There is a reason many coaches are on YouTube. It can be a cost-effective way to build a large, loyal audience for your coaching business.
Regardless of where you are in your coaching business, if you consistently apply some of these proven tactics, you can see success on YouTube.
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Why Can Going Viral on YouTube Help Your Coaching Business?
Adding YouTube to your social media marketing strategy can produce incredible results. This search engine can help you build trust, establish authority, and find new clientele not just in your city or even in your country but around the world. You can leverage your knowledge and experience by producing and sharing high-quality video content on YouTube.
As a result, this platform can provide opportunities to establish and eventually scale your coaching business.
What’s Considered a Viral Video on YouTube?
There are two primary metrics to remember for viral YouTube content: time + volume.
The amount of views (volume) your video receives within a specific time will determine whether or not it qualifies as a viral video. However, this benchmark is simply a gauge. The truth is that there is no definitive black-and-white metric for viral content on YouTube. It’s more based on loose guidelines, as some videos can “blow up” long after being published.
But a good rule of thumb for a viral YouTube video is a million views or more within a week.
What Kind of Videos Go Viral on YouTube?
Many factors can contribute to a viral YouTube video. However, you may find it easier to go viral based on your coaching niche and the type of content you produce. For example, a coach specializing in finance or fitness will probably have more viral potential than one specializing in tax planning.
But regardless of your specialization, there are proven steps you can take to increase your probability of going viral on YouTube. Here are a few tried-and-true tactics to incorporate into your video content:
- Engaging content. Without checking this first box, you have no chance. But what makes content “engaging?” Step number one is to know your audience. When you’re familiar with your demographic (their pain points, desires, frustrations, and goals), you can create content to meet their needs. Your audience should feel that your videos are tailor-made specifically for them. This is what generates those all-important engagement metrics, such as likes, comments, shares, impressions, and more.
- Compelling headlines and thumbnails. Think of your headlines and thumbnails as the “ads” that will get people to click on and watch your videos. They should make a promise (aka offer a benefit) that incentivizes your audience to watch without giving away too much of the video’s content. Remember, curiosity is a huge engagement driver in social media marketing, and YouTube is no exception to this rule.
- Consistent posting schedule. As a coach, you have to continually show up for your audience. That’s how you establish trust and earn their loyalty and, eventually, their business. So, determine a posting schedule that you can commit to. Now, of course, the more you post, the better. However, posting once or twice a week (or biweekly) can be enough to build a loyal following over time.
- Metadata optimization. Optimizing your YouTube title and description communicates what your videos are about and who they’re for so the algorithms can index them appropriately. For this reason, metadata optimization is an essential component of YouTube’s success as a coach. A few key elements include writing detailed video descriptions, using niche or industry-related tags, adding video cards for viewer engagement, and using keywords in the video title, thumbnail, and description box.
How Important is a Consistent Publishing Cadence on YouTube
Consistency is the name of the game on YouTube. Your audience won’t commit to you if you don’t commit to them. And committing on your part means continuously showing up with quality content that adds value to their lives. Also, a consistent YouTube publishing cadence triggers the algorithm to push your videos out to a broader audience.
As a result, you gain more views, leads, and engagement on your content.
How to Go Viral on YouTube with Examples
The best (and quickest) way to compress that steep YouTube learning curve is to learn from and implement what others have done. Here are 20 examples of what other coaches have done to go viral on YouTube.
1. Use humor
As a coach, you can provide value to your audience in many ways. However, it doesn’t always have to be in an educational context. Using humor in your videos and encouraging your audience’s laughter is one of the most powerful (and under-discussed) methods for going viral.
Adding humor to your content can show your fan base another side of you. As a result, you can further strengthen that bond, as humor can humanize your brand.
Brandon Carter
Brandon Carter is an online business and fitness coach who has done this well. He’s known as a motivational personality. Most of his videos involve optimizing lifestyle and physical fitness. So, you can imagine his audience’s surprise when he published a YouTube video short of him railing on the worst kinds of cheese.
