We, homo sapience, could never live tranquilly since the very start of our species. Various natural disasters and catastrophes always lay in wait for us. We, poor and so vulnerable humans, have always suffered from viruses and diseases. Hardly did we manage to overcome one illness when the next coil of history came along with the new disease.
Every age has had its lash. And if plague, pneumonia, cholera and malaria belonged to the horrors of the Middle Ages, and cancer and AIDS became the horrors of the New Age, the Digital Age brought an infinite quantity of viruses not harmful for the people themselves, but striking their pockets.
We all unconsciously become the victims of various marketing viruses when surfing the net. With every other click of the mouse a bunch of them attacks us as hungry predators. Most of them irritate us, but others evoke the interest and even sometimes make us part with some dollars.
This post is for those who want to tame the marketing virus and make it work for them. Do not think that it is easy! The competition is great and every day thousands of new viruses are launched and almost the equal number fails. Here is some advice on how not to be a loser in viral marketing.
Make Your Virus Unique
Viral marketing has tons of synonyms: “word-of-mouth”, “network”, “creating a buzz” marketing and many others. But they all mean the same scheme of advertising and promoting the goods and services through their customers. The success of this strategy is in motivating people to pass the information about the product. The results of a cleverly designed viral marketing scheme can be amazing, as the number of the “struck” people will not just increase it will explode!
As the competition grows the creators of the new marketing viruses need to be shrewd and creative. So what can you do to avoid cliches and hackneyed spamming of innocent people? What is it to be unique? Be different! Use bright, creative content. Mind that for your virus to spread, people need to want to pass it to their friends. Insert jokes, videos and images – they will attract people’s attention greatly.
Make Your Virus Tempting
Probably the surest way to make people motivated is to offer them something. Do not be greedy! If you cannot afford giving away free goods and services at least make discounts and interesting offers. The word “free” is an extremely powerful incentive! The human nature prompts people to go and look what it is that is given away even if they actually do not need it.
To promote an active spreading of your virus you may launch the following formulas: “E-mail this message to your friend and you will get…”, “Subscribe your friend and become eligible for…” and so on. And of course your presents, free goods and services need to be useful or entertaining. Never write “free” or “special offer” just to attract attention. Be honest! People will not forward your virus if they are fooled.
Make Your Virus Easily Transmitted
Any disease will spread only in favorable conditions and if the way of its transmission is easy.
The easier the virus is transmitted, the more people will get infected; the more people will get infected the longer the virus will live.
If you want the people to do the work and spread your marketing virus, make it effortless for them. The Digital age made replicating easy. Use the scheme of paste and copy. Make your marketing message easy to multiply: links, tags, e-mails, software download etc. Of course the best solution is to make the spreading of your virus unconscious. Just like with Hotmail: every message contains a short linked invitation to get a free e-mail address. The simpler the better!
Make Your Virus Personal
Marketing viruses along with any other virus strikes the friends and associates of the infected person firstly. A cleverly built promotion scheme will use it to find an individual approach to every customer. People do not like to be spammed with usual and same for everybody stuff. Make your marketing message personal and friendly. The pattern “come and see…” if compared to the pattern “hello Ann, John invites you…” looses unmercifully.
Be psychologists, use universal human feelings and weaknesses. The buttons that will always work are greed, vanity and desire to be loved and understood.
Collaborate
The effectiveness of your marketing campaign will increase drastically if you place your links, content, images or ads on other popular and frequently visited sites and sources. Look for affiliated themes and websites that will be ready to collaborate. Place your marketing virus there and be sure that you will get an excellent network of people interested in your product and actively passing your virus forward.
And remember that sometimes unpredictable reactions of people may occur and even a perfectly designed marketing campaign may suddenly lose its relevance. So control the process and analyze the progress of your virus carefully!
| Name | Hotmail | Methods | Area Covered |
| Hotmail | 230 million | Free service Pass-along messaging | 55% of users are not English speaking |
| ICQ | 18 million | 1st and unique service on the market free download |
60% of users are not English speaking |
| Amazon | 10 million | Personal approach Free shipment of the orders from $25 |
10% of users are not English speaking |
Images by Reciprocity and Camilla E