Can you actually make a video go viral?

Not reliably, no. Sorry. Bit of an anticlimax, that.

There are plenty of things you can do to improve the chances of your video reaching more people, but nobody can guarantee that something will take off.

Social media platforms use complicated recommendation systems to decide what people see, and those systems are constantly evolving.

But there's also something far less scientific involved.

Human behaviour.

Sometimes a video catches people's imagination for reasons nobody could have predicted.

Sometimes a carefully planned piece of content falls completely flat.

And sometimes a video featuring a bloke with parcel tape over his mouth gets 25,000 views.

More on that shortly.

The first mistake: trying to reach everyone

If you're making videos to promote your music, the temptation is to reach as many people as possible.

But reaching everybody isn't necessarily helpful.

Imagine you're an acoustic singer-songwriter whose music appeals to fans of Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling and Nick Drake.

You could make a funny video about your cat doing something ridiculous.

It might get thousands of views.

But unless your cat has an unusually sophisticated taste in folk music, those viewers might have very little interest in what you actually do.

That's not to say musicians shouldn't be funny or show their personalities. Quite the opposite.

But you need to understand who you're trying to attract.

I've written more about this in Before You Make a Video, Know Who You're Talking To.

The point is simple.

A thousand views from people who might genuinely love your music could be worth far more than 100,000 views from people who couldn't care less.

Give people a reason to stop scrolling

This is where things get practical.

When somebody comes across your video, they're making a decision almost immediately.

Do I watch this?

Or do I keep scrolling?

That means the opening moments are enormously important.

And I've spent a fair bit of time experimenting with this.

One of my videos began with the words:

"Musicians are making a big mistake on social media."

It went on to explain why musicians should think more carefully about the text accompanying their performance videos.

That opening helped the video reach more than 14,000 views and brought in over 20 new followers.

Another began:

"This is going to come as a bit of a shock."

That one passed 12,000 views.

And then there was the video where I spent the entire time with parcel tape over my mouth.

More than 25,000 views.

My wife watched that one repeatedly. I'm still not entirely sure what she was trying to tell me.

Now, none of those figures qualifies as going viral in the grand scheme of things.

But they demonstrated something useful.

The opening of a video can make an enormous difference to whether somebody gives you their attention.

And that applies whether you're trying to reach 500 people or 500,000.

Your opening doesn't have to be loud

There's a common misconception that grabbing attention means shouting, waving your arms about or doing something completely ridiculous.

Sometimes it does.

But it can also be much more subtle.

You might begin with a question.

A surprising statement.

An intriguing image.

A moment from a live performance that makes somebody stop and listen.

Or a line that immediately tells the viewer they're about to discover something interesting.

For musicians, this is particularly important.

Starting every video with "Hi guys, I've got a new single coming out..." isn't necessarily going to give somebody a compelling reason to watch.

Try beginning with the most interesting part instead.

• Perhaps the song was inspired by something unexpected.
• Perhaps the recording nearly went horribly wrong.
• Perhaps there's a story behind a lyric that nobody knows.

Give people a reason to become curious.

Then reward that curiosity.

Make something worth watching

Of course, a strong opening is only the beginning.

If you promise something interesting and then spend the next minute talking about something completely different, people will leave.

You need to deliver.

That doesn't mean every video needs expensive cameras, elaborate lighting or a professional editor.

I've seen beautifully produced videos that are utterly forgettable.

And I've seen somebody sitting in their kitchen telling a brilliant story that I couldn't stop watching.

The important thing is what happens in the video.

• Does it entertain?
• Does it teach somebody something?
• Does it make them feel something?
• Does it reveal something interesting about you?
• And does it give them a reason to keep watching?

For musicians, this is where there's so much untapped potential.

You don't just have songs to share.

You have stories, experiences, opinions, rehearsals, performances, collaborations and all the little moments that make you who you are.

I've explored this in Why Musicians Need to Be More Than Their Music.

You don't need to turn your life into a reality television show.

But giving people something beyond another performance clip can make an enormous difference.

Don't ignore the packaging

Once you've made a good video, there are a few practical things that can help it reach the right people. Think about the words you put on screen, particularly at the beginning.

Make sure the video is easy to follow, even when somebody isn't listening with the sound turned up.

Use captions when they help people understand what's being said.

Choose a format that suits the platform.

And write a description that gives people a reason to care, rather than simply announcing that you've posted another video.

I also think musicians sometimes underestimate the importance of editing.

A pause that feels perfectly natural in conversation can feel like an eternity on social media.

A shot that looks lovely might not actually contribute anything to the story.

