Viruses are known as filterable particles that infect cells and cause disease by subverting the cellular metabolism to their own needs for growth. The infected cell is often killed in the process. With all these things in mind, the term “virus” has gained an ultimate negative impact in the society.

However, since the inception of information technology, the “virus” had transformed into a more desirable concept. This is because by the time Steve Jurvetson established the founding principles of viral marketing in order to explain the “infectious” way of Hotmail in propagating recognition and awareness, people are already waiting for the possible effects of getting the virus” or viral information.

Viral marketing, as its name suggests, use the concept of the virus, as the information is being transmitted from one person to another. This is based on the premise that if a person finds a particular item as beneficial, chances are, he will refer it to his friends or relatives.

In fact, surveys say that with viral marketing, every person who has read a particular information would most likely pass it to 12 people who could be either his friends, relatives, or acquaintances. The pattern will go on until everybody is infected.

The common form of viral marketing is through the “word-of-mouth.” This is when the promotion of an item is transmitted from one person to another using testimonials and assurances that the primary person had been satisfied with the product that is why he is recommending it to other people.

Hence, the more people are infected with the viral information, the more chances for the marketer to boost his sales.

Therefore, for the marketers who are not yet aware of the benefits that they can derive just by using this strategy, here is a list of some examples of viral marketing and see for yourself how effective this strategy can be:

1. Hotmail

This is the ultimate and the primary example of viral marketing. Established by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith in 1995, Hotmail is a pioneer form of viral marketing. This is because people who get to send emails to their friends using the free email service of Hotmail, the email robotically includes an ad for the free Hotmail services.

Because it is free, most people find it easier to distribute Hotmail to their friends and relatives. In addition, it was during that time when people are so eager to have their own emails without having to spend even a single cent. Hence, the kind of information that was set up in the email is being passed along easily from one person to another.

In this way, viral marketing was able to promote the services of Hotmail through the people who have already experienced the benefits of this first free email service.

Hence, as the email containing the free services of Hotmail spreads like a virus that infects any one who receives it, an epidemic occurs. There is no way that the Hotmail phenomenon can be stopped. It is like being infected with the virus and that there is no simple cure for it.

2. Gmail

As a great successor of Hotmail, though it does not mean that they came from the same company that established hotmail, Gmail is considered to be the next best things since the inception of emails.

Basically, Gmail is a complimentary webmail service produced by Google, where people cannot simply acquire one email service if they will not be invited by those who already have one. This is because Gmail is still on its beta testing. Hence, people can only access the site once he or she receives and invitation to join.

As each member tries to invite other people to try Gmail, the level of awareness of the program continues to grow.

With all the benefits that each user experiences upon accessing the Gmail service, he or she voluntarily suggests the site to his or her friends. It is on this context that the awareness for Gmail need not employ costly advertisements and promotions because people who are satisfied with the program are the ones who testify and promote it to others.

This is where the viral process begins. As invitations to join Gmail continuously grow, more and more people are getting the chance to test Gmail. Hence, the popularity of this service reached the peak of success based on the people’s assessment, evaluation, and recommendation.

With these two great examples of viral marketing, it can be well noted that the word “free” is definitely a prevailing word in the Internet. Therefore,, it goes to show that as long as the item or the “virus” is free and it has things that are worth distributing, the epidemic is definitely inevitable.

Indeed, with viral marketing, marketers really do not have to spend more on promotions and advertisements. And just like the real virus, the severity of the initial infection caused by viral marketing tends to increase with increasing number of people partake in the process.

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