What is Viral Marketing?
Viral marketing is word of mouth modernized. Information that use to be shared over the fence with a neighbor or when hanging out at the neighborhood barbershop in the past is now passed along using the Internet.
When one person gets a virus, they can spread that virus to everyone that they come in contact with. In turn, each of those who become infected will also spread it to everyone that they come in contact with. This can go on indefinitely. Viral marketing is getting one person to share information or a website with everyone that they come in contact with and those people doing the same.
Viral marketing can include the following:
• Buzz marketing – some of the websites that are well known for creating a “buzz” include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and Digg.
• Business social media marketing – some sites are specifically target businesses like Linkedln, Yelp, and Merchant Circle
.
• Guerilla and stealth marketing – while competitors stay on the radar on the Internet, guerilla and stealth marketing takes a website under the radar and connects a website directly to a targeted audience.
• Word of Mouth – is still effective today. It can be by voice in person, on the phone, or over the Internet. Text messages, email, and other forms of Internet communication are also included.
• Viral SEO marketing – is when a website is optimized for search engines and search engine rankings are high. Customized campaigns can maximize the results.
Viral marketing is cost effective and an economical alternative to radio, print, and TV marketing. Viral marketing often can have better results than other forms of marketing. Traditional advertising is recognized immediately for what it is…biased information intended to affect our purchasing to affect our opinion. With viral marketing, barriers are lowered because the information is received from someone familiar. The receiver is much more open to receiving the information. Viruses are spread by contact with familiar people and things; the same is true of viral marketing. It is has become an effective form of marketing.
Karma Snack has experience in successful viral marketing and uses it with other marketing strategies to successfully market websites.
