According to wikipedia.org Viral Marketing "refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness."
Today my wife Ashley used her blog to became a part of the Viral Marketing movement. I am a supporter of Viral Marketing, if it is done right. For Viral Marketing to be successful a few things have to happen:
- The message bearer (Ashley in this example) has to be credible. Don't confuse the source of the message with the source of the product. The source of the product is always in it for the money. In this case I happen to know for a fact that the message bearer (Ashley) and the product itself (necklace) are both legitimate and credible. I've seen them both in action.
- The message bearer must have a collective formidable social network. Some people I know (I.e. Ashley) have dozens, even hundreds of people that visit their blogs each day. Lots of readers means lots of marketing power. I on the other hand have 3 regular readers. I would not be an effective tool in a Viral Marketing campaign. However, if someone wants to highlight a set of golf clubs on my blog and host a free give-away I accept.
- The messenger has to maintain integrity. Credible messengers can often "sell out" if they allow themselves to be lured by the perks of Viral Marketing. I was proud of Ashley when she decided to purchase the necklace (instead of receive it as a free gift), which means she received no compensation for participating in this particular Viral Marketing campaign. Very noble, but not very smart. You could have had a free necklace Ashley! I am not so principled. If someone wants to showcase their golf clubs on my blog, I will gladly accept a free set of clubs for the service.
- The item or campaign should be interesting. Many of you are familiar with jokes that get forwarded from one person to the next. The better the jokes, the more people it will get forwarded to. Don't be fooled. Every forwarded story, joke or anecdote you receive is part of a Viral Marketing campaign. Next time scroll down to the bottom to see what you are sponsoring when you hit the forward button.
To sum it up, I am a fan of creative marketing and admire people that do so effectively. Who knows, maybe some day I'll have enough readers to participate in a lucrative Viral Marketing campaign myself.
9 comments:
You sound like you know what you are talking about!
After some prayer and fasting, I have decided I'm willing to do a volume replicator giveaway on my blog. Have your people contact my people.
hey tyler--it's Darcie, your long lost BYU friend. I came across your blog in a time of not being able to sleep. Perhaps I need more a life if I found your blog about 5 blogs removed from mine. Anyway, great posts. Loved the picture of your cute wife asleep with Charlie. Two beauties.
You just made my day. As of late, I've only had two viewers: my wife Ashley and my sister Molly. I guess that's what I get for only posting once a month. Nice to hear from you. Feel free to pop in from time to time. My blog could use the traffic : )
Hey, it's Darcie! You're so popular now, Tyler. Not to mention you sound super smart in this blog. I would promote very nice road bikes on my site if they would give me a free one. Too bad not enough people read my blog to make it worth any company's money...
the things you learn at Business School
dude, get a sitemeter. Then you won't have to languish under the false impression you only have 3 regular readers.
(lurker coming out of lurkdom here)
Yeah, you are totally popular. Check it out--8 comments!
Okay, okay. But I'm just doing this for my readers : )
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