Viral Marketing...what does it mean?

phantomindeea

So, I have noticed that my voicemail provider gotvmail has gotten a lot of blog time lately off these videos with Gary Busey: http://www.youtube.com/user/garybuseyonbusiness
They`re actually pretty funny if you haven`t seen them. But, I`m on the fence as to whether or not I`d use this kind of marketing in my own business. It works for gotvmail because their service is something that you don`t necessarily equate with business sense (although the company itself seems to have a lot of it) -- in other words, I wouldn`t trust Gary Busey to be the spokesperson for a law firm, or even a bank...that would probably be a disaster. To put it in a different way, the videos are funny but give me more of a "my god why did they pay this guy at all" kind of feeling, which may or may not always be appropriate for a business.
Is ANY viral good viral?phantomindeea7/23/2008 12:54 PM

arstringfellow

I think some viral is definitely good viral.  Depending on the type of business you have, the "cheesy-video" types might not be a great idea, but look at VistaPrint - their free 500 business card deal was a viral marketing ploy, and it was very successful.  I think the definition of viral is something so irresistible that people spread it around to everyone they know, and so on, and so on.  So any really, really good offer could really become viral.  I actually think that the president of Vista Print gave a presentation on it somewhere, but I can`t recall where I read about that.

DaleKing

"viral marketin" is essentially just another term for "word-of-mouth." That type of advertising isn`t controlled or managed, for the most part, and can either make or break a business.
 
 
 
I couldn`t disagree more! Viral marketing can be both managed and controlled - at least to a point. How do you think Barack Obama made it this far? Millions of Obamaniacs virally passed along his message of "hope and change," and the rest as they say is history. But it all started with a brilliantly conceived message. That aspect can be both controlled and managed.
 
Dale King

stonesledge

It is very much about the message.. it has to be felt...even if a giveaway.. an emotional pelt.. whatever..it has to connect with a large audience.

AaronS

I actually was contacted on my personal marketing blog by someone from GotVMail who asked me to check out one of their videos. The videos are a pretty decent exercise for increasing brand awareness which is important given that GotVMail is in an emerging market that most consumers don`t understand.

WebsitesUnleashed

I think people are confusing the two major definitions/connotations of Viral Marketing. Let me define what I would generalize as the two major but separate terms we think about when people say `Viral Marketing`:Traditional Viral Marketing: Some message or offer that is intentionally spread by it`s current consumers to increase the wealth of their friends. This is something as simple as the 500 free Something or SignUp Contest where the person who refers/signs up the most friends wins something big. The success of these `campaigns` are determined by the creativity and execution of the offer/campaign. I recall reading that Myspace was started by the `traditional viral marketing` of a signup contest within the company; and it generated thousands of new users.Modern Viral Marketing: Some message or value that is in most cases fabricated for the specific use of subconsciously promoting another business, brand or product. For example, the recent "Bush or Batman" video has been claimed to be viral marketing by some on the internet. While I don`t care about looking into the fact of who intentionally made the video, it still brings value in the form of `entertainment` to over 100k people and subconsciously promotes the Batman movie. This is still viral marketing because it`s being spread intentionally (like a virus), but the basis has changed from direct promotion to indirect promotion of a product or company. This is the modern version because it gained popularity through the low cost distribution of the Internet medium. Once YouTube hit it big, anyone could launch a Modern Viral Marketing campaign for free. Therefore, the cost of indirect campaigns decreased to the point which it`s more profitable to focus on alternative value (such as entertainment) than direct value such as Traditional Viral Campaigns such as Free Business Cards.
I hope that clarifies the topic for some people. As for the decision of whether or not either method is appropriate for an individual business, I would argue any attention is good attention; given the probability of `backfire` is constant. However, it is the conscious understanding of what you are developing that affects the probability of backfire.
Layman terms: Don`t attempt to dominate in something (modern viral marketing) if you don`t understand that niche.
This is why you can see larger companies now hiring firms to develop their viral marketing, because if the original company tried it themselves, they would have the higher chance of backfire or downright failure.WebsitesUnleashed7/29/2008 9:26 PM

ATapia

I got a great business to start a viral marketing program ! viral marketing is a result of something 90% of the times out of the ordinary !  usually related to :
1.-the taboo
2.-the unsual
3.-the outrageous
4.-the hilarious
5.-the remarkable
6.-the secrets
 
Usually by touching those subjects it creates enough interest in the person to spread it out
 
visit www.usamobileclub.com
 
Abraham Tapia
Co-Founder
817-449-5003