What is Viral Marketing?

Viral marketing is Internet word-of-mouth advertising, and, as you know, word-of-mouth advertising is the most powerful method of advertising there is.

Viral marketing occurs in many forms including articles, videos, reports, white papers, text messages and even tweets.

Word-of-Mouth Advertising

We all have recommended products and services we liked or were satisfied with to family, friends and acquaintances, and we know how powerful and persuasive favorable movie reviews and restaurant reviews can be. Well, social media has made word-of-mouth advertising even more potent.

Opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising with 70 percent trusting consumer opinions posted online, according to the latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries. Those numbers simply cannot and should not be ignored.

How to Implement a Viral Marketing Strategy

In order for something to become viral it has to be something that can easily be sent to others with little effort. It should also be something that “stands out” from the rest of the content on the Internet. Finally, it should have some sort of perceived value – not necessarily a monetary value but it should have some sort of educational or entertainment value.

The following are effective viral marketing techniques that should be part of your overall marketing strategy:

1. Videos. Upload an interesting, educational and/or entertaining video to YouTube that captures the imagination of viewers.
2. Social Media.. Simply put, social media marketing, if executed properly, can put your viral marketing efforts on steroids!
3. Article & Press Release Marketing. If you write articles or press releases it is not out of the realm of possibility that one or more could go viral – provided, of course, they are well-written, interesting, educational and/or entertaining, and provide good value.
   If you do not write well, or do not enjoy writing, IQnection can write articles and press releases for you at a reasonable cost.
4. Tweet Button. The Tweet Button is pretty much everywhere these days. This useful widget allows users to post a tweet to their Twitter profile from any website. Tweets posted using the Tweet Button are pre-populated with a shortened link to the webpage from which the message was sent (for example, your website). Users have the option of customizing the tweet’s content before posting it. This is an excellent way to give visitors to your site the ability to spread your content via Twitter.
5. Share Widget. Share widgets give your visitors the ability to easily share and bookmark your website through popular social network websites.
6. Newsletters. Newsletters are not only an excellent way to keep the name of your business in front your subscribers, but they also have excellent viral potential. To take full advantage of this potential, at the end of your newsletter, always encourage readers to pass your newsletter along to others. You would be surprised how many actually will – if you simply prompt them to do so.

Excerpts from David Jackson free-marketing-tips-blog.com