To find the answers to these questions, CIO.com interviewed dozens of video experts --from professional video makers and marketers to companies that have successfully used video to market their products or services --to find out who can benefit from video marketing and what it takes to successfully make and market a video.

If you sell a visual, hard-to-explain, or needs-to-be-seen product or service--"anything you can't test drive or try on," says Roger Vaughn, marketing and technology problem solver at --having a video can make a huge difference.

Take, for example, by Scenic Labs, a provider of ambient Blu-ray products (i.e.,high-resolution videos of aquariums, fine art and fireplace scenes) for doctors' offices, wellness centers, spas and homes. "The first year we added video clips, our sales increased by about 400 percent," says Jason Rosenfeld, founder/producer, Scenic Labs, LLC. "They doubled again (in dollars), when we upgraded our videos to full-length HD versions."

In addition, since adding video to its product pages, Scenic Labs has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of returns--because customers know exactly what they are going to get.