You spend hours on social media and a major chunk of that time is squandered on perusing through videos of frolicking kittens, scrumptious videos of pasta swirling inside a cheese wheel or that restaurant that serves a 4 pound burger, perhaps a tutorial of your favorite fashionista teaching you how to perfect your winged eyeliner, or that wander-lust inducing Travel Insider video telling you about a hidden paradise in Haiti. Which ones stick with you the most?

Did you say the ones you watched recently? If yes, welcome to the party. Can you reminisce a video that you watched a few weeks back or even a couple of days? Most social media users would be scratching their heads right now, trying to recollect flashes of a video that did make them laugh out loud last week. This is because, in an era of video galore, social media users tend to remember videos that make them feel something and resonate with them.

From a business standpoint, social video is a powerful tool to attract and keep target customers engaged towards your brand. With more and more businesses jumping on the social video bandwagon, it becomes extremely difficult to attract eyeballs to your social videos. In order to stand out from the crowd, you must show your social media followers the right kind of videos that strike all the right cords. Here are seven different types of social videos that can go viral and help your business grow.

1.    Live Videos

With every popular social platform launching its own dedicated live video feature, businesses have also hopped on to the live video bandwagon. According to live video statistics, 80% of a brand’s audience would prefer watching a live video to reading a blog, while 82% prefer watching a live video from a brand instead of reading their social media posts.  Live video is the fastest growing content format with a growth rate of 113% on a year-to-year basis, and it might even surpass traditional video. Thanks to living social videos, businesses can broadcast their events live and get global audiences to attend their events online.

2.    Tutorial Videos

Social media users love and share social videos that show them how to do stuff. Beit a NYX video drilling you in perfecting your contour, or a cooking video that shows you how to flambé in style, tutorial videos are a big hit with social media users. The reason is that these videos provide users actionable information that they can act on easily and add value which is why such videos get more share and have a better chance of going viral than other forms of social video. Not only that, most social media users download such videos for a later watch.

3.    Interviews and Q&A Session Videos

Conducting interviews with influencers in your industry can go a long way towards boosting your credibility as a business. You can even go live, or do a live question and answer session with an influencer to take things one step further. Social media users love to hear what influencers have to say about your brand. Getting a popular face on your social video can help your audience build an emotional connection with your brand. Interviewing experts in your industry will also provide users with valuable information that they cannot find anywhere else.

4.    Customer Centric Videos

Brands know the power of influencer marketing. What they do not realize is that they can get the same effect by convincing a happy customer to promote their product. These customer testimonials enhance your brand equity and build customer trust, as more social media users tend to believe in word-of-mouth than blatant marketing gimmicks. On the other hand, customers that appear in your videos feel special and are more prone to sharing the video with their friend and family circles. Do not forget to tag them when you share these videos on your social media profiles. This Motherhood feat video by Fiat UK shows how to create customer-centric videos that go viral.

5.    Funny or Fact-Based Videos

Do not get me wrong. We all love cat videos and spend hours watching them on YouTube. On social media, the same goes for funny videos. Add some fun element to your social videos and your video engagement and shares will skyrocket. Combine fun elements with facts and your social videos can kill two birds with the same stone. It not only entertains them and makes them break out in a mirth, but also provide them with amazing facts. The best example is that of NextPiz, whose target audiences are teenagers and millennials based in France. They compile best tweets related to the most popular TV shows and publish them in the form of a video compilation daily.

6.    Controversial Videos

Yes, you read that right. There is no better way to make your social content go viral than creating a controversy. I am not saying that you should ruffle feathers to an extent as to land yourself in hot waters, but you could challenge the norm or traditional beliefs and present your unique point of view on a particular genre. If you post social videos that everyone else is posting, you will get lost in the sea of content. Believe it or not, social videos that create a controversy are the ones that receive most comments. Make sure you strike the right balance and don’t go overboard with the hullabaloo as this move could backfire. Here are some of the best examples of viral social videos from big brands that went viral.

7.    Promotional Videos

Did you know why I left promotional videos till the end? The reason is that you should never go overboard with such blatant narcissism. Promotional videos are a great way to show your products and services in limelight,and what benefits users can get out of your products and services. It is better to incorporate some promotional content in all the other aforementioned videos so customers do not feel that you are a self-caring brand that thinks of nothing else. Keep your promotional videos as short as possible, anywhere from 30 seconds to 60 seconds work best. Dollar Shave Club’s promotional video went viral and is a great example to follow.

Conclusion

Social video is an effective weapon in your armory especially if you know how to use it to your advantage. Fill your social media posting schedule with some of these types of videos and you will engagement graph and the number of shares goes up within few weeks. Which type of video will you use and Why? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.