Wednesday, January 18, 2012

To Spread Your Business Message, Go Viral

Viral marketing is an idea that spreads online and at the same time helps to market the cause or business. If a large number of people forward the information to many of their friends, the message spreads to many people very quickly. There are two types of viral marketing and work at home business owners can incorporate one or both into their marketing campaign.

In the first type, the marketing itself is the product or service, as with YouTube. As more people use the product or service, more people see it. Those people then begin using it, improving the item. The second type is a promotional campaign that spreads but is not the service or product. An email that takes a stand regarding an issue falls into this category.

Just because an item goes viral does not mean that viral marketing took place. The information must market the business in a way that is tangible and useful to the population. Building the viral aspect into the product is the easiest way to do viral marketing. Develop a product or service that was designed to spread, achieve that goal, and you are set.

A planned, organized approach is necessary when engaging in viral marketing. Both the business and the customer must benefit when the item spreads. The viral element must create something of value, not merely serve as entertainment. Going viral is not the difficult part- creating value is. To this end, good content is important, as is being authentic and unique.

When business owners engage in a viral marketing campaign, they must keep things current. Viral marketing is so effective because it taps into existing social and professional networks. For it to continue doing so, the message must be interesting and up-to-date. Otherwise, the campaign will fail before it spreads wide enough to positively affect the business.


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