What is Viral Marketing?

Viral Marketing is when something is created and released in the hopes of it being passed along in an exponential pattern, growing and spreading from person to person.  This is more powerful today because it is so easy to do with email and internet techniques.

There are certain things that will make a product or message a viral success.

The product or message should:
1. Be easy to spread
2. Be extraordinary and interesting
3. Make the host doing the viral spreading look cool or smart
4. Have a wide appeal

A successful viral marketing campaign will grow its audience with every touch.  Each person that gets it should pass it on to at least two more people, until it reaches millions.

Viral Marketing can fizzle when it does not make a strong enough impact, when it is ordinary, when it is not backed up with great customer service or when it is not sticky enough to engage the contact.

Viral Marketing Example One:
Free eBook that is interesting and new.  If it has a wide enough appeal, it could spread to many readers.

Viral Marketing Example Two:
Funny video on the web that can easily be forwarded by email.

Viral Marketing Example Three:
Cool electronic gadget that people see other people using and ask about and want.

Viral Marketing Example Four:
Discounting multiple copies of something so that the buyer can give some as gifts.

These are just some of the ways Viral Marketing has been used to spread the message through the customers themselves.

For a very insightful blog post about Viral Marketing and the ideaVirus, visit Seth Godin’s Blog