The video was cheeky, different, entertaining, and, most importantly, fun. As a result, the 17-second clip generated over one million views and 56K likes. What can you take away from Brandon’s example? You don’t have to be stiff all the time with your audience.
It’s easy to get caught in the coaching trap of always trying to be professional or educational with every video you post. You can offset this by sprinkling in the occasional light-hearted, humorous video. You may be surprised at the audience retention you can generate as a result.
2. Turn your video into a masterclass
Long-form content is popular as people like and appreciate detailed breakdowns of complex ideas. Simplification matters. So, another great way to increase your viral potential is to take a topic your audience wants to learn more about and break it down in a “masterclass” video.
Provide them with the blueprint of success.
Alex Hormozi
Alex Hormozi is an internet personality and popular business coach. His YouTube video checks numerous boxes in the title alone. It reads, “If I Wanted to Become a Millionaire in 2024, This is What I’d Do [Full Blueprint]. There’s a lot to unpack in that headline.
Alex knows his audience wants financial success, so using the term millionaire was a deliberate marketing choice. Adding the [2024] year makes the content relevant. The part of the headline with the “full blueprint” add-on implies that the video has “everything you need to know” to be successful in 2024.
And that’s the beauty of a masterclass video. It’s an all-in-one piece of content that centralizes your audience’s attention. Here’s how you can make one for your subscribers:
- Listen to your target audience. Do your followers keep asking you for advice on a certain topic? Are they constantly asking for a particular kind of video? Do the same questions keep resurfacing? If so, that’s a good indicator of masterclass potential around that specific topic. If your target audience has the same common questions, think of them as auditing tools to produce better video ideas. This has the potential to skyrocket your engagement rates.
- Break it down. What are the complex ideas and concepts that you can simplify into “bite-size chunks” for your audience? Remember, the whole point of this is to make it easy for people to consume and apply this information fast.
3. Tap into shared frustrations
Life is a continual series of problems. When you solve one problem, another quickly takes its place. Since difficulties are a prevalent part of everyone’s life, you can capitalize on this by tapping into your audience’s shared pain points and frustrations.
Scott Galloway
Scott Galloway is a marketing professor and business coach who tapped into his audience’s frustrations with his recent Ted Talk. Its potent title, “How the U.S. is Destroying Young People’s Future,” hits a sensitive (and relatable) touchpoint for many young people in America today.
He explains the country’s issues with obesity, relationships, the skyrocketing cost of living, and more. These are relevant examples of people’s shared frustrations. The result? The video – released in May 2024 – has already garnered millions of views on YouTube.
What is your audience struggling with? What are their shared pain points, frustrations, and difficulties? Once you get a pulse on these audience attributes, you can create better content tailored to their situation. As a result, you can drastically improve your chances of growing viral on YouTube.
Here are a few suggestions to learn more about your audience’s frustrations:
- Send a customer survey via your email list
- Pay attention to commonly asked questions
- Visit forums such as Quora or Reddit
4. Include examples
It’s not enough to just say something and expect your audience to believe you. You have to provide evidence. Real-life proof makes your claims more tangible and realistic. As a result, you become more believable in the eyes of your market. So, when making claims in your YouTube videos, include examples to support your claims.
Meg Gallagher
Meg Gallagher is a fitness coach and a certified personal trainer who does this well. In one of her YouTube reels, she posted a clip educating her followers on how to perform their first pull-up. She demonstrates the proper techniques with a clear and simple example video, breaking everything down.
The video exploded, accumulating over 3.3 million views with more than 115K comments. So, how can you include examples in your content? Whenever you make a claim or assert an opinion, give reasons for its validity. You can do this by using personal stories, anecdotes, examples, case studies, or scientific research.
5. Use numbers
Use numbers whenever possible in your headlines and thumbnails. Numbers stand out and help create an engaging hook. But more than that, numeric figures, whether in a listicle or a percentage that’s based on scientific research, add curiosity and intrigue.
