Viral Marketing 100 Success Secrets: Secret Strategies, Buzz Marketing and

Interactive Marketing Tips and Tricks - 100 Simple Online Campaign Principles

Kevin Allen

Published by Emereo Publishing

Publish date: May 2009

p. 9

Viral marketing for a B2B entity is a very common practice in the Internet

world. In fact, many of the successful B2B entities became what they are right

now because of the impact that viral marketing hasdone for them. You may

find it difficult to believe this, but, yes, they owe what they are right now

because of this genius concept of viralmarketing.

p. 15 One of the more popularly becoming form of internetmarketing is the

viral advertising or Virus marketing. Viral marketingis a marketing strategy that

is incredibly practical because of the natureof it being free of charge in

advertising.

p.18 Multi-level marketing is a marketing process that allowsmarketers earn

and gain income via advertising a product with thenetwork that they have.

These networks of marketers expand as thecircle of connection grows. This

means that you give your friends theopportunity to earn by allowing them to

market the product with theirown sets of friends and so on. This multi-level

marketing method is being used as a marketing strategy by some of the more

establishedcosmetics and beauty products like Avon and Mary Kay beauty and

cosmetics companies.

The multi-level marketing is a viral marketing type thatsimilarly works like that

of the Ponzi scheme and Pyramiding Network.This marketing method works by

allowing each investor earn anincome by recruiting other investors for the

company. The initialinvestor then is the one that permits for the later investor

earn money because of the initially recruited investors earnings and

recruitment.

p. 19 In this age of digital technology where software games are virtually three-

dimensional or 3D in a more common tongue, peopleare enticed, both old and

young people, to get engage with onlinegames. Truly, one of the more

successful Internet businesses nowadaysis the manufacturer of the online

games.

p. 20 With the massive number of people who use and play theonline games

via the Internet, it is easy for them to build andstructuralize social networks

big social networks at that. Thepowerful and robust capability of these online

gamers to buildcontacts, no wonder, that they are becoming the potential

target of most internet markets as the most effective and efficient conduit

toconvey the message across the whole Internet domain.

P.25 Every Internet marketing professional should take time tostudy important

viral marketing statistics. The figures tell a lot interms of peoples behavior and

perception of advertising on theInternet. Some viral marketing statistics also

look into the browsingand communication patterns of users. Such behaviors

such as sharing websites and forwarding email messages can also be studied in

depththrough viral marketing statistics.For example, most statistical studies

show that Internet usersalmost always forward email messages that contain

humor and jokes.Laughter is a good viral material that considering that most

people find jokes to be harmless. People also tend to pass email jokes because

they think these would make their friends and associates happier. Jokes and

witty materials are also easy to share because they are usually formatted in

pure text.

p. 39 Games are good materials for viral marketing. In fact, gamescan be

considered as one of the top web content that will catch peoplesinterest. This

is especially true for online games embedded on a website. Some marketing

experts create games that can be played on thesite or can be copied so that

others can post it on blogs or other websites. This alone could start a viral

process that has the potential toreach many people.

Another technique that can be employed is allowing visitors toparticipate in

viral community games. In this method, each web visitoris given a chance to

solve a puzzle. In order to unravel the wholepuzzle, other people should be

invited to participate. In this way,people will be compelled to ask their friends

to go to the site andparticipate in the community game. This is a viral game at

work. In thelong run, lots of people will eventually visit the site and refer more

tospeed up the online puzzle game.

p.40 Some marketers can also employ email quiz competitions. Thisis

commonly practiced by social networking sites. A member couldanswer sets of

questions. If they want to know how their friends willfare at the quiz game,

they can send invitations asking them to answerthe quiz. In this way,

membership in the social networking sitemultiplies and the quiz participants

get the satisfaction of comparingscores. This is a very good technique that can

be applied to any viralmarketing campaign.

p. 59

One of the more effective viral marketing enticements is thegive-away form.

Gives-away are normally better enticements than theothers because let us

admit it; people would want to own something when they know that it is free

of charge. Gives-away products shouldnot always be deemed as something

that is tangible. They can be freeelectronic books or even free e-mail accounts.

