A Buyers Guide to Viral Marketing - Part 1
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For the past decade one of the most talked about online marketing strategies has been viral marketing. Viral marketing is used to describe marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness. This form of self replicating advertising is likened to the spread of a virus, not through any traditionally detrimental traits which are associated with viruses, but because of its ability to use other hosts and their resources to replicate rapidly and exponentially.
Many people agree that the term ‘viral marketing’ was first coined by Steve Jurvetson in 1997 to describe Hotmail’s free email service, in which they attached advertisements for themselves to all outgoing mail from their subscribers. A definition of viral marketing given by Dr. R F Wilson in his article ‘The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing’ states that it ‘describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence.’
It is therefore assumed that if a viral advertisement reaches a ‘susceptible’ user, that user will then become ‘infected’ by the product or service, and can then go on to infect other users through methods such as word of mouth or the forwarding of a web link. In the online sphere, if each recipient forwards the advertisement to more than one susceptible user the campaign will in theory carry on for ever, or until all recipients have been reached. Even if the rate at which the message is forwarded has a declining trend from generation to generation (e.g. 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 0) and eventually dies out, the message might still be forwarded many more times than it was initially sent (in our example above 75 times as opposed to and excluding the 30 original messages).
There are various types of viral campaigns which are suited for different purposes, depending on the product or service being promoted or target market which the companies involved are hoping to reach. Some of the main types of campaigns include:
- Pass-along:
A message which encourages the reader to forward the information on to others. The most common form of this is email chain letters which have a message at the bottom of the letter prompting the reader to forward the email on to other contacts. It has been found that short, funny video clips, which tend to be sent spontaneously, are generally more effective. The number of people reached in this way is generally much greater than the original number to which the original message was sent.
- Incentivised viral:
This method is based on offering a reward for every message passed along or email address provided. This can drastically increase referrals, however it is found to be most effective when another person is required to take action. Most online contests offer more chances of winning for each referral given, but when the referral must also participate in order for the first person to obtain that extra chance of winning, the chance that the referral participates is much greater.
- Undercover marketing:
This usually comes in the from of a unusual web page, with cool activities or snippets of news, without any direct incitements to link or pass the message along. The aim of undercover marketing is to not make the product immediately apparent, but to rather let the user discover it through a seemingly spontaneous and informal chain of events.
- ‘Edgy Gossip/Buzz Marketing’:
Ads or messages that create controversy by challenging the borders of taste or appropriateness. Discussion of the resulting controversy can be considered to generate buzz and word of mouth advertising.
- User-managed database:
Users create their own lists of contacts using a database provided by an online service provider. By inviting other members to participate in their community, users can a self-propagating chain of contacts that naturally grows and encourages others to sign up as well.
A Buyers Guide to Viral Marketing - Part 2 >>