Courtney Ryan
Cortney Ryan is a dating coach for men. She has a popular YouTube channel where she constantly uses the power of numbers in her headlines and thumbnails. In fact, her highest-performing videos all use this strategy.
So, how can you use this tactic in your YouTube content? Start by using odd numbers. Studies have shown that odd numbers work best for this practice, as they add depth and believability.
For example, saying, “This coaching package will improve your life by 73.7%,” is more believable than saying, “This coaching package will improve your life by 100%.” The first example feels as if some intense study and calculation went into uncovering that figure, while the second example feels like the number was used just to get a quick and cheap sale.
Also, use the actual digit (e.g., 1,2,3) and not the written word (e.g., one, two, three). Digits are more visually appealing, which makes your content more “clickable.”
6. Do collaborations
Collaborations are powerful for boosting your engagement and viral potential on YouTube. They expose you to new audiences, strengthen relationships, and can also be educational as you share ideas with other coaches. And the best part is that all of these advantages have the potential to translate into viral activity on YouTube.
Rachel Cruz
Rachel Cruz is an internet personality and financial coach. She is also the daughter of financial giant Dave Ramsey. And she employed this concept with none other than her father himself. They filmed a collaboration video, giving advice on how people can make the most of their money in the new year.
The result? It became Rachel’s most-watched YouTube video, with over 700K views. What can you learn from Rachel’s example? Collaborate whenever you can. Now, you may not have a hyper-successful family member to do this with – no problem.
Even small-time collaborations with other coaches in your space can have a huge impact on your viral potential. Here are a few simple steps to get started.
- Make a list. Create a list of all the possible coaches you can contact for a YouTube collaboration. Ensure these coaches have larger audiences than you. The value of collaborations stems from the possibility of tapping into their audience.
- Send out proposals. Now, when sending out collaboration requests, it’s important to build relationships. Please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t just ask for random favors from people you don’t know. Instead, take time to learn about their brand and business, then contact and offer genuine praise and admiration for what they do. Once you’ve established a sense of rapport, you can ask for collaboration.
- Follow up. Don’t be deterred if people don’t respond right away. This is a process, and you’ll have to exercise some patience and persistence by following up. You don’t have to be aggressive, contacting them every week or every day. However, if you have heard back after a week or two, send them a reminder follow-up email about your proposal.
7. Make a big promise
People consume content because of some benefit they believe they’ll receive from it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s to learn something new, gain inspiration, or simply be entertained. So the question becomes: What promise can you make? Why would someone click on your video over another coach’s? The key differentiator is the big promise.
The big promise is the main idea of your video or the primary benefit the audience will get from watching it. It’s what creates a strong hook, and it’s a critical aspect of virality. If the offer (your big promise) isn’t strong enough, people will look elsewhere.
Ed Mylet
Ed Mylet is a global speaker and executive coach who makes his promises feel big. This can be seen on his social media handles, but most specifically, on his YouTube channel.
The headline above reads, “Unlock the Unlimited Power of Your Mind.” That’s his big promise. The video delivers an in-depth exploration of overcoming fear, doubt, shame, and guilt and expanding your thinking to lead a more enjoyable and abundant life.
The key takeaway from Ed Mylett is to make a big, compelling promise that you can back up through engaging, high-quality content.
8. Give your audience hope
Life is challenging, and in the midst of it all, most people don’t get a lot of encouragement.
As a coach, there’s an opportunity for you here. You can become irreplaceable to your audience if you can be the psychological boost that gives them hope. As a result, they may very well reward you with the engagement metrics for viral activity. Let’s look at an example.
Carol Dweck
Carol Dweck is a psychologist and mindset coach. Her work is now famous for popularizing the concept of fixed vs. growth mindsets. She gave a powerful and dynamic Ted Talk entitled “The power of believing that you can improve.”
The video has garnered nearly six million views.
