Latest News > September 2007

Can viral marketing boost your business?
By CHITS UK

Viral marketing sounds like something that people should inoculate against, but in reality, more and more businesses are embracing it. In fact, research by eMarketer shows that the viral marketing trend is expected to grow steadily through at least the year 2011. So, what is it, and how can your business put it to work for you?

Why So Many Companies are Turning to Viral Ads

Simply put, viral marketing is an advertising method that spreads naturally and of its own accord. Word-of-mouth is one of the oldest and most reliable forms of viral marketing. For centuries, businesses have courted referrals from satisfied customers, knowing what a powerful influence those referrals have on the success of their marketing campaigns. After all, which are you more likely to trust, a newspaper ad for a new restaurant or a rave review from a trusted friend?

The online advertising arena is an especially good breeding ground for viral marketing. Internet technology makes it simple to tell friends about great products and services by sending links, forwarding email newsletters, or filling out forms that are pre-generated by companies.

Viral marketing online takes a number of different forms beyond simple referrals, such as the following:

* Article marketing, where different websites and newsletters pick up your writing and publish it across the Internet, this is a very powerful form of viral advertising.
* Free email providers, such as Yahoo and Hotmail, engage in viral advertising by appending links to their services to each email their users send.
* Companies use content sharing sites such as YouTube for viral advertising by creating and uploading funny media clips which viewers enjoy and send to their friends.

There are four main reasons why viral marketing is so popular among online businesses:

1. Extensive Reach.

Viral ads can spread into areas which paid marketing cannot reach. For example, although it may be impossible to buy an ad in a particular newsletter list, it may be possible to get an honourable mention or full-blown recommendation as a result of a funny, clever or puzzling video, quiz or forum thread. Similarly, your article may be published on websites and newsletters that do not accept online advertisers.

2. Low Cost. Usually,

it costs little to nothing to get a viral marketing campaign underway. You will have to create humorous, unique, and creative content to encourage people to forward it to others, but you won’t be paying per click or per impression for your traffic.

3. Increased Trustworthiness.

Many types of viral ads, such as personal referrals, carry far more weight with potential customers than simple paid ads ever could. The traffic that is generated is therefore far more valuable to your company.

4. Focused Targeting.

If your viral media campaign is targeted to a specific consumer group, by featuring content that is relevant and attractive to that demographic, the likelihood is that it will get passed on to other people of the same grouping.

Using viral marketing is one of the best ways to reach the most people at the lowest cost and highest conversion rate. Don’t overlook this powerful tool in your own marketing campaigns. If you would like a no-obligation consultation to explore how a viral marketing campaign could work for your business, please call 02082382401 or send us an enquiry.

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