Viral Short-Form Video Formats for 2025

Tired of your content getting lost in social media noise? Wondering how top creators consistently produce videos that get noticed? 

In this article, you'll learn a proven methodology for dissecting successful content formats and adapting them to your own niche.

Why Video Storytelling Matters for Marketers

With 5 billion people on social media platforms today, breaking through the noise has become increasingly challenging. Unlike the early days when content creators competed against a few million others, today's social media landscape is saturated with billions of pieces of content vying for attention.

The key to success is understanding why social media algorithms work the way they do. Contrary to popular belief, platforms aren't shadow-banning content or suppressing reach to force paid advertising. Instead, they're interested in one primary goal: keeping users on the platform as long as possible to serve more ads and generate more profit.

This is where storytelling becomes crucial. Brendan Kane, founder of Hook Point, points out, “How do we typically retain attention in any medium, whether it's books, articles, movies, television? We tell stories.” Even in casual conversation, when someone says, “Let me tell you a story,” ears perk up, and attention focuses.

About Brendan Kane's Viral Content Model for Organic Short-Form Video Content

Kane's journey to becoming a video marketing expert began in film school, where he learned the fundamentals of storytelling through studying classic films, writing, directing, and acting. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film production, he recognized an emerging opportunity in digital media during the reawakening after the dot-com bust.

While working at a movie studio, Kane observed a significant pain point: studios would spend tens of millions of dollars on content creation and promotion yet still face anxiety about effectively reaching their audience. In 2005, as platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace emerged, Kane saw the untapped potential that the film industry wasn't utilizing.

His first breakthrough came with the movie “Crank,” starring Jason Statham. Working with a relatively modest $12 million budget (compared to $150-200 million blockbusters), Kane pioneered what would become the first YouTube influencer campaign. He identified top creators on the platform—before the term “influencer” even existed—and offered them the opportunity to interview a movie star, securing five major collaborations without any payment.

This success led to further innovations. Kane developed the first-ever influencer tech platform, which he licensed to MTV and Viacom. He went on to work with celebrities like Taylor Swift and Rihanna, helping them maximize their social media traffic and convert it into commerce. His experience expanded to include scaling one of the first social media advertising optimization companies, managing about $100 million in annual ad spend for Fortune 500 companies.

This extensive background gave Kane unique insights into what wasn't working: companies were trying to force traditional creative models into social media spaces. Even when creating social-specific content, many used pre-social media approaches that failed to resonate with modern audiences.

From this wealth of experience, Kane developed a systematic approach to creating breakthrough content. His model, refined through over 10,000 hours of research identifying more than 220 different content formats, consists of five essential steps that any creator can follow to improve their chances of success.

#1: Research and Identify Successful Organic Video Formats

Before you begin your research, you must come to terms with two principles. 

The first is that organic social media isn't meant for direct selling. It's intended to get people to know, like, and trust you so they're motivated to buy your product.

The second is that there's a difference between trends and formats. Kane emphasizes that trends like the ice bucket challenge are fleeting, while formats are repeatable storytelling structures that consistently perform well over time. His team has identified over 220 distinct formats through their research.

Now that you know what to look for, here are two ways to conduct this research on your own:

• Pay attention to the formats seeded in your social feeds. The algorithms are already showing you successful content types. When you see something performing well, dive deeper into that creator's profile to study their approach. Is the creator replicating that format over and over with success?
• Use the Explorer feed to search for and surface content relevant to your industry. If you're a nutritionist, search for terms like “food hacks” or “cooking recipes.” Coaches can search terms such as “entrepreneurial advice.” The algorithms will show you more relevant, successful content as you do this more often.

As you find formats, log each one in a spreadsheet along with its creator.

Examples of Consistently Successful Organic Video Formats

The “Man on the Street” Format

In these videos, a creator interacts with a random person in a public space and captures their reaction.

• Alex Stemplewski approaches strangers for professional photo shoots, capturing their transformation and reaction.
• Simon Squibb asks random people about their dreams and offers to help achieve them.
• School of Hard Knocks interviews entrepreneurs for business advice.
• SB Mowing offers free yard transformations.

The “Two Characters, One Light Bulb” Format

In these videos, creators play the role of both expert and skeptic to address common industry myths.

• Erika Kullberg plays both expert lawyer and novice to explain legal rights.
• Mark Tilbury uses the format to break down financial concepts.

The “Walking Listicle” Format

In these videos, the creator records an informal video while walking. The movement creates dynamic energy and makes the content feel more conversational–almost like a FaceTime call rather than a formal presentation.

• Robert Croak, founder of Silly Bands, shares business advice while walking.

The “Challenge” Format

In these videos, the creator shows a self-imposed challenge and an impressive result, leveraging natural tension and the story's payoff.

• John Malecki attempts to build expensive furniture from salvaged materials.

#2: Choose and Analyze a Video Format

Going viral should never be the sole goal. The videos you produce must relate to your expertise, products, or services. The key is finding formats that allow you to showcase your knowledge with a target audience while appealing to broader audiences.

