Learn from Goubtube (and His 1,000,000,000 Views): How To Go Viral On Facebook In 4 Steps

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Amassing over 1.5M likes, over 150,000,000 views on his Facebook page and over 1,000,000,000 views on Facebook over all, Goubtube is one of the most watched sketch makers in the world. His most watched video on his page surpasses 90M views.

We sat down with Goubran Bahou, the genius behind Goubtube to learn his process for creating viral content on Facebook.

Hey Goubtube, amazing having you here to share some of your Facebook virality secrets. Let’s just jump right into it. What are the 4 steps for going viral on Facebook?

Goubran: Thanks for having me. First off a disclaimer: This guide is not a guarantee you’ll go viral.. but it’s how I went viral.. consistently for the last year.. I’ll come back to consistency later on.

Step 1: Content

People’s average attention span is under 7 seconds on Facebook.. if you don’t have them hooked straight away, then say goodbye to that viewer..

What you upload ultimately decides how viral your video is going to go!

What’s your approach? Funny, informative, cute, food, sport?

Before confirming an idea you need to to have an in-depth think about how shareable/relatable/tag-able/engaging the content is. If your intended demographic aren’t compelled to view, share or tag, then you’re already lost.

By far the best question to ask yourself is:

“what conversation is going to happen in the comments?”

Some videos go viral and the comments section is abuzz with life and it’s not even the intended conversation of the video maker.

For example look at the comments on nearly every bfgf prank video on the internet; is littered with angry comments about the unethical/fake/violent nature of the video. It may be unintended, but the unwanted comments still generate a huge amount of traffic.

Step 2: Aesthetics

If you’re at a fruit and veg market.. you meticulously look over each piece of food, before you make your decision to buy right? Facebook is no different.

The thumbnail: Easily the most important aspect of your video aesthetically, is the picture you choose to promote your video with. Treat it exactly how businesses do with the packaging on their products; when I choose candy it’s usually dependent on how the packaging makes me feel.

Your thumbnail needs action/life. The most effective thumbnails are the ones that encapsulate the most exciting part of the video, without giving away too much information. Sometimes your thumbnail doesn’t even need to be a still from the video it self and can be something completely different; still garnering the attention needed for a viral post.

Examples

The old adage “Sex sells”, is poignant here, as a pair of boobs/ab/bum will increase te likelihood of clicks (sad but true).

A thumbnail showcasing action is also a winner, by “action” I mean an action shot from the video that isn’t static and boring. This makes the audience want to see what the hell is going to happen in the video.

Finished product thumbnails also help, so if the thumbnail is detailing the crescendo of the video, that makes the audience feel the need to watch the video to find out how the crescendo was achieved.

The Caption:

The caption is essentially the thumbnail’s cousin.. they are viewed simultaneously and together help the casual viewer decide if it’s worth their time clicking on the video. The caption has to sprite the audiences attention by describing what’s happening in the video accurately/vaguely.. both angles work but are completely dependent on the agenda of the video; Say too much and the audience may be put off clicking .. contrarily say too little and you’ll suffer the same fate.

Don’t forget the call to action!!! E,g “tag a friend that..”, “share if this is you” etc.. this technique could turn your video from 10k to 1M views.

Step 3: distribution

When starting small expect little to no growth, engagement or views (although truly viral content won’t adhere to this, if something is a viral it will move naturally) but whatever you do don’t be put off.

Send your content to as many publications, fb pages, influencers, friends, strangers, long lost cousins and pet cats as possible. Swallow your pride and push.. if you don’t push your content to as many eyes as possible, going viral becomes a myth.

Once/if a network is established and if your content is good and you’ve followed the steps above, all it takes is for just one of these new found friends to share/upload your content and BOOM you have yourself a viral video.

Your distribution pipeline is everything!!! Without one you will find it incredibly difficult to make any progress alone…

Step 4: consistency

If you’re not failing every single day .. then you’re not trying hard enough. In a year’s time you’ll look back and wish you started today.

Now you know how to go viral, it’s time to learn how to monetise it… we will cover that on another interview.

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