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A Viral Video is a tried and true method of creating awareness of your product or service. It can be extremely effective in generating traffic to your website. A Viral Video can also be the most cost-effective advertising you’ll ever use. But, it can also be a waste of time and money.

First, a quick definition: A Viral Video is simply any video that is remarkable enough to be spread on its own. It can be funny, cute, serious, professional, amateurish, etc. The content is NOT the most important factor. There’s really no definition or requirements for the CONTENT of a Viral Video, just that it be interesting enough to be shared repeatedly.

PRIMA just created a video that is intended to be shared by soccer coaches in the hope of generating awareness (and purchases) of a soccer coaching DVD.

There are two very important components, though, of a Viral Video that is intended to be used for advertising. First is the video itself, and second, is the plan for getting people to watch it. If you’re lucky, it will (and can) go viral all by itself, but that’s very unlikely. Making a concerted effort to get the “right” people to view your video can make all the difference in the success of your campaign.

And by success, you should decide upfront what that will look like for your project. If you have a consumer product it may be necessary to get thousands of views to meet your objectives (i.e., Blendtec) but, if you’re working to get a slightly obscure business-to-business product in front of interested buyers, you don’t necessarily need a ton of viewers. You just need the right viewers.

Another way to think about this Viral Video process is that it can be part of series of communications that leads your customer towards a purchase. You’re giving your potential customer something of value in the form of your Viral Video. Maybe it’s a laugh, something of interest, or perhaps a new way of looking at a topic. By giving, your hope is to create a sort of dialogue where your potential customer will form favorable impressions of your company and ultimately respond with a purchase… and then a referral… and then a repeat purchase.

Coming up with a clever idea for a funny video is great. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that once you have that, you’re done.

Let’s say you’re selling B2B and your product or service really needs to be approved, either directly or indirectly, by several functional groups within the organization. The folks in Sales, Accounting and IT are all impacted by the implementation of your product or service and need to understand that your product is a good thing.

As you’re no doubt already aware, to be effective, your marketing and sales efforts need to speak to each of these audiences. If you’re going to provide your Future Clients a video to check out, then you’re going to need to make your case to each of these groups individually in the video.

You can make your case in a single video or several and will depend on the complexity of what you need to convey as well as your budget and/or time constraints. It’s a bit more challenging to edit Your Story together in a single video, but if you use good segues and use music effectively to create chapters in your video, then it certainly can be done in a single video.

Just be certain to speak directly to these audiences in a way that they will understand and that they will find real and compelling. In a Testimonial Video, use real Clients that can give your audience details and important insights into the in and outs of your product or service. Be sure to let your Clients address the very real concerns that they had going into implementation. This will deepen the emotional connection between your Client and the Future Client that is watching. During the interview process try to get the Client to express their fears prior to implementation and how those fears were addressed and resolved to their satisfaction.

In his blog, Thomas Clifford ( http://www.directortom.com/ ) reminds us that there is only one person you need to keep in mind when creating your organization’s video and that is the single person that is watching at that moment. Put yourself in their shoes and you’ll give yourself the proper prospective for creating a video that has true meaning to them.

Over the last few days I’ve been jotting down ways that companies and non-profits can use video to expand their organizations. As is often the case I looked to the web for inspiration and came across an article on Technorati.com by Jimm Fox: “42 Ways to Use Video to Grow Your Business.”

Jimm owns his own video production company in Canada and has put together a very extensive list.

As the leader of an organization it’s possible to dismiss video as just another expense or cost. And yes, we’re all familiar with the “It’s not a cost, it’s an investment” argument but if you think about the use of video as either a business-builder or an expense-reducer you may have more luck convincing yourself that the little voice in your head that says “this video stuff is right on the mark” makes more and more sense all the time.

http://technorati.com/business/article/42-ways-to-use-video-to/

“Do I really sound like that?” is a nearly universal question we all say to ourselves when hearing our own recorded voice played back for the first time. There are real, scientific reasons why this is true. When you hear your own voice on a recording, you’re hearing it without the benefit of the sounds that are transmitted directly through the bones in your head which are perceived as deeper, more resonant sounds. (Scientific American)

Similarly, people are often surprised how they appear, or feel they might appear on camera and so I sometimes hear ”I don’t want to be on camera” from my Clients. Whether its false modesty, “real” modesty or some other reason, I can guarantee you that your Clients and Future Clients really want to see you on camera. They want to find out if there’s a connection with you. They want to know if you’re someone they’d like to work with.

Actors and Spokesmodels are useful in certain situations but here’s a little test for you. Next time you’re watching a commercial that features a business owner, ask yourself if it matters to you how good-looking that owner is. In other words, if the owner happens to be attractive does that automatically make you want to do business with them? What if they’re unattractive? Does that turn you completely off from their offering?

For me, it’s more about their message and whether I believe it. Do I feel comfortable with what they are saying. Do I have any sort of connection with them.

For many, many years television has convinced us that in order to be on-screen you must be attractive but in the YouTube Age, it’s clear that the rules have changed.

So comb your hair, fix your collar and tell the world your story. Your Clients and Future Clients will be glad you did.

Viral Video

Many Audiences? Then Many Videos.

How to Use Video to Grow Your Business

Do I Really Sound Like That?