How to Make Short Videos Go Viral | The Technique of Abstracting Winning Structures and Transplanting Them Across Industries

Conclusion: Virality is not about "copying," but about "abstracting and transplanting."

Let me start with the conclusion. The secret to making short videos go viral is not to "copy" other people's viral videos as they are. It is to extract only the "winning structure" from successful videos, abstract it, and then re-concretize and transplant it onto your own subjects and products.

Using this method, HolyTech abstracted the winning pattern of a 1.47 million-view video by a hairstylist, adapted it for a video editing school, and grew it to 4.2 million views. The subjects and industries are completely different. Yet, it produced results. The reason is that what was successful was not the "hairstylist," but the "structure."

In this article, I will reveal the field-tested logic of HolyTech, which has analyzed and operated 100 types of viral accounts, complete with a worksheet you can use starting tomorrow.

Why "copying as-is" doesn't work

Many corporate accounts fail because they only copy the surface of viral videos. The reasons for failure can be summarized into three points.

1. The context is different: The original video went viral due to a specific trend, timing, and algorithmic context. Imitation six months later loses that context.

2. The subject is different: A hairstylist's hands and your product shelf evoke different expectations and physiological reactions from viewers.

3. The trust balance is different: A joke told by an account with tens of thousands of followers is received differently than the same joke told by a newly opened account.

In other words, what you should copy is not the "appearance," but the "structure of why it went viral." Strip away the surface layer (subject/product) and extract only the successful structure. This is the first step of transplantation.

How to make short videos go viral: The 3-layer decomposition of abstraction

Winning videos can be broken down into the following three layers. If you can verbalize these three, you can adapt them to any industry.

Layer 1: Hook structure (design of the first 3 seconds)

What, in what order, and with what emotion did you show it to make them stop scrolling? Is it a "violation of expectations" type like "Wait, isn't that illegal?" or a "time-saving promise" type like "Understand in 3 seconds"? Extract the "pattern" of the hook.

Layer 2: Emotional curve (fluctuations in emotion during viewing)

Where in the video did you raise expectations, where did you create an "emotional valley" (anxiety, doubt, gap), and where did you resolve it? Videos that people watch to the end always have valleys and peaks.

Layer 3: CTA flow (how to embed a call to action)

What did you ask for at the end, in what phrasing, and at what point of excitement in the viewing experience? Is it "from the profile" or "save recommended"? Extract the pattern of the flow.

Supporting these three layers is the universal desire structure of humans. Curiosity, self-projection, before-and-after, authority, and scarcity—these are common across industries. That is precisely why structures can be transplanted across industries.

Steps for concretization: Adapting the structure to your own subject

The procedure for concretizing an abstracted structure for your own company is clear.

1. Subject Substitution: Replace the "hairdresser's technique" from the original video with the "highlight" of your industry (e.g., compounding for a herbal pharmacy, or before-and-after treatment for a dental clinic).

2. Preservation of the Emotional Curve: Do not change the positions of the valleys and peaks. If you break this, the structure collapses and the reproducibility disappears.

3. Paraphrasing the Hook: If it is a dissonance-presentation type, translate it into the most surprising statement possible for your industry.

4. CTA Connection: Replace the flow with your own goal (store visits, inquiries, LINE registration).

The important thing is to perform concept design using "psychographic competitive analysis." Do not look at the number of followers, but rather find the winning structures of accounts that share similar values, lifestyles, and interests with your target audience. This determines the precision of the transplant.

HolyTech Verification: Winning patterns that worked across industries

Structural transplantation is not a theory. It is proven by numbers.

• Beauty to Education: Abstracted the winning structure of a 1.47 million view hairdresser video and concretized it into a video editing school video. Result: 4.2 million views, 6.4 million views in the first month.

• The "First-Person Perspective x Occupational Experience" Script Type: A structure where viewers can simulate the experience of that profession. For a herbal head spa, it achieved 11 million views per month, 6,000 new official LINE registrations per month, and remained fully booked two months in advance for 1.5 years.

• Real Estate Brokerage: By transplanting the same simulated experience structure, it generated over 100 inquiries per month.

• Average views per video across all projects: 32,000 (as of January 2026).

The subjects vary from spa therapists and pharmacists to sales representatives. Yet, the numbers still come in. The only thing they have in common is the structure of "letting the viewer simulate the profession in the first person."
▼ Reference videos that show the "pattern" of this concept (public accounts that are not our clients)
・Example of First-Person Perspective x Occupational Experience: "The 'World I See' series following women's treatments from a hairdresser's perspective" (@biyoushi_vision)
https://www.tiktok.com/@biyoushi_vision/video/7584657387886333185
・Example of First-Person Perspective x Occupational Experience (transplant example to a different industry): "The world seen by a real estate agent. From going out to filming properties in the first person" (@hatarakutoko)

The success or failure of a transplant is determined by "whether the structure is maintained" (backed by KPIs)

Whether structural transplantation works can be judged by numbers, not intuition. In HolyTech's correlation analysis, the contribution to view counts is as follows:

• 3-second retention rate: +0.76 (strongest correlation)

• Video completion rate: +0.71

• Average watch time: +0.53

Even for videos with over 1 million views, about half of the viewers drop off in the first 3 seconds. In other words, the top priority in transplantation is not to break the hook structure (Layer 1). Even if you change the subject, if you can maintain the 3-second retention rate and the video completion rate, the winning structure will be reproduced. Conversely, if you break this with your own style, the numbers will drop. The pass/fail of a transplant is determined not by the subject, but by the preservation rate of the structure—this is the conclusion from operating 100 accounts.

