2. The term ‘viral marketing’ was originally
referenced in Greek Athenian histories, to be finally
coined in the late 1990s by venture capitalist Steve
Jurvetson. The term ‘viral marketing’ is
commonly defined as network-enhanced word-of-mouth.
3. Viral marketing is considered to be very similar to network
marketing. It is proven that the typical Internet user is
very vocal about their online experiences. So in this way,
for each person you reach, you will be reaching a group of
friends. Viral marketing is all based on their vocal online
experiences. A typical example of viral marketing is a
reputed firm sending out, say birthday greeting cards. At
the bottom of the card will be the option of giving the card
to the sender or to anyone else you might like. This is viral
marketing in action! Or if perhaps you have a newsletter,
or write articles for some newsletter, you could add a line
at the bottom of the article saying,” Know
someone who would be interested in this? Click here to
email it to them!” the prospective client is sure to
click on this icon.
4. Viral marketing is considered to be a virus that is carried
over the Internet to various web hosts or people. This
virus is stealthy, patient and cunning, and is a very cost-
effective way to generate awareness of a product or
service to the audience. Basically, a viral campaign is said
to scale easily from small to very large. This means that
the campaign starts with only about ten people knowing
about the product to be marketed. These ten people then
in turn tell another ten people each, making it a hundred
people who know about the product. This is sure a cheap
means of advertisement as no money is used for
advertisement. There is no need of making a new form of
communication network for viral marketing as it usually
utilizes the existing communication networks existing for
the product and the computer. Viral marketing is indeed a
5. Now learning about viral marketing, you may feel like
creating your own virus for marketing. However to create
your own virus, you have to understand what exactly
constitutes a successful virus. To create a successful virus,
you have to have creativity and originality to make the
virus authentic. Now that the virus has been created,
knowledge of how viruses are spread has to be learned.
The most important thing to remember sit that if the
email, website, application or video of the virus being
shared is not unique and informative, it will never become
viral. The virus has to originate from a credible entity
otherwise it will be mistaken as blatant advertising and
thus be immediately discredited. Finally, if the leave-
behind message on the website does not resonate with
the target audience, then it will be a waste of time.
6. Viral campaigns usually have three stages, seed,
germination and growth. Just like plants need the seed to
be of quality genetic material to thrive and then
successfully get germinated and receive proper nutrients
to grow, online viruses too need this same treatment. Viral
marketing has to start with a great campaign that grows
with its advertisement through word of mouth of the
people. However, there are situations wherein viral
marketing too fails. The reasons for failure are usually
incompatibility with the brand, irrelevance to target
audience, unrealistic expectations and lack of
sustainability. So remember, if the campaign is
inconsistent with core brand attributes, or doesn’t
map to existing marketing objectives, the viral marketing
is sure to fail. If the message of the product does not
7. Then of course for all this, one can design an email
newsletter for the marketing if needed. The newsletter
has to, like other newsletters, have a detailed description
of the product to be marketed. Then there can be graphics
to enhance the look of the newsletter, but in reality, black
text on a white background gives terrific response from
the audience. There should also be a subscription link in
the newsletter so that the prospective buyer can subscribe
to the newsletter if interested. The contact information
too is important for you as you can then send emails
telling the customers abut any new product that you may
have!