More importantly, it has taught millions of people that they are capable of change and improvement. How can you implement this idea in your own content? See the potential in your audience. Recognize that you’re helping them overcome struggles that most likely have hindered you at some point. In your content, speak to that part of them by sharing relatable stories about your past.
This does two things. First, it makes you more relatable in the eyes of your audience, building a stronger connection as a result. Second, it gives them hope that they can overcome those challenges as well.
9. Share your origin story
Few things engage better than a captivating story, and this concept becomes even more true when the story is real and personal. The highs and lows, ups and downs, peaks and valleys of a good story enthrall our attention. For this reason, a good story can literally become your superpower when it comes to viral activity on YouTube.
Dean Graziosi
Dean Graziozi is an entrepreneur and strategic coach who understands the power of story.
One of his most popular YouTube videos (nearly two million views) shares his rags-to-riches origin story of how he went from living in a deteriorating home to becoming an entrepreneur who’s generated hundreds of millions of dollars.
Dean explains how he was forced to live with his father in the bathroom of his old, tiny, ramshackle home. But he dreamt of success. He envisioned more for himself and his family. Eventually, he dug himself out of poverty, uncovered the secrets to success, and transformed his life.
What can you do to share your origin story in a unique way? Remember that it’s all in the details.
Dean’s story would not have the same power if he said that “he was poor and then became a millionaire after dreaming about success.” Instead, he explained all the nitty-gritty details of living in the bathroom of a run-down home. He mentioned how everyone doubted his dreams and vision and how he overcame it all to become a successful entrepreneur.
That’s where the strength of your origin story comes from… the details.
10. Publish a virtual summit
Virtual summits can be a great viral YouTube “hack.”
They bring experts, speakers, and industry leaders together to share their knowledge and expertise with a virtual audience. The digitized platform makes the event convenient and easily accessible, provides network opportunities, and more.
Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins did an excellent job with his virtual summit.
The event included speakers, teachers, and experts sharing their thoughts and insights about how to break into their respective industries. Virtual summits can help you go viral on YouTube due to the star-studded roster or simply because of the sheer value being added.
Do you have any virtual summit recordings you can post on YouTube? If so, start publishing them as part of your regular posting schedule. If not, ensure that you film your next summit to have the content available for YouTube.
You can check out our virtual summit masterclass to learn more about how these online events can help you with your content marketing strategy.
11. Discuss sensitive subjects
As with everything on this list, this step will come naturally when you know your audience deeply. Touching on sensitive topics is not easy. But the truth is that everyone deals with challenges that may be sensitive subjects for them. So, if you shed light on a topic that is shrouded in darkness, you’ll form a connective bond with your audience.
Why? You are coaching them through difficult times and making them feel heard and understood.
Brendon Burchard
Brendon Burchard, an entrepreneur and high-performance coach, did this in his viral YouTube video on relationships. The video discusses when it’s time to leave a partnership. And with nearly 2.5 million views, Brendon struck a chord with his audience in this video.
What can you take away from Brendon’s example?
Tackle challenging topics head-on for your audience. This is how you serve them with your content as a coach. Another part is the polarizing nature of sensitive issues – people gravitate toward controversial topics due to their emotional charge.
However, a word of caution: don’t speak on controversial topics as click-bait. This tactic should be used only if you genuinely feel strongly about it or if your audience has repeatedly asked for your take on the subject.
12. Post a virtual workshop
Have you led any virtual workshops? Have you participated in a web conference or online seminar? If so, you can post those recordings to YouTube to generate audience engagement and possibly viral activity. People will always turn to YouTube for educational purposes.
And an excellent way to capitalize on that is to capture some of that traffic with your own content through a virtual workshop.
Blair Enns
Blair Enns, a Canadian entrepreneur and creatives coach, did this well by livestreaming his company’s virtual workshop. The in-depth Zoom seminar delivered a breadth of knowledge for creatives attempting to break into entrepreneurship.
