Patric Chan's Official Blog

You would have seen a lot of movies about some deadly virus that easily spreads and affects the people.

In your everyday life, you would not want to be near a person with the flu who might give you his or her virus.

When it comes to computers, you would not want your laptop, desktop or pocket computer to have a virus that is why you install firewalls and antivirus software to prevent it.

The opposite is true when it comes to ‘viral marketing’. This is a phrase coined by Hotmail which is under Microsoft, to literally spread the word — like the spreading of a virus – about their product.

This is a new, cheap yet effective way to advertise a company.

Microsoft introduced Hotmail, which was their newly-launched e-mail service, by putting a ‘teaser’ at the end of user’s e-mail messages.

Thus, information about their new e-mail service immediately spread like virus.

Viral marketing uses techniques to advertise a company’s products and services in such a way that word about it spreads like wildfire.

Viral marketing mainly uses the Internet as the medium for marketing. The Internet is a worldwide advertising medium, which is very fast, cheap and efficient.

Thus, it can reach a wide number of people in just a matter of seconds. Viral marketing uses this characteristic to a company’s advantage.

‘Viral Marketing Methods’

Take a look at the following methods used in viral marketing:

1.Web-based advertising campaigns

This may be in the form of a new web site which aims to spread the word about a new product or service.

2. Brand awareness

Companies use attention-grabbing e-mail messages with video, games, photo or plain text attachments.

E-mail messages which are humorous, unusual and interesting are readily forwarded to several e-mail addresses.

Thus, brand awareness is easily and rapidly developed. With this method, a company introducing a new brand can immediately create a solid customer base.

3. Refer-a-friend

You will notice that web sites have links convincing customers to forward a link or an article to a friend’s e-mail address.

This would increase customer awareness about a company’s service or product. A marketing strategy like this will keep a lot of customers interested.

4. Electronic gift certificates or gift wraps

This is the ‘arsenal’ of popular web sites like Amazon.com. Freebies, discounts and gift certificates that may be forwarded to a friend via e-mail can easily spread through the Internet.

This is one viral marketing method which gives quick results through low-cost advertising.

Nobody can resist taking advantage of such discounts so if you offer something like this as an incentive, then word about your company will surely spread to increase sales.

5.Personalized e-mail messages.

A person who regularly checks his or her e-mail might ignore an impersonal, random mail. But if you personalize a random e-mail by getting the name, birthday, gender and some other pertinent information, then it will give a more person-to-person feel and make a good statement to the customer.

6. Customer service reviews and surveys

Getting customer feedback about the products and services that you offer is also one good way of advertising your company. This would give the customers an impression that you care enough about their opinion, and it will give them an outlet to provide positive or negative feedback about your company.

‘The Advantages and Disadvantages of Viral Marketing’

Below are the advantages of viral marketing:

-The marketing campaign is easier to implement because of the quickness and accessibility of the Internet, which is the medium for viral marketing.

-It can target a specific age group, social class or gender as the market.

-You can easily build a huge customer list at a very low advertising cost.

However, one disadvantage is that the e-mail messages used for a particular brand awareness campaign may look like spam or junk mail, decreasing its effectiveness.

The key here is to find ways to counter this ill effect.

‘How to Spread the “Virus” about your Company”

If you want to use viral marketing to advertise your company and spread instant word about the products and services that you offer, here are some tips to remember:

1. If the content of the e-mail is a video or a large-sized file, then it may not be sent to the target recipient.

2. Use a format that is common to everybody so that the message will be opened and viewed.

3. If possible, do not send the main message as an attachment, instead send it as a part of the e-mail message itself.

You should receive a positive response from consumers if you know how to use viral marketing to your advantage.

This marketing method keep your advertising costs down, yet deliver fast, accurate and positive results that will benefit both your company and your customers.