Viral Marketing

When word of mouth turns to word of mouse.
Recently, the award for Internet marketing buzzword of the year was given to the term ‘viral marketing,’ but what does it really mean? The concept itself is by no means new, businesses worldwide from the smallest corner shop to the biggest multinational had long relied on and benefited from it. Basically, it isn’t much different from word of mouth; for example, someone buys your product, if they like it, they tell their friends how good it is. Then the friends go and buy the same product and like it and tell their friends and so on and so forth until you have reached a huge market without spending a single penny on advertising.
So how is it done?
E-Commerce Consultant, Dr Ralph F. Wilson, wrote in Web Marketing Today, that there were 6 key elements to a successful viral marketing campaign:
1. You give away some form of free product or service:
Viral marketing campaigns rely on patience. By giving something away for free, you attract customers and once you have them using your product, you have the opportunity to sell them other desirable things.
2. You provide for the effortless spread of your message:
Your message will only spread if it is easy to transmit. This is where the Internet has been so successful. Communication is cheap and can be as simple as a single mouse click.
3. You are able to scale the campaign from small to large very rapidly:
If your campaign is to be successful, you must ensure that you can meet a rapidly growing demand for your product or service. If demand exceeds your ability to supply, then instead of growing it, your viral campaign will start to kill your business.
4. You identify and exploit common motivations and behaviours:
Most people are driven by a desire to be loved or popular or even financially better off. These desires are part of what generates a huge amount of Internet communication each day. A successful viral marketing campaign will be able to build on these common motivations in some way.
5. You encourage people to spread the word among their existing networks:
Most people have on average a network of some 10 to 12 close friends or family who they are in regular communication with. Added to this, they often have a wider network of associates and casual or work contacts of tens perhaps even hundreds or thousands. A campaign that taps into this wider network will soon bring huge rewards.
6. You take advantage of others’ resources:
Some of the most successful campaigns try to position messages on other people’s programmes. If they can put links on other people’s websites or supply content to others which carry their message, then they will soon find that other people are doing their marketing for them.