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Viral marketing is all about word of mouth, that powerful marketing tool that has been in use since time immemorial to promote a product or service. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have turned the tried and trusted methods of conventional marketing wisdom on its head. Although the basic tenets of marketing still are very much applicable today, the marketing environment itself has experienced a sea change. Social media sites were initially established to provide platforms for sharing contact details, video footage and other content material. But the savvy marketer soon found out the immense reach, penetration and influence these powerful media vehicles have on the public. Not only do they allow businesses to reach out to their customers, it also allows more one-to-one and many-to-many communication through the internet. This active dialogue would allow more businesses to apply more competent marketing techniques to engage a customer, make him/her aware of your brand and eventually endorse it. This sort of activity would result in more conversion to sales. More sales imply better profitability. Viral marketing is dependent on a snowball effect when a great number of recipients of some message or video from social media sites (like YouTube) forward the same to other members of their communities. This achieves what is known as word of mouth or pass-along. Viral marketing relies on higher rate of pass-along to accomplish its effect. The spread of a message or video can be fast and furious, but will die down over time. Social media sites can achieve effective viral marketing by a number of techniques. Some of them are illustrated here: - Emotional Connection – if the recipient feels some strong emotional reaction, they will spread on the message along with their own opinion
- Arrest attention of the viewer or recipient by delivering something unexpected
- It’s all about the story – viral marketing requires a good story and not hackneyed promotion through social media websites
- Make a sequel – if your campaign achieved success, you can expect the attention of the recipients when you make a sequel
- Improve your campaign by permitting the sharing, downloading and embedding content – as viral marketing is based on reaching the maximum number of recipients your content should be readily accessible, easy to share etc.
- Allow your recipients freedom to comment and show their emotion, excitement etc.
- For viral marketing to be effective it has to be free, never restrict access!
Mark is an expert on viral marketing through social media sites with years of experience under his belt. He has authored several popular articles on the subject and helped his readers gain invaluable insight into the digital marketing world.
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