The key takeaway from Blair is the utility of virtual workshops. This form of content is recorded once, chopped into segments (or published as a whole), and then posted on your YouTube channel at regular intervals to keep your audience engaged.
One virtual workshop (if it’s compelling enough) can be weeks worth of content.
13. Create attractive thumbnails
Creating a compelling thumbnail is essential to increase your chances of virality on YouTube. Your thumbnail is the advertisement for your video. It’s the billboard that captures attention and draws people in. YouTube thumbnails do a lot of heavy lifting. Are your thumbnails doing their job?
Chris Do
Chris Do is an award-winning designer, strategist, CEO, and business coach. He’s also the founder of The Futur – an online education platform that helps creatives build their businesses.
His thumbnails have personality.
They showcase clear, crisp imagery and bold text and almost have a story-like quality to their presentation. Look at the image below, for example.
Chris uses the images of a diamond and an hourglass to tell a story that resonates with his audience: getting paid for value vs. time. Not only does this thumbnail communicate a story, but it also represents a pain point that Chris’s market can deeply relate to, as many creative people struggle with charging what they’re worth.
So, think for a moment about what you want your thumbnail to communicate.
Ask yourself if the thumbnail accurately represents your audience’s pain, gives them hope for their dreams, or sparks their curiosity – bonus points if it can do all three.
14. Present a new idea or concept
Any time you can present a new idea to your market, do it.
“New” captivates attention. There’s a reason why you see the words “New, novel, never before seen, only here, proprietary, exclusive, or once in a lifetime” in so many marketing materials. It’s because “new” makes people perk up and pay attention.
But here’s where it gets interesting…
There’s nothing really “new” out there anymore. So, that means you have to get creative to take advantage of this concept. Instead of trying to come up with a revolutionary idea for your YouTube video, find a way to simply make your video just a little bit different from anything else.
Let me explain with an example.
Codie Sanchez
Codi Sanchez is an influencer, entrepreneur, and business coach. In one of her viral YouTube videos, she employed the power of “new” with a unique idea.
While most people think of cash flowing on real estate when they purchase land, Codie uses the same idea but with the twist of using tents instead. It’s a new spin on an old concept. And her audience ate it up, pushing the video’s view count to over 1.6 million.
15. Use compelling open loops
People are naturally curious.
Advertisers, businesses, and online personalities know this (and do a good job taking advantage of it). A simple trick they use? Open loops. An open loop is a copywriting tactic that teases readers with new information while intentionally withholding the rest of the details in order to increase engagement.
The only way the reader can “close the loop” is by continuing to read to learn more.
Stephan Lobossiere
The best part is that open loops are not limited to copywriting. You can easily plant them in your YouTube scripts, thumbnails, titles, and so on. Stephan Lobossiere (also known as Stephan Speaks) is a women’s dating and relationship coach who uses open loops well.
The title is a simple but brilliant open loop. It compels his female viewers to click on and watch the video to learn the “seven things a man will say when he loves you.” As a result, the video went viral and accumulated over 3.7 million views.
16. Speak the truth
Honesty is one of the best marketing tools.
People respect honest individuals, brands, and businesses. So, as a coach, you can build trust and your viral potential on YouTube by simply speaking the truth – even when it hurts.
Summer Felix-Mulder
Summer Felix-Mulder is the CEO of The DrawShop LLC, a platform that uses video marketing to boost its client’s online profiles. She is also one of the 32 speakers at our Video Success Summit. In one of her YouTube videos, Summer explains the hard truth for why so many businesses fail today: outdated marketing strategies.
She combats the idea that “marketing doesn’t work anymore” with the truth that outdated marketing tactics don’t work anymore. With the conviction that “people have become experts at sniffing out lazy marketing,” Summer explains that you should do in-depth research to learn about your market. This allows you to create highly personalized messaging. You’ll speak to your audience the way they want to be addressed.
