A new shift is happening in the world of content marketing. The content that receives the most engagement is usually raw and unfiltered. This is particularly the case among Gen Z, with a 2024 YP report showing that 71% of them prefer raw content over polished content from influencers. 

This is one reason genuine and raw content takes over our timelines and is among the content that goes viral on social media. In this article, we will look at the reason for this shift and how your brand can position itself to benefit from it. 

What is Raw or Authentic Content?

Raw or authentic content shows the real side of creators, including their imperfections, the messy, and the human side of life. It involves sharing moments and stories as they are without any heavy editing, filters, or trying to look flawless. This requires a shift in the tone, energy, format, and honesty of the creator. It can be seen in various ways, such as:

•  A creator looking at how a product looks in natural lighting without any filters. 
•  Any influencer showing their morning routine in a messy bedroom. 
•  A man showing a last-minute hack for creating a lunchbox with the brand's logo. 

These kinds of moments may not win awards, but they win the trust of your audience.

Why Raw Content is Winning Over Polished Content

Authentic content is taking over for several reasons, such as:

• Relatability. People are already craving connections, meaning they want to see the real lives of people rather than their polished versions. When social media users come across polished content, they relate to the mess, struggles, and imperfections of the creators.
• Trust. We live in a world filled with fake news and ads that seem too good to be true. This has made people lose trust in this kind of content. On the other hand, authenticity helps brands gain the trust of their followers.
• Engagement. Real content trends to spark real conversations. When people share an honest and genuine post, social media users are likely to comment, engage, and share their own experiences. 
• Simplicity. Creating polished content can be exhausting, while making raw content is easy.
• Humanity. Authentic content shows our human side, which can be quite powerful.
• Fresh breath of air. In social media feeds that are filled with studio-quality ads, you can start by using a casual front-camera vlog. 
• Spontaneous. Most sponsored content is polished, which creates the impression that the brand is only showing its positive side. On the other hand, when a creator talks freely about a product, the audience sees it more as a review or recommendation rather than a marketing strategy. 
• Build connections. When creators share their struggles, mistakes, and unedited moments, they remind their audience that they are just like them. 

How Brands Can Leverage Raw and Unfiltered Content 

Many forward-thinking brands are now shifting their content creation to raw and unpolished content. They are doing that in different ways, such as:

Showing Behind-the-scenes Images

You can use behind-the-scenes images to give your audience insights into your work and processes, making them feel like they can view your work as transparent. For instance, a cake-baking business can create videos of their staff baking or even decorating a cake. This can show their audience the skills and efforts that each product makes. This will not only humanize your brand, but it can also help you appreciate your brand offering.

To start doing that, ensure you always have your phone handy, ready to capture those special moments. While not all your videos will be worth sharing, you might find a gem that is.

Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)

We cannot mention authenticity without mentioning UGC, as this is one of the most effective tips. When customers share content about their brand, it creates a feeling that the content is genuine. You don't have to wait for time to do so, as you can also encourage them to post unfiltered photos and use a certain hashtag.   

This will provide you with a lot of authentic content, which can also boost engagement and create a sense of community. When they make the content, respond to them, like their content, and share it with their permission.

Do Live Q&A Sessions

Live sessions on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer an excellent way to connect with your audience and discuss specific topics in your industry, share updates, or even answer their questions. Due to the interactive nature of such sessions, you can keep your audience engaged.  

It can also be a good idea to identify and capture the few snapshots, short comments, and videos from such events to repurpose them. You can then share the video using Stories or Shorts to capture your audience's attention.

Share Real-time Updates

By sharing real-time updates with your audience, you can keep them informed. This could be an upcoming product launch, a sneak peek at the product, or even your new office. Such content can help to keep your audience excited and invested in your brand. For instance, when releasing a software update, you can include your screen recording images showing the new features. 

Include Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials can help you build trust with your audience, especially since they are often unpolished. Therefore, contact your satisfied customers and ask them to provide you with a raw and honest review. You can then share the reviews on your social media pages or website. 

In Conclusion

While raw content may look imperfect, it can be a good choice for adding a layer of relatability and authenticity to your content. Such content can help build trust, differentiate your brand, and ensure a steady flow of high-quality content. Therefore, don't be afraid to start posting raw and unpolluted content. Your audience will love it and trust your brand more. 

You can also use the tips above to leverage raw content for your brand. When doing so, remember to always speak directly to your audience and make them feel they are part of the conversation. 

When scrolling through social media pages, users often come across various posts. Some draw their attention, while others don't, and they simply scroll past them. Social media users also find other fascinating posts they feel bound to share. This often leads to the question: What drives social media users to share content that goes viral while ignoring others? 

The truth is that content doesn't just go viral by mistake. Some psychological triggers influence the behavior of social media users. When you understand these triggers, you can understand how to create content that resonates with your target audience and reaches a broader audience. This article examines viral psychology and what makes certain content go viral and get shared.

Features that Contribute to the Sharing of Content

There are certain features of social media content that make people share it. These include:

An Emotional Hook

Viral content is often driven by emotions. It consists of content that elicits strong emotions, whether positive or negative. Social media users share content more often than mundane or neutral content. Research shows that content that evokes high-arousal emotions, such as anger, amusement, fear, or awe, is often shared.

 If you want to create such content, consider the following options:

• Awe-inspiring content. These are stories that elicit a feeling of awe, such as incredible landscapes, outstanding scientific discoveries, and extraordinary achievements.
• Funny content. Whether it's funny memes, humorous videos, or witty tweets, these are quickly shared as people seek to share these moments with their friends.
• Outrage and anger. Controversial news, injustices, or political scandals spark a lot of sharing. 
• Positive emotions. Not only negative emotions can spark sharing. Positive emotions such as admiration, inspiration, or joy can fuel content virality. When people come across uplifting messages that make them feel better, they share them more. 

Therefore, before creating a social media post, consider the emotions you are trying to elicit. Ensure that these are high-arousing emotions that touch your audience’s emotions. 

Social Currency

We love people seeing us in a particular way, such as knowledgeable, insightful, socially aware, or funny. When we share social media content, we show how we want people to perceive it —a concept referred to as social currency. When you see people sharing thoughts, providing articles, cutting-edge news, or insightful comments, it's because this is the information they want to be associated with. You can also leverage social currency in your posts by sharing:

• Unique insights. If your content makes your audience look well informed, they will likely share it.
• Exclusive content. Content that provides breaking news, insider knowledge, or a fresh perspective will make people share it as a demonstration of their expertise.
• Identify and values. If your content aligns with someone's identity and values, such as fitness, entrepreneurship, or sustainability, they will share it.

In other words, content that makes people feel good about themselves is more likely to be shared, increasing its chances of going viral.

Useful Content

Content that offers value to users is also likely to be shared. This could be financial tips, life hacks, or simple recipes people won't want to miss. This is one of the reasons why DIY tips, how-to videos, or expert advice threads perform exceedingly well, as they solve people’s problems fast. To leverage this tip:

• Offer actionable tips. This could include easy ways to make a million, tips for getting a better sleep, and other practical tips that make the internet shareable.
• Make the tops easy to absorb. If the tips are easy to absorb, people are more likely to share them. Therefore, ensure the content is in bullet points, short videos, or infographics. 
• Create listicles. Content in listicles, such as three simple hacks or a Top 10, gets shared easily because it is easy to consume. Therefore, ensure that you are teaching something important, simple and clear, that can easily be shared.

Use Storytelling

Human beings love stories. They don't just profess information but connect emotionally with it as long as it's presented compellingly. This is why thought leaders and brand influencers use storytelling as a content strategy. To increase the chances of people sharing your stories in TikTok marketing, make sure they are:

• Relatable. People who share stories have to see themselves in them. If the story reflects the struggles, experiences, or aspirations of others, they are more likely to share it.
• Emotional connection. Powerful and well-told stories can elicit admiration and empathy, increasing their chances of going viral.
• Unexpected twists. If a story has an unpredictable turn, it generates curiosity and higher engagement. 

Ensure that the story you tell resonates on a human level to increase the chances of it going viral.

Fomo or Social Proof

When people see the content of people doing something, they are more likely to engage with it. This is what social proof is all about. That's why people often react to content with a high engagement rate. You can use social proof to:

• Highlight numbers. When you begin your article with a statement like “Over one million people have read this,” you can instantly boost your credibility.
• Share UGC. When your audience sees that other people are sharing your content, they are also likely to share it.
• Drive engagement. Encourage your audience to like, share, and comment on your content, as this increases the chances of it being shared.

Share Timely and Relevant Content

Another reason why content often goes viral is that it is posted at the right time. Social media users share content that is relevant and timely. To leverage timely content:

• Use trending topics. These could be cultural events, global events, or viral challenges that increase the chance of your content getting noticed. 
• Stay seasonal. If there is a season, holiday, or special event, you can share such content to improve its information.
• React fast. If you respond to trends fast, you increase the chances of the content taking off.

Therefore, stay updated on trends and keep your content aligned accordingly.

Add a Call to Action

At times, people may want to share your content, but end up forgetting. Therefore, don't just assume they will share the content if they love it. Remind them to share. You can do that by:

• Asking explicitly. Remind them to share the content with their friends if they find it useful. This increases the chances of the content getting shared as compared to when you sit back and hope it gets shared. 
• Add a sense of urgency. Use words like “the offer only lasts for 24 hours” to encourage people to act fast.
• Add the share button. Having a share button with clever instructions can increase the chances of people sharing the content.