Plus Alpha: 5 Items for an "Abstraction Worksheet" You Can Use Starting Tomorrow

Choose one video that is performing well and fill in the following 5 items. Once filled, you can already transplant it to your industry.

1. Hook (First 3 seconds): What is the first word or the first visual? What emotion (discomfort/surprise/promise of time-saving) was used to stop the scroll?

2. Immediately after the 3-second grab: How did you present the "reason to keep watching" between 3 and 7 seconds?

3. Valley of Emotion: Where is the point where the viewer feels anxious or curious, thinking, "Wait, what happens next?"

4. Resolution: How was the valley resolved, and what kind of peak (satisfaction/relief/emotion) was created?

5. CTA: What was requested at the end, and in what phrasing? How will you replace it with your own company's goal?

Shoot this by replacing only the subject with your own product. That is not "copying," but "transplanting."
▼ Reference videos that show the "pattern" of this concept (public accounts that are not our clients)
・Example of winning structure breakdown/explanation: "How to break down viral videos to immediately imitate their openings" (@mitton_short)
https://www.tiktok.com/@mitton_short/video/7451489794888174855
・Example of winning structure breakdown/explanation: "Breaking down and explaining what people who suddenly go viral do before posting" (@tokken_tiktoke)

Summary

• The way to make short videos go viral is not to "copy," but to "abstract → concretize and transplant."

• Winning videos can be broken down into three layers: "Hook structure, emotional curve, and CTA flow."

• Human desire structures (curiosity, self-projection, before-after, authority, scarcity) are common across industries, so the structure can be transplanted.

• The success of the transplant depends on whether you can maintain a 3-second retention rate (+0.76) and a video completion rate (+0.71).

• The conversion from a hairdresser (1.47 million) to video editing (4.2 million) proves this.

"I don't know which winning structure I should transplant with my company's subject"—that is the professional domain. HolyTech's short video operation agency service costs 7,500 yen (tax included) per video, with a minimum of 10 videos per month, and the first video is free. From our library of winning structures for 100 accounts, we will abstract and concretize a pattern that works for your industry. First, check the reproducibility of structure transplantation with your first free video.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1. Are there copyright or policy issues if I imitate a viral video exactly?
A. If you replicate the video, audio, and text exactly, it could become an issue. That is precisely why HolyTech abstracts and transplants only the "structure." The hook pattern, emotional curve, and CTA flow are not expressions but the skeleton of an idea, and because we reload your company's unique subject and product onto it, it becomes original production rather than imitation.

Q2. Can accounts with few followers grow through structure transplantation?
A. Yes, they can. The factor that contributes most to view counts is the 3-second retention rate (+0.76), which is determined by the hook structure, not the number of followers. Even immediately after opening an account, if you maintain a winning structure, you have the potential to go viral from the first video. In fact, the average number of views for all HolyTech projects is 32,000.

Q3. Can it be transplanted in any industry?
A. Yes, it can. This is because human desire structures (curiosity, self-projection, before-after, etc.) are common across industries. As a track record, the same structure has worked in beauty, education, head spas, herbal pharmacies, and real estate brokerage. The important thing is not the subject, but changing the clothes without breaking the winning structure.

Q4. I'm having trouble with abstraction. Do you have any tips?
A. Think of it as "stripping away the surface layer (the subject or product) and keeping only the reason why it went viral." If you fill out the 5 items in the abstraction worksheet in the main text (Hook / 3-second grab / Emotional valley / Solution / CTA), the structure will remain automatically. Practicing with just one viral video is the fastest way to start.

Q5. What is the difference between doing it in-house and leaving it to HolyTech?
A. HolyTech possesses a "Winning Structure Library" based on the analysis and operation of 100 types of viral accounts. Because we can determine which structure works for which psychographic segment through competitive analysis, the accuracy and speed of porting are on a different level. Our short video operation agency service starts at 7,500 yen (tax included) per video, and you can try your first video for free.

Author Information

Kento Hayashi / Representative Director, HolyTech Inc.
Provided SNS and short video operation agency services to over 250 companies. Using a proprietary method based on the analysis of 100 types of viral accounts, he has achieved 6.4 million views in the first month for a video editing school and 11 million views per month for a high-end head spa. He also operates a TikTok monetization school, where he systematizes curricula based on actual operational experience.
*The content of this article was updated on August 17, 2026.