Social Media Viral Video Formula: Part 3

Here is Social Media Viral Video Formula Part 3: The Delivery

The Delivery delivers the information, ideas, topics, etc., you plan to discuss in the video (or written or audio post).

Before I dive in, if you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2 yet, I would recommend doing this first. Here are the links to those posts:

Part 1: The Hook

Part 2: The Buildup

Okay, so let’s discuss the delivery. This is a reasonably straightforward process and part of the content.

Here are the key points:

1. Deliver your main content
2. Keep it to the point- no fluff or filler
3. People have short attention spans, so stay on point
4. You can edit the content after you record or write it to remove anything that is not relevant

While the delivery is the most straightforward aspect of a post, one crucial point I want to make is to ensure that whatever you are delivering is valuable and helpful to your audience.

In other people’s videos and posts, I have noticed that they have a hugely intriguing hook and buildup, as if they will reveal something unique, different, and essential. Then, the main content (aka the Delivery part) is mundane and run-of-the-mill.

It’s a big letdown. Plus, I don’t trust that source or person as much because I know they will do everything possible to get me to consume the content with a fantastic hook and buildup, but in the end, I don’t learn anything new, and there is nothing special about it.

Suppose the content of your post in the Delivery section is not necessarily new or different.

How can you make it more unique and different?

I’ve come across some strategies that work well. Here are three ways to do this:

1. Tell a story related to the content. Stories help give a real-life example of applying the information in a real situation. Stories increase the perceived value of the content (I wrote a social media post on Quora about how stories increase the perceived value. Click here if you want to read it.)
2. Give your interpretation of the information. Instead of providing information in short bullet points (which I see a lot on social media), give additional commentary with your thoughts on the subject. Be like a professor teaching a classroom of students, trying to help them understand the information better with further explanation and insight. One issue with this approach is that short-form videos are becoming more popular, which prefers short, bullet-point types of information. So, your interpretation of the information might be better leveraged in a blog post or email. You can encourage viewers on social media to check out your blog or sign up for an email newsletter to get more insight and your interpretation of the information that can help them.
3. Create a video, guide, or e-book on the subject or topic. These do not have to be long, but providing them as additional material to attach to your post is impressive.

Creating content can take a lot of work, but it ultimately builds your audience and fan base.

In the next blog post, I’ll discuss the last part (Part 4) of a social media video: The Action. This helps convert a content consumer to a fan, follower, or buyer, so look for it next!