's pretty simple what the creator is doing here.
They are providing valuable information
for a hot button topic.
A topic that has a shelf life of nothing more than what?
Six hours.
But boy, what a six hours that was.
This is a trend you can literally time to the hour.
Kickoff time.
So to make sure YouTube knew precisely
what the video was about,
our creator launched it a day earlier.
Just as interest began to increase
given the video a few early views.
But it wasn't a great amount,
far less in fact than average for the channel,
as you can see.
And that's the thing about search based content.
You almost never create it for the here and now.
It's always preparing for something in the future.
Even if that's something is only 24 hours in the future
and it's just gonna last a few hours.
Because what YouTube is going to do
is take all of this recent positive data
in terms of click through rate,
watch time and likes
and prime it for this mega surge in search traffic.
- So I'm trying to answer a question.
How do you stream the Superbowl for free?
I already know that that's the problem
that people are trying to solve,
so I don't need to take so more time.
I noticed in the retention graphs of previous years
that obviously people are coming for the answer
and very little else.
And because I know YouTube over the last year
has been kind of prioritizing shorter form video content.
Of course, like YouTube shorts.
I thought I could get away with a much shorter video
and I was able to.
- Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this is Travis.
We worked together here at vidIQ.
He coaches on a Tuesday when we do channel audits.
I've gotta be honest,
I paid pretty much no attention to the super bowl itself
as Travis was sending me through all of his data.
And when it comes to videos going viral on YouTube
you might call this case study
the perfect storm, all be a little one.
This truly is the graph everyone wants to see, right?
And the vertical climb.
What makes this even more impressive
is that when impressions surged,
so did click through rate.
Let me just repeat that for dramatic effect.
As YouTube shared this content more and more
more people clicked on it more often.
That's not supposed to happen.
Usually when impressions go up as YouTube shares it more
click through rate goes down.
I have never seen this before.
Such a positive feedback loop
along with search traffic reaching fever pitch
means only one thing.
The video reached 26,000, 30,000,
over 40,000 views per hour
as a game kicked off.
And the reasons for this are pretty simple.
The thumbnail stops the scroll,
the title tells you what you're going to get
and the video only requires two minutes of your time.
Yes, sometimes it's all about timing,
but it doesn't have help when you keep things simple.
But of course, we all know the fatal flaw of a viral video.
It doesn't last for long.
Two hours after kickoff
views were already tapering off,
and by the following day,
the video was all but dead.
I think this might be the best and most ruthless example
of the YouTube recommendation system in action.
From 40,000 views per hour
to just 50 views per hour
in less than 24 hours.
I think that's a clear example
of YouTube following the audience.
- It's actually pretty easy for me
to put these things together in less than an hour.
I just need to research exactly
how you can watch the super bowl,
which is of course
the question everyone's trying to get answered.
And then, show them the things,
which didn't take that long.
It was, you know, about 45 minutes
from research to being done the video.
- [Rob] Yeah. So not bad for 45 minutes work.
And had I shown you this graph without context
you would've said this was a YouTube shorts video
wouldn't you?
Also, understanding your performance.
No, really YouTube!
But as it does settles on this viral moment,
there is a lingering question.
Does this video help Travis's channel?
According to YouTube
if 100 people watch our videos this week
YouTube will share your content to 700 people next week.
And so in theory, this video with 130,000 views
could generate up to a million impressions
for Travis's content.
But is it going to be content that they want to watch?
Here's what Travis said.
- Am I worried about this
sending the wrong people to my channel?
At the end of the day
I'm just trying to help people
get the answers they're looking for.
And in that, I decided to
just put a little bit of information about my channel
and if anyone was interested in coming back,
they could, I was pre-qualifying them to let them know
what type of content I do and it worked.
And if they wanna come back for some of my content
then they will, if not, totally cool.
But it is a risk, even in group couching we tell you
don't do a video outside of your niche.
It's just not a good idea.
I am definitely risking that.
There's no doubt about that,
but it is slightly calculated.
So while we'll say don't try this at home,
I tried it at, at home.
- [Rob] And folks, this is where I need to let you in
on a little bit of a secret.
This isn't the first time Travis has made this video.
He does this every year.
He's just getting better at doing it.
So there you have it folks,
a viral moment in YouTube time.
One that deserves a little bit of fun fair.
- [Narrator] This is the story of the tallest tower
mankind has ever built.
- Ah, did you see that?
Did you see that?
I planted that seed in your head
earlier on in the video.
And if you want me to plant more stuff in your head,
then go and watch this video
all about the YouTube algorithm
where I cover that bit about
100 views leading to 700 shares the following week
in more detail.