Sometimes removing five seconds can make the whole video work better.

And sometimes the best edit is knowing when to stop.

None of this guarantees a viral hit.

But it gives your content a better chance of being watched and enjoyed.

The algorithm isn't your audience

It's tempting to become obsessed with what social media platforms supposedly want.

• Should you post at 7pm?
• Are hashtags dead?
• Does Instagram prefer shorter videos?
• Should you post every day?

There's no shortage of people online claiming to know the answers.

Some of their advice is useful. Some of it is based on genuine experience. And some of it is complete nonsense dressed up as a secret formula.

The platforms certainly care about how people respond to content.

But rather than spending your life trying to second-guess every algorithm change, I'd concentrate on making videos that people actually want to watch.

Pay attention to what works.

Look at which videos hold people's attention.

Notice which ones encourage comments, shares, profile visits and follows.

And, crucially, look at whether those people are interested in what you do.

Because that's where the really useful information lives.

Going viral for the right reasons

Here's something interesting I've discovered through my own social media experiments.

On Instagram, I publish two very different types of video.

I share advice for independent musicians. Things like how to promote their music, build an audience and make better use of video.

I also publish a series called Behind The Song, where I uncover surprising stories about famous songs and the people who made them.

Both are about music, but they attract different audiences.

And the results have been fascinating.

Looking at two recent videos from each series, my Monday musician-focused content attracted a combined 1,177 views and seven new followers.

Not spectacular numbers, but these are videos aimed directly at the people I work with.

Now compare that with Behind The Song.

Two videos attracted 4,530 views and 74 new followers.

Almost four times the views and more than ten times the followers.

And here's another interesting detail.

Between 87% and 94% of the views on those Behind The Song videos came from people who weren't already following me.

In other words, the series is reaching well beyond my existing audience.

Brilliant.

But does that mean I should abandon the Monday videos and concentrate entirely on Behind The Song?

Absolutely not.

Because the two series are doing different jobs.

The Behind The Song videos introduce MONOKI to music lovers who might never otherwise discover me. Some will be musicians themselves. Others might simply enjoy finding out something surprising about their favourite records.

The other videos are much more focused. They're designed to demonstrate that I understand the challenges independent musicians face and, hopefully, encourage some of them to explore what I do.

One series is building awareness.

The other is building credibility with the people most likely to need my services.

And I need both.

There's something else worth mentioning here.

Behind The Song isn't some random attempt to chase views by jumping on the latest internet trend.

It's about music, storytelling and the people behind the songs.

Which is rather convenient because those are exactly the things MONOKI is built around.

So even when a video reaches people who might never become clients, it's still introducing them to the right world.

And that's an important distinction.

Going viral isn't just about how many people you reach. It's about whether the attention you're attracting helps you build what you actually want.

For an independent musician, that might mean reaching people who love your style of music, rather than thousands of viewers who enjoyed a funny clip but have no interest in hearing your songs.

For me, it means balancing content that reaches a broad audience of music fans with content that speaks directly to musicians.

And while I'm delighted that Behind The Song is attracting new followers, I'll be watching something else too. Whether those followers stick around, engage with my other content and become genuinely interested in MONOKI.

Because that's when audience growth starts becoming something more valuable than a number on a screen.

What happens after the views?

Imagine your video has taken off.

Wonderful.

But what have you done to help those viewers discover more about you?

• Is your profile clear about the music you make?
• Can people easily find your songs?
• Have you got other interesting videos waiting for them?
• Is there a reason for them to follow you?
• Can they find out when you're playing live?

If you've attracted attention but given people nowhere interesting to go next, you've potentially wasted a wonderful opportunity.

And this is where I think musicians need to stop treating individual posts as isolated events.

Your videos should work together.

One might introduce somebody to your music.

Another might tell the story behind a song.

Another might show you performing live.

And another might give them a glimpse of your personality.

Over time, those different pieces of content help people build a picture of who you are.

That's how casual listeners can become fans.

So should you try to go viral?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting your videos to reach a huge audience.

And if one takes off, enjoy it.

But I wouldn't make going viral your primary goal.

I'd focus on making videos that attract the right people, give them something worth watching and encourage them to discover more.

Some will reach a few hundred people.

Others might reach thousands.

And occasionally, if the timing, the content and a little bit of luck all come together, something might really take off.

But I'd rather have a smaller audience that's genuinely interested in my work than a massive audience that forgets me five minutes later.



Because views tell you how many people watched. They don't tell you how many people cared.

And for a musician trying to build a career, that second number is far more interesting.