Viral marketing is the use of social networks for advertising purposes. It is most often mentioned and recognized as word-of-mouth advertising. The characteristics of viral marketing are not hard to spot at all. When something is being spread virally, it spreads very, very quickly. And today, with the Internet at its prime, viral marketing is an even more effective tool. News sometimes even break faster on the Internet than it does on the TV!
Why is viral marketing so attractive to the small guys as well as the big companies? For one, it takes little to no money to execute a viral marketing campaign. The techniques that are used can be applied and adaptable to almost any business plan – online or offline.
Tell a Friend
This method prompts and encourages people to pass whatever the message is along. Chain letters are a good example. In addition, the “tell-a-friend” or “send-to-friend” boxes that are also common on many websites today. Friends tell friends cool things that they come across which makes this method so effective.
Referrals
Whenever someone tells their friend or family about your product or service - they are given a reward for it. Following that, the person that they tell about it must take action in order for this to be effective.
Publicity Stunt
This is designed to create controversy. It gets people to start talking about the issue. This can usually either go really smooth or extremely bad, backfiring on its original purpose.
Social Networking Websites
These are websites that allows users to share information and interests with each other. For example: Digg.com users share news that they find interesting; MySpace.com users share their favorite music and interests; YouTube.com users share their favorite videos; and del.icio.us users share their favorite bookmarked websites. Those are just a few examples of how viral marketing works in an online environment.
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