- Controversial one, this.
Going viral, especially as a small creator,
could be the worst thing
that ever happens to your YouTube channel.
There, I've said it. I can't unsay it.
Absolutely, a single piece of viral content
can bring in tons of views, likes, comments, and shares.
However, this sweet spot is incredibly difficult to achieve,
almost impossible to replicate,
and therefore completely unsustainable.
So in this video,
I'm gonna show you the dark side of going viral
that no one talks about.
I'm gonna share with you eight reasons
why trying to go viral is just a bad, bad strategy.
(air rasping)
(Rob coughs)
I got a question for you,
what would you consider the threshold
for a YouTube video going viral?
100,000 views, a million views, more?
Let us know when the comments below.
And make sure you stick around to the end
'cause we'll talk about why that answer is important.
Okay, so why is viral content hard to achieve?
Well, because the internet is unpredictable.
It's really hard to know what will resonate
with a broad audience of millions of people
and what will fall flat.
This is why planning to go viral is not a reliable strategy.
If your number one priority
when making content is to chase a viral trend,
then I'm afraid you're disregarding your target audience.
And so if that video happens to go viral,
you'll likely attract the wrong people to your channel.
Now, if your content doesn't align with your niche,
what's going to happen
is that you will gain thousands of followers or subscribers
who simply aren't interested in what you do next.
I made this exact mistake a few years back on this channel
when I started sporadically chasing
the viral PewDiePie versus T-Series subscriber race.
Loads of people came to our channel,
but they didn't stick around.
They weren't interested in YouTube education.
They wanted the YouTube drama.
Unsurprisingly, all of these PewDiePie
versus T-Series videos kind of annoyed our core audience.
Now, for us, these viral moments were a minor inconvenience,
but what if your content goes viral
in a really negative way?
It could have a devastating impact on your channel,
your branding, your reputation.
For the benefit of your entertainment,
there is an entire Reddit community dedicated
to negative buzz called FellowKids
where painfully misguided attempts by comms professionals
to connect with the youth are roasted to hell.
You know, there's a very delicate balance
between marketing yourself as authentic
or coming across as inauthentically authentic,
and then having yourself mocked online
for the rest of eternity.
(Rob coughing)
Now, of course, going viral can be a very exciting thing.
All of those views, comments, like, shares, engagement
in a very short amount of time.
It'll make you feel like a million bucks,
the king or queen of social media,
and that feeling can get addictive.
The problem is it is such an extraordinary emotional high
that's incredibly difficult to replicate
through the nature of viral content.
But once you've had that high,
you'll want to chase it again and again and again,
and that will distract you from your core audience
and your core topic.
And that was the YouTube drug
we continued to pursue for almost a year.
And sure, the viral moments felt good,
but afterwards we were still essentially in the same place.
And then you have to stop and think
about the viral trend itself.
Before you press record,
use a little common sense and ask these questions.
Am I going to put myself or anyone else in danger
by attempting to jump on this viral trend?
There have been many controversial and dangerous trends
that I'm not gonna share on this video,
but in hindsight, were really, really bad ideas.
If you're prepared to put yourself
or anyone else at risk for the sake of views,
stop watching this video right now.
I'm afraid we can't help you.
(lightsaber whirring)
Now this looks safe.
Next up, we have a topic I always like to talk about,
quantity versus quality,
and both could be impacted by the pursuit of viral content.
From the quality perspective,
you could end up spending far too much time, energy,
and, indeed, money, making the perfect viral video,
which actually has a very little chance of success.
Or from a quantity perspective,
you could find yourself so desperate
to get that viral content
but you just chuck anything and everything against the wall
to see what sticks.
And none of it does.
When you constantly focus on your target audience,
it allows you to produce quality content
on a consistent basis at a regular cadence,
and over time you will build a far more loyal
and authentic fan base.
Casey Neistat, he transformed the vlogging scene
with his novel shooting techniques.
Smosh pioneers in the YouTube world
for novel comedy sketches.
And Rhett and Link, who are constantly producing fresh
and unique content on their channel,
without having to abandon their originality.
Now, sure, all of those creators
have had their viral moments,
but they all came with their core audience in mind.
I admit, what I'm gonna say next does sound a little corny,
but it does put the point across quite succinctly.
Social media is all about being social,
whereas going viral, more often than not, is all about you.
When you are focused on getting
as many views and shares as possible,
you've lost focus on creating value for your core audience.
People can usually tell when you're trying to do that,
and you're not being genuine and authentic,
and it can be a real turnoff for the audience.
When you really care about your topics,
that passion really comes through
in the videos that you make,
and that's the type of meaningful worthwhile engagement
your audience is looking for.
And then we have the pressure,
the pressure to replicate that viral success.
And unfortunately, 99.9% of that pressure
is gonna come from one source, you.
Once you've had your proverbial 15 minutes of fame,
you'll be asking yourself, "How do I get this again?"
That's the addiction talking.
And as you struggle to replicate this viral success,
you'll start to worry
that people simply don't like your content.
You'll be constantly judging yourself
on this viral platform of views and expectations
that just a couple of weeks ago
you never thought was possible.
So in a world where almost everybody wants to be famous,
you won't go wrong by doing this.
Choosing to create deeper
and more engaging connections with your audience.
Creating content when you feel
you have something valuable to say,
not when you feel as if you need to.
And when you stick to what makes you feel good and wholesome
with the positive impact,
you are making on the people who watch your videos.
Enough of all of that,
what's the view threshold for going viral on YouTube?
Almost half of our community said over 100,000 views,
which surprised me a little
because that doesn't seem like a lot of views to me.
But when you factor in that half of the people voting
have less than 100 subscribers themselves,
it makes a lot more sense.
They would do almost anything for 100,000 views.
Which brings us back to the original problem,
that hope of one big viral boost
instead of slow, patient, consistent growth.
Everybody is entitled to their viral moments.
You just need to reinterpret what that actually means.
For example, I would say
that if you typically get 100 views per video
and then you have a video that gets you 400 views,
that's a viral moment for you.
And it's likely something that you're better equipped
to follow up on with your audience.
The simple truth is most people who go viral
simply aren't ready for it,
and they don't know what to do with it.
Instead of attempting to go viral just once,
we recommend creating content
that gradually brings more and more viewers
back to your content on a regular basis.
And believe you me,
those incremental returns will snowball over time
as you'll find out in this video over here.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.