Our good friends at Mashable published an interesting article on Viral Video Marketing.  Titled Ten Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 2010.

Definitely some great work as evident by the number of views they get on YouTube.  While it’s great to have a video go viral, from a business stand point you have to ask yourself did these videos achieve the desired result?  I would say yes and no.  As a business person, sure branding is an important component for a business…ultimately, the question that should be asked is – did this marketing tactic help drive sales?

The videos produced all had a significant number of YouTube views but many in my opinion lacked strategy.  Take the first one for example, A Hunter Shoots a bear this is an ad for Tipp-Ex white-out tape.  It has all the hallmarks of a Viral Video Marketing campaign…unique, funny, engaging, interactive etc.  Is it going to get me to go out and buy Tipp-Ex white-out tape? Ah…No it won’t.  Will it even keep this product top of mind for me? No, again.

Second on the viral video marketing list was Embrace Life…a video meant to encourage the use of seats belts.  Great use of videography.  Will it get more people to wear seat belts?  Not sure, as my thoughts on seat belt use is related to habits…and you what they say about habits…good or bad they die hard.

Third on the list is the Levi Strauss commercial another great clip…am I going to buy Levi’s now…probably not.  Is the desired effect of the video supposed to make you feel nostalgic? Or bring back the emotions you felt in your travels in a pair of Levi’s…who knows.

One of the most memorable viral video marketing campaigns has to be the Old Spice commercials.  I’m still not an Old Spice Man but I’d be willing to bet that sales of Old Spice increased as a result of these commercials.

Lost in the translation for me is the Puma Commercial…I’m not a European Football fan so I can really comment.  To date is has achieved over 2 million views with over 2000 comments…if you some how tap into these passionate fans I’m sure you can find a way to benefit.  On a side note, I have a friend that is so passionate about his Chelsea Football Club that he bought a Samsung TV because they are a major sponsor of the club.  Imagine that, buying a TV just because they are a sponsor…no TV Buying Guide or recommendations required.

A great example of Viral Video Marketing is the Google Chrome Speed Test.  Now the Google Chrome Test did the trick for me…I’m going to try Chrome because of this video…the Video which you see below gets the point across…Google Chrome is fast!

Toyota – Swagger Wagon a pretty decent video aimed at making parents feel better about buying a van.  Can you own a van and still be COOL…this video says you can.  At over 7 million views I’m sure others will feel the same way too.

There’s a Soldier in All of Us is a cool video…it’s intent was to suggest that the video game Call of Duty Black Ops is a game anyone can play.  Being an on and off gamer myself and a fan of the Call of Duty series…I may just go out and buy this game.

Write the Future was a promotion for FIFA 2010 World Cup and Nike it has less than 300,000 views and it still made the top 10 list at Mashable – Josh Warner must be a soccer or Nike fan as I’m not sure why it made the list.

My favorite of the bunch coming at # 10 is titled Master of Business Card Throwing a video for the Samsung Digital Camcorder H205.  I don’t like it for it’s ability to educate or entice me to buy a Samsung Camcorder but this guy throws business cards like Ninja Stars…it’s a cool example on Viral Video Marketing but the end goal in my opinion was lost.

To see all of the The 10 Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 1010 check out Mashable.

What do you think…are there better videos out there achieving their goals?

There’s a great myth out there lurking that prevents the masses from using the video method to generate sales.  When in fact creating an effective sales video is easy.

Turn on the TV late night and you’ll discover a whole new world of marketing…Infomercials.  The proliferation of infomercials can only mean one thing….THEY WORK!

They can be 15 second spots to full 30 minute productions and if you study enough of them you will begin to notice a formula.  Actually a couple of formulas.

Since most people out there are afraid of making videos…adopt this video strategy TODAY and gain a competitive advantage.

Formula # 1

A-I-D-A – which is an acronym for ATTENTION – INTEREST – DESIRE – ACTION

Check out any fitness based infomercial like P90X for example.  P90X grabs your attention and interest in several ways:

• Want to get ripped in 90days? – who wouldn’t
• Before and after shots of ordinary people….key that…ordinary people just like you and me.
• Video interview testimonials of the very same people – making it very real and attainable.

All of the above done correctly stimulates action…it gets the viewer emotionally involved…subconsciously the viewer is placing themselves in those ripped bodies…this subconscious emotional tie is what gets people to buy.

The other hidden formula is the sales formula that many successful people use.

Generate rapport…couple of ways P90X does this:

features Tony Horton a leading expert in the fitness field.

features ordinary people..helping the viewer find common ground i.e. yeah…my body looks like that…after 90-days my body can look like that?

Uncovering needs – finding commonality with the viewer…struggling to get to the gym, plateauing, not seeing any results from existing fitness regimen etc

Meeting the needs – features people sceptical about p90x and gave it a try

Getting the sale – minimize risk of buying…i.e. if you’re not satisfied with P90X return it for a full refund in 30 days.

Now that you know the formulas.  What do you need to get started?

A Computer…of course,

Presentation software…like PowerPoint or a free one using Open Office,

A converter program that can convert your slides to jpeg format,

Windows Movie Maker which is Free on most newer Windows based computers,

A microphone to record audio.

That’s it you now have the formulas and ingredients to create amazing videos that

will sell.

If you want to check out an example…click on the following link to see a video on perpetual income streams.