For example, SB Mowing transformed simple yard maintenance into compelling content by combining “man on the street” and transformation elements. He approaches homes with overgrown yards, offers free service, and documents the dramatic transformation—creating engaging stories that naturally showcase his expertise.

To find the right fit for you, take stock of all the video formats and creators you identified in the research phase. Consider each of them and choose the format that has the best natural fit for you, your personality, and your niche or industry. The format will only work if the video feels genuine rather than shoehorned.

Next, analyze that format to understand the nuanced elements that make the format work consistently. 

Go to the creator's social media feeds and use a spreadsheet to log a selection of videos using the Gold Silver Bronze Analysis Method. You'll need 10 videos for each category below:

• Gold Standard: Videos with 10+ million views
• Silver Performance: Videos with 800,000 to 1 million views
• Bronze Level: Videos will less than 300,000 views

Now, cross-analyze these videos, looking for patterns in performance drivers to determine why the Gold Standard videos performed well and why the Silver Performance and Bronze Level videos performed less well. 

While Kane's team tracks over 1,000 performance drivers, he recommends beginners focus on these core elements:

• Opening hooks and how they capture attention
• Pacing throughout the video
• Caption placement and style
• Reaction captures and emotional moments
• Environmental factors that impact engagement
• Technical elements like transitions and edits

#3: Strategic Organic Video Ideation

Once you understand a format's mechanics, ideation becomes more structured and effective. Kane emphasizes that this step should never come first – it must follow thorough research and analysis.

If you choose the right format, it will typically drive the ideation process.

Take the “Is it Worth It?” format consistently used by Tanner Leatherstein to build expertise and credibility while entertaining his audience.

He started by deconstructing a $500 Chanel handbag to examine its craftsmanship and determine whether the product was worth the cost. He then expanded to deconstructing products from other luxury brands.

Each video maintains the same successful structure, which removes the pressure to create completely original content for each video. 

#4: Single Video Production Iteration

You may be tempted to batch multiple videos using this newly identified format, but Kane strongly advises against batch production when learning a new format.

The challenge and danger of batch-producing a new format is that if the first one fails, even if you figure out why it failed, it's not likely that you can fix that issue in the remaining videos. So you'll publish nine more videos that won't work. If you do one video at a time, you're not overly invested in something that doesn't work.

So, produce one video, then move on to the fifth and final step.

#5: Review and Analyze Organic Videos With Sub-Par Performance

When video content produced with this method underperforms, it's usually due to one or both of these two things:

The first is that you misunderstood the key performance drivers. Maybe you focused on surface elements (like wardrobe) instead of structural elements or missed crucial format components.

The second is sub-par execution quality. Perhaps you had technical issues in production, pacing problems, or a weak story structure.

To find out, you need to do a systematic comparison of your content against successful examples in the same format. 

Play your video side-by-side with a “gold standard” example and analyze any differences, such as subtle execution variations or missing performance drivers.

Finally, plan specific improvements for the next video you'll produce.

By following this systematic review process, creators can make incremental improvements with each new piece of content. Once you've mastered a format, you can consider batch production to scale your content creation.

How to Apply the Viral Content Model in Your Business

By following this framework and focusing on storytelling rather than selling, businesses can create video content that breaks through the noise and builds genuine connections with their audience. These tips will help you:

Master One Format First

While trying multiple formats simultaneously is tempting, Kane recommends mastering one before expanding. If you've never learned a musical instrument, you'll have more success learning to play one at a time instead of trying to learn three simultaneously.

Adopt the Generalist Principle

Many people make the mistake of creating a niche piece of organic content for a niche audience. Unfortunately, this approach doesn't work because it doesn't support the platforms' goal of retaining masses of viewers. These platforms aren't going to do the heavy lifting of finding a niche audience for your organic video.

In addition, if you're designing a niche piece of content for a niche audience, it typically lacks a story and comes off like an ad, so it falls flat. 

Instead, find a way to frame your expertise in a way that will make it interesting to people who are not interested in what you do.

Looking back to the lawn care guy, if his video focused on talking about the mechanics of a lawnmower and how a lawnmower operates, he wouldn't be getting much traction. By taking a generalist approach with the transformation format, he reaches a much broader audience, so the algorithms surface his organic content more often to more and more people.

Organize Your Visual Hierarchy

Avoid overwhelming your viewers by using too many visual elements at once, especially in the first few seconds of your video. While planning your video, make sure you have a clear visual hierarchy of what you want to focus on first, second, and third to create a clear path for viewer attention.

Space out the introduction of text, speech, and movement in your hook, and consider when to show captions vs. when to let visuals speak for you.

Integrate Paid Strategies

While Kane's model focuses primarily on organic content, organic success can enhance paid advertising efforts. Once you've built a substantial organic following, you can use paid advertising to retarget this engaged audience with more direct response messaging.

This approach is particularly effective because the initial connection wasn't based on a sales pitch, and the audience has grown to know, like, and trust your brand.

Other Notes From This Episode

• Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Instagram and @Mike_Stelzner on X.
• Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.

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