5 Ways to Create Viral Video That Sells

Video is one of the most powerful ways to communicate with your audience.

Whether that audience is your customers (to drum up more sales), your employees (to show them something) or the press (to get them talking about your brand), creating video is extremely important for marketing your business and driving sales.

Creating video, especially viral video that drives sales, is not hard, but it does take some thought.

Most small businesses don't have the budget to create viral videos that millions of people see, but every business can create videos that are interesting, insightful, and most importantly, that SELL.

I was recently at a Taste of Technology Video Series and two of the speakers (from Viddler and Grovo) shared how to create viral video -- specifically, video that helps drive sales.

First, it's absolutely critical to start by knowing who your audience is and what they want, just like you would do in creating a product. If you create a video with no thought of who will watch it, you're wasting your time.

Second, it's important to script out the video. You don't have to write it to the specifications of a Hollywood movie star, but writing an outline of what the video will say is a start. You want to write down what the scenes will be so you can map it out long before you even begin to tape it. Having a precise plan will pay off in the long run.

Third, it's important to have the right production equipment (camera, lights, audio, background, etc.). However, if you're going to purchase thousands of dollars of high end video equipment, make sure you have staff members who know how to use it. To cut costs, you might want to hire a camera person to video tape you and take the time to edit it yourself on any number of free (some come with your computer) or fee-based software programs on the market. Of course, you can also find any number of good video editors on Elance.

Fourth, once your video is produced you have to get the word out and market it for all the world to see. It's important to use any and all the communication channels available to you: social media, email newsletters, websites and more. Tell your customers, one at a time.

Fifth, ensure that you measure and track the results of your video -- how many views and how many clicks from the video to your website (or other action that you wanted viewers to take) are important metrics to pay attention to. If you do not measure the success of your video, you won't know how it is performing, and you won't know how to improve it.

Another important aspect of video is the talent you may need. Maybe your executive is not the best speaker and you'd prefer to hire an actor. If not, invest in training coworkers how to speak on camera, or see if certain staff members perform better in front of the camera than others. To some, this may not seem like an important aspect of video, but good talent goes a long way.