Viral Marketing

Online Viral Marketing

The most successful viral marketing campaigns leverage technology to the hilt. And in today's world, that means squeezing every last ounce of potential out of your online assets. We'll tell you everything you need to know about effective online viral marketing.

Everyone who is anyone is online. Okay, maybe that's not entirely true.

But the vast majority of your current and prospective customers participate in an assortment of online activities everyday. So if you want your viral marketing efforts to have any chance of success, you'll need to be intentional about promoting your viral content through multiple online platforms.

Online communication channels are perfect vehicles for viral messaging. For starters, consumers gather online, making it easy to identify customer clusters. But even more importantly, online resources let consumers pass content along to their friends and acquaintances. A few mouse clicks is all that's required for them to share your message with their online network.

One of the keys to successful online viral marketing is to identify the types of online resources that are commonly used by your target audience. Although most people participate in a range of online activities, you'll need to select vehicles that are the best fit with your market and your concept. Here are some of the online viral marketing options at your disposal.

• Email. There are multiple ways you can use emails to promote a viral campaign. From "please forward" strategies to simple taglines, emails can cascade into a viral movement. And the best part is that since the content is being sent from an acquaintance, your message piggyback's on their credibility.
• Blogs. Blogs are gaining influence as a marketing resource for businesses. They can also be utilized as a vehicle for viral marketing if they are coordinated and executed in a way that gives readers a reason for continuing to visit your website. RSS feeds help, but the viral impact of your blog will ultimately be determined by the content and quality of your storylines.
• YouTube. Online video has huge viral marketing potential. Many companies now complement their TV ads with additional video content on YouTube and other channels. This gives them the ability to generate buzz with longer videos and links to other online viral content.
• Social networking. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the big three social networking sites to include in your viral marketing strategy. But you should also be aware of the trend toward Foursquare and other location-based social networking sites.
• Multi-channel campaigns. You'll get the most impact from your online viral marketing efforts when you employ a multichannel approach. Instead of relying on a single online source, integrate several online resources into your viral marketing campaigns.

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