In Conclusion

Before creating your next content, ask yourself if it resonates with people's emotions. Will the content make them feel smarter if they share it, or does it elicit happiness, sadness, or fear? When you do that, you can increase the chances that the content will go viral. You should be able to do that by reading our guide. 

Adding end screens is extremely interesting and one of YouTube's new offers. End screens give the ability to add a screen that can be added to the last 5-20 seconds of a video, but there are a lot of features and elements that can be tricky when adding end screens. This guide will explain how to add end screens to your YouTube videos, detailing every aspect of end screens.

Add end screens to videos.

Adding end screens is an ad which can add 5-20 seconds to a video. You can add and use them to promote other videos, encourage viewers to subscribe and much more. You can add up to four elements to your end screen for videos with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Other ratios may have a lower limit. Notes to take when adding end screens are simple. Your video has to be at least 25 seconds long to have an end screen. Other interactive elements like card teasers and video watermarks are suppressed during the end screen, also the End screens, like many different features, are not available on videos made for kids, the YouTube music app, flash videos and mobile web or 360 videos.

Add an end screen

To add an end screen, you must go into your YouTube studio and sign in. From the left menu, select content and click on the title or the thumbnail of the video you'd like to edit. From the left menu, select editor. Select the end screen and choose the element you want to add. Apply the template, which contains groupings of elements that you can customize to create an end screen. You can add videos, featuring your most recent upload, which is best for the viewer. You might also display a public YouTube playlist. Other elements are also used to encourage people to subscribe to your services. You might also add a link; if you are in the YouTube Partner program, you can link to an external website. It must be noted that you must make sure your linked external website complies with our policies, including our community guidelines and terms of service. Violations can result in not only the removal of the card but also strikes, which might be given to you, in the worst-case scenario, a full-on termination of your Google account.

Additional options

There are also more options, such as removing the element type. By clicking the delete element, you can remove an element type and click on element + to choose another end-screen element.  Another similar thing is changing element timing: click and drag the ends of the timeline to set when the element begins and ends. Changing the element placement is also an element you can click on in the grid in the player to show a grid over the video preview. You can also choose "snap to grid" and "snap to element" to help place your elements.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What are the benefits of end screens? 

End screens provide more efficiency, and the algorithm will promote your videos more.

In an ever-evolving social media landscape, TikTok has emerged as a unique way to connect with its target audience. This is because of the platform's unique features, such as duets, stitches, and trends that make it easy to go viral organically. 

From collaborating with other creators to clipping the scene of another video, these features enable individuals and brands to foster collaborations and creativity in a way that isn't possible with other social media platforms. 

In this article, we will explore how individuals and brands can use TikTok duets, stitches, and trends to drive mass engagement. But before we do that, let us understand each of these features. 

What Are Duets?

The TikTok duet feature enables users to create a video alongside that of another TikTok creator, with both videos on the split screen playing simultaneously. This allows users to respond to content on the platform, ensuring real-time, creative interactions. This feature will enable users to dance, sing, react, or even provide commentary, making it great for driving community engagement and collaboration.

What is a Stitch?

This tool enables creators to use another person’s video to create snippets and make them their own. The feature is an excellent choice for ensuring seamless integration into the current content, improving creativity while maintaining the video’s original content. It is, therefore, a great way to build ideas, spark conversations, and enable users to participate in trending challenges or topics. The feature also promotes creativity and dialogue, turning your original videos into tools for starting conversations. 

Users stitching other people’s content can expand the conversation to a bigger audience. In some cases, the stitch can credit another person’s content, ensuring that the conversation can reach a wider audience. Stitches can automatically credit the person who created the content and provide an attribution link to a video. This means that by stitching a video, you can give the original creator a good level of attention.

It's easy to use the stitch feature. Here are the steps to enable you to do that:

1. Visit the TikTok video you would like to Stitch and press the button labelled "Send to”.
2. Press the button labelled “Stitch”.
3. Select a clip you want included in the video. The video must be at least five seconds long.
4. You can also record the response or add to the Stitched content. 
5. Post the video.

Why It's Essential to Drive Mass Engagement on TikTok 

Brands must find a way to drive engagement on TikTok, as the platform thrives on creativity, interaction, and community. By driving engagement, brands can enjoy various benefits, such as: 

• Higher visibility. When your TikTok content receives higher visibility in the algorithm, it is more likely to reach a larger audience. 
• Stronger community. Engaging with TikTok users can foster a sense of community, ensuring that your followers feel valued and connected to your brand.

What Are TikTok Trends?

A TikTok trend often features a creative format of ideas, behaviors, and content that can capture the audience's attention and determine how they interact with it. Unlike what some creators think, a trend isn't just about what is trending at a particular time. It is also about understanding the bigger ecosystem that can take your brand to the next level in an ever-changing landscape. 

