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Viral marketing
Viral marketing can be a very cost effective way to reach many people with your product or service.
It is the process of the general public marketing a product for you by telling friends or colleagues, as they feel it has a benefit to the person or people they forward the idea onto. It is 'word of mouth' marketing.
Viral marketing is closely linked with the internet as messages can be passed easily between a large number of friends easily, and forwarded on further. Consider how many emails you've been sent from friends with entertaining clips, or a special internet offer. A lot of these emails will be the result of a targeted viral marketing campaign.
Routes or sources of viral marketing
- Video websites (YouTube etc.)
- Blogs
- Social media sites:
- Networking
- Profiles
- Link sites
Trust Building
Trust is one of the main benefits of viral marketing, because if you receive an email from a friend, you are more inclined to take notice. In a world where consumers are more marketing savvy, and trust may be in short supply, it can be a very effective tool in building trust.
Whilst it may seem that viral marketing is random in its targeting, and in some senses is true as you can't have complete control over who sees the offer, the campaign won't work unless the correct people are targeted to forward on the offer. The seeds need to be planted in the right place. Also, the offer itself must be beneficial for the target audience, or again it won't get forwarded on.
Viral marketing can be used for new businesses looking to promote their services, or for more established companies looking to improve their profile; and for both should always be engaging and beneficial for the target market.