You, me, and the rest of the world has heard the comment about just wanting a “viral” video.
“If we just had a popular video, irrespective of content, it would be huge for business.”
Not at all. And I’m wonderful proof of that. I’ve got a variety of random videos on my YouTube feed that have nothing to do with my business, but were just moments that I happen to capture on video. For example, one video, “Punk Accordionist and Some Nuns,” has almost 330,000 views. It’s my most popular video and yet it does nothing to build my business brand or generate business.
The purpose of a video for your business is not to just get views. A business video should be explanatory, build your brand, or help drive a call to action. I’d much rather have a video that builds my brand with just 100 views than a non-relevant video with 300,000 views. Those 100 people who watched that business-specific video are interested in my business. The 300,000 people who viewed the accordionist video have no interest in my business. It’s like getting no views.
The obsession over popular videos for the sake of having a popular video does nothing for your business. Business videos should have a very specific business objective. If they also happen to be popular after first reaching your business objectives, all the better.
Here’s a video of me discussing this very topic at a panel discussion held by the video production company, One to One Box, in San Francisco.
