Weekly Wochit: Mental Floss finds the flavor of success

Snake Person-focused publisher Mental Floss knows how to make video work for them. Their combination of info and humor in this piece saw some great returns. When a social video has over half a million views, 4,000 shares, 3,000 reactions, and 1,000 comments, it’s a sure sign the creators are doing something right. In this case, that “something” is…just about everything.

Check out the piece below:

Immediately upon clicking play, the video poses a question: do you think cilantro tastes gross? Posing a question, either at the top of your video or in your share text, is an effective way to lead users to click play and to keep watching. It prompts them to consider their own experience in regards to your content, instantly creating a deeper connection than simply “this looks interesting.”

Presenting a question with your content also prompts engagement. The added buy-in makes users want to share their voice, as can be seen in the lively comments section. It also makes them likelier to share the video with their own network, pushing it further out in front of new audiences.

Even before this great intro hook, the video is presented in a smart, but different, way to reel in viewers.Check out how it is shared on Facebook – it shows up in feeds with a big, recognizable image of a well-known celebrity. It also invokes her by name while presenting the crux of the discussion the video prompts: cilantro, and the fact that some people (even famous chefs!) hate it.

Beyond all of these great, initial steps to bring viewers in and captivate them, the video itself is stellar. The visual assets are high-quality and interesting, with a nice mix of contemporary and older stock footage. This creates a varied, playful viewing experience.

With prominent, well-done text-overlay, the video functions fully on mute. You don’t need sound for even a moment, but there’s a sunny backing track for those who are listening. And, of course, the creators keep the video just under 1 minute, hitting the sweet spot of length for Facebook videos.

One final point on this expert video: they save the promised revelation (Julia Child’s approach to cilantro) for last. As this is the framing that drew viewers to click play in the first place, they’re likely to keep watching until they reach that point. The joke of how she handled the herb (“throw it on the floor”) makes for a great, funny payoff for viewers. Closing on a memorable, humorous note also makes viewers likelier to share the video. Everyone likes a good laugh!

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