As a result, they’ll become more receptive to your offer, whether it’s to purchase your coaching services or opt into your high-ticket sales funnel.
17. Keep it simple
In a world where things are becoming unnecessarily complex, simplicity can help you stand out.
Many videos that go viral on YouTube are often produced in a basement, home office, or outside in a park. No special lighting, fancy film equipment, or expensive editing software is required. This is not to say you shouldn’t put some effort into your content. It’s simply a reminder that all the bells and whistles aren’t a necessity for viral success on YouTube.
Benji Travis
Benji Travis (an internet personality and influencer coach) also is a speaker at Entrepreneur HQ’s Video Success Summit. And with over one billion views on YouTube, he understands a thing or two about viral activity.
And one of the common tactics he uses is to keep things simple.
Benji helps his audience enjoy delicious meals with simple food recipes. In one of his most popular videos, Benji shares an easy way to bake chocolate chip cookies. The video garnered over 1.2 million views.
How can you apply this to your content? Avoid sharing any overcomplicated or impractical advice. Instead, offer quick and easy step-by-step guides or how-to solutions to help your audience overcome their struggles and pain points.
18. Share your best information
Many coaches secretly guard their best information behind a paywall.
But the truth is that clutching onto your most valuable content only hinders your viral potential. Remember, people engage with exceptional content. If you’re overly concerned about revealing the ideas that could change people’s lives, you’ll compromise your growth on YouTube.
Aaron Zakowski
Aaron Zakowski is the founder of Zammo Digital, a digital marketing agency. He is another speaker at our Video Success Summit. He mentions how sharing your most valuable content helps establish you as an authority in your space.
And yes, some people may take the information and run. However, many others will be impressed with your expertise, resulting in a better channel performance with more likes, comments, shares, and business.
What can you learn from Aaron’s example?
Share your best stuff. Put it all out there. The right people will find you, appreciate you, and want to do business with you.
19. Add benefit with a timeframe
As a coach, your business is about helping others.
So, how can you best serve them with your YouTube content? Use the benefit-timeframe headline hack. In your video headline, you provide a benefit (a reason for them to watch) followed by a timeframe (when they can expect to have the benefit).
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is one of the world’s leading digital marketers. He coaches entrepreneurs and business owners through the complicated landscape of digital marketing. He uses the concept of benefit-driven, time-framed content in many of his viral videos.
In the example above, the headline offers the benefit (learn digital marketing) and the time frame (in just five minutes a day). The quicker the timeframe, the better. People are always looking for quick and easy solutions to their problems.
The more you can offer them those solutions, the more engaged they’ll become with your content.
20. Get to the point
This may seem like a harmless “offense,” but rambling at the beginning of a video is actually one of the worst things you can do for engagement. People are impatient. They want what they want, and they want it now. So, you have to cater to this demand in your videos.
Get to the point as soon as possible. Don’t keep your audience waiting for the valuable content you have to share with them.
Conor Neil
Conor Neil is a sought-after public speaker and speaking coach. And he understands this principle. In his most viewed video, he immediately gets to the meat of the content by asking his audience a thought-provoking question. No intro, no rambling, no trailing off topic.
Just instant value.
The result is a video with a staggering 19 million views. And while getting to the point was not the sole contributor to the video’s incredible viral performance, it undoubtedly played a major role. For this reason, it’s important to consider it as a critical component of your content.
Get to the point in your YouTube videos.
Don’t annoy your audience with ramblings or long, unnecessary introductions. Instead, jump right in with a compelling question, a provocative statement, or even a story to engage your viewers.
Key Takeaways
As a coach, knowing how to go viral on YouTube comes down to being authentic, knowing your audience, and providing genuine value. Success is only a matter of time when you meet these criteria. And the best thing is that you don’t have to do this alone. We at Entrepreneurs HQ have been helping coaches for nearly ten years to get more leads, close more clients, and scale their businesses.
So, if you’re ready to take your coaching business to the next level, watch our free training on how to get coaching clients.