Viral Marketing - what is it?

Viral marketing as a term hardly conjures up wonderful images of success and grandeur and yet done properly and effectively it can be one of the most powerful forms of online marketing your business or website can enjoy.

In the case of viral marketing, the word viral refers to the fact that your marketing message is spread exponentially from one person to another and so on. Instead of you having to do the hard work in getting the message out to every potential customer you rely on your website visitors, your potential customers, and your converted customers to do the hard work for you.

The principle of viral marketing is that you create or do something that creates a buzz or causes a ripple. As people hear about that buzz they will be inclined to pass the message on for you. As they spread your details to others, so these new recipients also spread the word further. Your target customers soon become your marketers and they continue to spread the ripple of your marketing.

There are several ways of embarking on a viral marketing campaign. One of the most common and most effective is to give something of value away completely free. To the business owner, this concept initially sounds ludicrous but it gives you the opportunity to spread your own attention grabbing virus.

If you sell software, give some of it away for free. Ensure that it is an effortless or nearly effortless step to pass the product or other information on. The more effort required, the less likely people will be to engage in the action.

The product must be branded well. In the case of free software, use your logo, add links, and include helpful hints and tips for the application’s use on your website and then link to them from the main application. As people download and use the software they also become more and more aware of you and your website and they will be more inclined to visit your site and refer your application to others.

Viral marketing, or buzz marketing, can generate almost unbelievable results when done well. Put some real effort into it and you could see that effort repaid many times over.