Our own CEO Justin Nassiri was in Video-Commerce.org discussing the five reasons why video testimonials are great for e-commerce and are a smart decision for brands and businesses.

Check out the article, but here are the reasons below:

1. Gets consumers’ attention quickly through an emotional connection

2. Builds trust with consumers

3. Peers are more influential than brands

4. Lower production costs

5. Helps build your social media fan base

There’s no denying that word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to build buzz around your brand and make your marketing spend go the distance. Word-of-mouth marketing is not only extremely effective, but also inexpensive if leveraged strategically.

One only needs to take a look at the recent opening box office success of The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins’ dystopian tale made over $155 million in just its first weekend. Lionsgate built a strong word-of-mouth marketing campaign into its overall marketing strategy, and with the right planning and execution, built enough buzz to nail their opening weekend. Here’s why Lionsgate’s word-of-mouth marketing strategy worked:

“We all want to be stars,” explains Kevin Alloca, YouTube’s trends manager. If you haven’t had a chance to check out his TEDYouth talk on “Why Videos Go Viral” – it’s definitely worth viewing.

Why Videos Go Viral – TEDYouth

Alloca discloses some impressive YouTube video statistics such as “two days of video get uploaded very minute,” but then he drops the bomb: “Few videos go viral.”

As the Double Rainbow guy groans (whose viral video has gotten over 33 million views): “What does it mean?”

Want an incredible example of how a powerful video can spread virally, purely on word of mouth? Before March, nonprofit Invisible Children and its mission were relatively unknown. Today, Invisible Children’s #KONY2012 video, a 30 minute controversial documentary detailing the atrocious acts of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, has already gathered more than 100 million views since it’s launch on March 5th. It’s the fastest growing viral video in history, surpassing Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” performance, Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” or the Old Spice Guy video campaign.

If the movie industry has the Oscars, the tech community has South by Southwest Interactive in Austin. This year, we’re excited to announce that VideoGenie’s been selected to present next week at 5pm on Saturday, March 10th at the InterContinental Hotel. Our talk will be on how “Your Customers on Video Are Your Biggest Asset.” We’ll be hopping up on stage with Anheuser-Busch InBev to discuss how our creative video campaign launched during the Super Bowl drove incredible engagement among fans and new customers.