These two free gives-away products or services are some of the more common

yet found to be effective forms of enticing and persuading other people to

believe what the carrier of the message has to say.

p. 61 Viral advertising and viral marketing are basically the same.Both terms

refer to the technique that is being used to widen theawareness of a person

regarding a certain product or service viaanother person who carries the

original message. Usually, viralmarketing employs the use of a pre-existing

network usually taking theform of social networking to make sure that

awareness and persuasionsuccessfully hit the potential client.

p. 75 The following are excellent viral marketing techniques:1. Word Of Mouth

is one of the best viral techniques. Thistechnique uses the enthusiasm of

current customers to spread the word about your business to an ever-

widening audience. Viralmarketing is marketing in the internet. A word of

Mouth can be addedto your business website by means of a Tell a Friend link

to key pagesof your website. As viewers find interest on something, they can

sharethe news to their friends via email.

p.77

Viral Video Marketing refers to video clip content that gainsexponential growth

and popularity by means of Internet sharingthrough email or instant messages,

blogs and other media sharing websites. Viral videos are most often humorous

in nature andsometimes derived from televised comedy sketches.

The humor, wit, and creativity, combined with the "word of mouth" spread,

causes huge numbers of people to forward a videoamong friends, co-workers,

colleagues and reach masses of randomusers who are exposed to a video that

promotes a brand.

p. 81 Viral Marketing is defined as a marketing technique, whichuses social

networks and encourages consumers to pass on messages, which can increase

brand awareness. It is called viral marketing for itis just like an epidemic that is

spread out easily, with exponentialgrowth, as an individual gets infected.

Others refer viral marketing as Word-of-mouth marketing, buzz marketing, and

network marketing.The US venture capital firm Draper, Fisher, Jurveston,

coined the term Viral Marketing.

p. 83-84

Off the internet it is referred as word of mouth, and On theinternet it is

known as viral marketing. Viral marketing is of four typesand these are:1.

Pass along Messages where users are encourage sending or passingthe

message to others such as email or video clips;2.

Incentive Driven Messages where rewards are offered in lieu for theexchange

of providing email addresses;

.

Undercover viral marketing where messages are present in a usualpage or false

news item without intention to pass it along but withthe hopes that word of

mouth will spread the message; and4.

Gossip or buzz marketing is where people talk about somethingover a created

controversy.

p.98 There are several ways one can do viral marketing. One popularmedium

today is through video clips. People create catchy and comical video clips and

typically upload them to video sharing websites like YouTube. Then people

who see them first will share them with friendsand everybody they know by

providing a link through emails, blogs andinstant messages. Others also

provide a link on their websites.One creative way to do viral marketing is

through advergames.Companies would typically introduce and provide games

in their own websites. The games would, of course, feature the products or

theservices that the company is trying to sell. They could include URLlinks in

the game to entice its players to visit other sites as they go fromgame to game.

p. 104

Viral Marketing 100 Success Secrets | 104

Of course, these promotional emails when forwarded in theform of personal

messages are not always accepted positively and havein the process

accumulated a lot of negative reviews from the emailusers, as well as privacy

advocates.In this, the entire basis for the negativity lies in the sending of

advertisements in the form of personal email messages.In addition to this, the

main argument of the people against it isthat they are concerned about the

sending of unsolicited emails thatthey consider as either an unwanted

nuisance or invasion of privacy.

p. 105 Of course incentives can be given, but these are necessary expenses and

such advertisements through the Internet allows thetarget group to facilitate

and encourage other people to voluntarily pass along the marketing message.

p. 106 And this may take the form of interactive Flash game websitesand video

clips, which are increasing in popularity. Also, there are eBooks and brandable

software, which can beused as gateways that Viral marketing could penetrate

and use to itsadvantage. Aside from these, computer and Internet images can

also beused for Viral marketing.Today, the current trend in this marketing

strategy involves thesending of advertisement text messages, which is another

innovationpresented by technology and is somewhat independent from the

usualusage of Internet as a medium.

p. 111 o whats Viral marketing? Well, Viral marketing is primarily coexists with

the term viraladvertising and the two generally refer to techniques in

marketingthat are aimed at increasing the buyers awareness on the

product.This is done through the use of pre-existing social networkspresent

today.

p. 117 But rather than talk about the what ifs of the business, it istime to talk

about the current changes in the Viral marketing industry,and that is video

streaming on the Internet.Everyone already knows the benefits of YouTube,

and this is a Website worth remembering for all sorts of reasons, but with

thearrival of Viral marketing on its pages, then YouTube is rememberedfor

another reason.