Trends don't appear randomly. They are a combination of technological advances, cultural movements, and different human behaviours. Understanding the life cycle enables you to leverage trends.

How to Use TikTok Duets, Stitches, and Trends to Increase Engagement 

Now that we understand duets, stitches, and trends, here are tips that brands can use to leverage these features:

Influencer Collaborations

You can collaborate with influencers to create stitches and duets that resonate with your audience and align with the brand's messaging. The collaboration can increase engagement with both your audience and the influencer's, and allow viewers to view and interact with the content. For instance, if you're a beauty brand, you can use the duet feature to collaborate with an influencer on creating makeup tutorials, inviting your audience to recreate the look and share their results.

Participate in Trends

Trends are big on TikTok, so this feature can help you stay relevant to your target audience. You can even add a twist, joining the conversation and increasing the chances of the content going viral. 

TikTok Video Reactions

Reaction videos on TikTok should be a key part of your strategy. This stitch feature is an excellent choice for enabling creators on TikTok to discuss topics relevant to your brand. These features can help you enhance your brand's personality and tap into the creator's audience. An example is a food brand that posts its recipe videos, adding variations and tips for deeper engagement. 

Creating How-to Videos and Tutorials

You can use stitches and duets to share your audience’s knowledge. Suppose you are in a niche where you can share valuable information, such as cooking, crafting, or tech. In that case, these features can be used to create engaging videos while collaborating with others. For instance, if you are a company selling DIY tools, you can collaborate with a creator in the home improvement space to showcase how your tools work. 

How to Maximize the Use of Duets and Stitches

To make the most of stitch and duet features, it's essential to have a content calendar that plans how to use them for your upcoming campaigns and trends. Doing so can help keep your content relevant and timely, increasing the chance of people engaging with it. 

Also, ensure that you are engaging with your community by searching for videos on your industry and relevant brands. You can then respond to comments using duet or stitches. This can show how caring your audience is, helping to increase brand loyalty.

Finally, maintain a consistent branding, which shows your brand’s identity. Whether you're doing it through visuals, texts, or music, stay consistent. This will enable your viewers to recognize your content the moment they come across it. 

Finally, be sure to keep track of your engagement. Check your audience's response to stitch and duet to see if your strategy works. 

Final Thoughts

While TikTok has many features to help drive engagement, they can only work if you leverage them in your content. Therefore, you should start using Duets and Stitch to derive mass engagement for your content. If you're wondering how to do that, our guide will help you get started. Combined with top TikTok content ideas, these can help you go viral.

To truly comprehend the algorithm and be a full-blown star on YouTube, a person must always test and compare thumbnails to find the winners. The winners are the titles that make waves, which people are willing to share and be engaged with merely by looking at. To fully understand what a good thumbnail is and what makes it good, as well as to go through the process of picking and deciding to settle on a thumbnail, is very important and can only be done by having vast knowledge and determination to create. In this guide, we will fully break down how to test and compare thumbnails on YouTube to find the actual winner.

Test & compare thumbnails

There are other ways to achieve YouTube success; YouTube services seem to be a popular option, which people use in combination with testing and comparing thumbnails on their videos. YouTube services might be easy and cheap to acquire, but they are just perfect with YouTube's test & compare feature. You must first sign in to your YouTube Studio to test and compare your thumbnails. If you haven't added the video you want to test thumbnails, you must press create and then upload the videos on which you wish to test the features. Afterwards, from the left menu, select content and click on the videos above. Under the "thumbnail", press on the test & Compare. You can upload up to 3 unique thumbnails to test them in the YouTube algorithm. Click done, and the test will start when you publish your video on the YouTube platform. If you wish to stop, you must manually select one of the thumbnails at any point by using the "Stop & Set" button. Test results will be given to you in 2 weeks. You choose a winner, but the YouTube platform provides details akin to each thumbnail, such as "Watch Time percentage". 

Eligibility requirements

Eligibility-wise, things get tricky. First, you can't use this feature on anything beyond the computer platform of YouTube Studio. You also need to enable advanced features to be eligible. You need to test thumbnails on public-form videos or primarily on podcast episodes. Premiere videos can also be eligible once the premiere ends and the video finally converts to a fully fledged long-form video. Lastly, this ability is unavailable on videos made for kids, mature audience-oriented, or private videos.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why haven't I received a "winner" test result?

It's normal not to see the "winner" test result. When running such an experiment, getting other test results like "Preferred" or none is prevalent. There might be reasons for such absence of the apparent "winner. Firstly, there is a minimal difference in thumbnails; if your thumbnails all seem very akin to one another, there will be minimal to no difference between them regarding view-ability and the community's engagement. If your video has not been doing so great, that can also signal why you have not received the data yet, as not having enough impressions can be a great foundation of the absence. If your video had received a higher number of views, then it would have been more likely that a "winner" would have been declared.