Definition / Objective

What is viral marketing




Viral marketing harnesses the network effect of the Internet and can be effective in reaching a large number of people rapidly as a marketing message is rapidly transmitted in the same way as a natural virus or a computer virus. It is effectively an online form of word-of-mouth communications which is sometimes also known as " buss marketing". The two main forms of online viral marketing are through passalong-emails or discussions within social networks. When planning integrated campaigns, it is important to note that the online viral affect can be amplified through offline media mentions or advertising either on TV and radio or in print.(Chaffey, 2009, p. 556)

The main purpose of viral marketing is to generate brand awareness and to leave consumers with a lasting impression of the brand.(Toth, 2006)


References

Dave Chaffey (2009). Internet Marketing Strategy, Implementation and Practice, Fourth Edition, 556. England: Prentice Hall


Toth, D. (2006, September 11). Viral marketing: The cure for the common marketing campaign? Market Strategy, 45 (37), 7. Retrieved March 21, 2007, from ProQuest database



What is Viral Marketing?













Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions.


Online, word of mouth can take on a life of its own. Social media, including blogs, videos, social networking and social bookmarking can tap into a massive user base unrivaled in the traditional marketing models. But it’s a thin line to walk when embarking on an online campaign, and the sales pitch has to take a back seat to the quality of the content to truly be effective. When word of mouth really builds steam and spreads across the net from user to user, and the content is created to specifically do that, it’s called viral marketing. The comparison to how a virus spreads throughout the body is often made, and if done correctly, this form of marketing can have a tremendous impact on the bottom line.



A Defination of Viral Marketing
Viral Markeing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in th message exposure and influence. Exponential growth and the pass-on a marketing message to other ( rather than making a product recommendation) are the key factors in viral marketing.

It is a integrated approach which is used to improve brand advocacy and increase mass-market brand awareness. It can achieve those objectives very cost-effectively, even if your brand, product, or service has no standout, buzzworthy charactistic.

Source: http://www.download-it.org/free_files/filePages%20from%20Chapter%206%20%20Viral%20marketing.pdf




Definiton of Viral marketing

Do you know the definition of viral marketing? If you are unclear, now is the time to pay attention, because what you don't know could be negatively affecting your business.

Cyber space is abuzz with internet viral marketing and how to boost one’s business through a viral marketing campaign. The most common and basic definition of viral marketing offered by the search engines is that it is spreading a message (much like a virus; hence the word “viral”) about one’s products or services as a way to promote them.

Word of Mouth and Internet Viral Marketing

While this “spreading the word” concept about viral marketing products and services is an important component of viral marketing, it does not fully explain this marketing phenomenon. An important link is missing there, and that is the consumers and how their personal opinions about one’s promotional messages or goods can make or break the marketer’s efforts to go viral.

The most important question that viral marketers must ask themselves when crafting a viral marketing campaign, therefore, is what’s in it for the consumers. Why should people even bother to spread their message to others?

The Definition of Viral Marketing Uncovered

Catching the kind of “virus” that is worth infecting others with is crucial because consumers can always decide to just keep it to themselves much like someone with a flu would shun human contact for days.

Another important element of viral marketing—it’s the most important, actually; it’s why marketers are going ga-ga over viral marketing!—is that the message must bring about the ultimate desired effect: increase in sales through brand awareness. And one of the most popular ways of spreading this message is through starting an ezine and viral email marketing.

http://www.manifest-passive-income.com/definitionofviralmarketing.html

Definition of Viral Marketing ( from Wikipedia)

The buzzwords viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.[1] Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages.

The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high Social Networking Potential (SNP) and create viral messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being taken by another competitor.

The term "viral marketing" has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on-line combined with undermarket advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.

acknowledge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing