Viral marketing
Viral marketing is a web- and e-mail-based marketing initiative that encourages people to pass along a message. Viral marketing has the potential to spread your message quickly.
For example, suppose you send an e-mail to 10 people and each of them forwards that message to 10 other people. The message you originally sent to 10 people has now reached 100 people. This equation can continue, enabling you to reach more and more people through e-mail forwards though your initial contact was only 10 emails.
Since it has the potential to spread quickly and cost-effectively, viral marketing can reach more people than traditional marketing. In many ways, viral marketing is similar to word-of-mouth because the each e-mail recipient makes the decision to forward an e-mail, making that forward like a personal endorsement.
One example of a successful viral marketing campaign is hotmail.com. MSN offers hotmail as a free service, and at the bottom of each hotmail message sent includes a single line promotion, “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com.” As subscribers email friends and colleagues, hotmail.com’s message spreads. This viral marketing campaign has resulted in what is currently more than 65 million people who choose to use hotmail.
Another way to conduct a viral marketing campaign is to place a “Tell a friend” button on your website. “Tell a friend” buttons are a way for someone accessing your website to pass on your web link, an article, or any other item on your website to someone else. Usually when you click a “Tell a friend” link, you can input a friend’s e-mail address who will then receive an e-mail message with a web link of the page or site you are recommending.
There are several suggestions for conducting successful viral marketing:
1. Offer a “free” product or service as an incentive to take action. To take advantage of this offer, request that people subscribe to your organization by providing their name and e-mail address. With their name added to your
listserv, you will be able to contact them with information about your organization, project, coalition, or initiative.
2. Make it easy for people to spread your message by including a “Tell a friend” button on your website or by encouraging people to forward e-mails to anyone who might be interested in the information or in learning more. Remember, keep your message concise to increase the odds of it being read and forwarded.
3. Be prepared to handle varying amounts of responses. If you offer a free service or product as a promotion, make sure you can fill requests.
4. Use human motivations and emotions effectively. Remember that people want to help worthy causes because it makes them feel good about themselves. This is an important element to remember when considering a viral marketing strategy. Make sure the language you use evokes the human emotions that are common to your target audience, but also inspires them to action.
5. Partner with outside resources by hosting articles and links on your website. In addition, remember to issue press releases and PSAs that highlight new information on your website.