p. 118 Now imagine this, if a marketer posts an amateur video abouthis

product with the theme of advertising the product in the lowestpossible way,

or implicitly suggesting another Website where theproduct will be advertised,

he just pulled off a cheap, but effective Viralmarketing stunt.Now, people

would voluntarily start to watch his videos and if at least ten people per day

got interested, then pretty soon themarketer will get a target group with the

least expensive way.From this target group, he can now branch out to their

friends,and advertise his product.

p. 119 One of the most famous viral marketing strategies ortechniques is the

buzz viral marketing. This is a viral marketingtechnique used to encounter

certain consumers through personal,exclusive, and very impulsive exchange of

information. This is differentfrom other viral marketing techniques because

this was not devised to be a calculated marketing strategy that was obviously

strategize by professionals.Then, buzz viral marketing was made to seem like a

theatricalapproach. The viral marketer using this technique usually

revealsimportant information about a certain service or product to a

selectedgroup of people who are more knowing. Using buzz viral

marketingtechnique, the marketer will intentionally make a one-on-

oneconversation with his target subject.

p. 120 The target subject is commonly that one who has a high andheavy

influence on his peers. The general idea of buzz viral marketingis to flatter the

target subject that he is included to the elite andselected group of those who

"know." This strategy will encourage theperson to willingly spread the

marketing message.Today, buzz viral marketing is already an old technique but

the way it is done has already changed. The marketing is now done in

chatrooms. Here, the marketer assumes to be the appropriate person forthe

target audience so he can market his products well. There are alsosome who

use personal blogs by seeking bloggers with appropriate blogs and negotiate

product promotion through their blogs.

p. 125 The first principle is to give away free products or services.People love

free items and services and when they do love these, they will share it to

other people too. Some viral marketing companies useincentives when they

refer customers instead of providing freeproducts of services. This kind of

strategy worked for the multi-levelmarketing.

p. 126 Another common principle that the viral marketing companiesshould

use is to provide methods of sharing that are effortless.Complicated programs

and complicated sharing of products willcertainly make other prospect

customers to turn down sharing of themarketing message. Aside from that, the

viral marketing strategy should have the capacity to be scaled easily and be

spread easily through a large community.Included to the common principles

used by viral marketingcompany is exploiting the common human behaviors

and motivationslike the humans desire to be famous, to be loved, or to be

understood.The viral marketing strategy used by companies should also

utilizecommon existing communication tools like the Internet. This will beable

to reach more people, thus, better marketing strategy for theproducts and

services.

p. 134 Viral marketing businesses do effective strategies which aregrouped

into five types: value viral, guile viral, vital viral, spiral viral,and vile viral. The

value viral is an information exchange regarding theexperiences among

friends. This works by recommending to a friend acertain product that worked

great and tell that friend to try the producttoo. Meanwhile, the guile viral is

done through sending viral marketingemails for some incentives. This works

when a person recommends afriend to try a certain product just because he

will get an incentive outof it.The vital viral works like the value viral only that

the peopleinvolved with this share experiences with friends but required using

of another product. This works if the person shares his experience with

acertain product but his friend needs to try another product in order

toexperience the same. Spiral viral works when the person shares

hisexperiences with a friend because he thinks that his friend might alsolike it

while the vile viral works when the person shares his badexperience with a

certain product and tells his friend not to try theproduct.

p. 147 There can be various forms viral promotions, which includeeBooks,

static or interactive images, interactive Flash games, videoclips, text messages,

and some brandable software. These resourcesevidently stimulate and

encourage for people to share and increaseawareness, which then result to

further or widespread dissemination of messages. Hence, viral marketing can

be perceived as a technique based on human behavior, and that it occurs both

online or offline.

p. 151-152 The good thing about viral marketing is that it can be launchedeven

on a small budget. In fact, viral marketing has become a favoriteof small

companies because they can introduce their brand to themarket without

spending much for advertising. This is a kind of marketing initiative that can be

done by a small do-it-yourself team. Adding allure to the viral marketing craze

is the wealth of toolsthat can be used to propel an ad. There are literally

thousands of free viral marketing tools that can be used for any particular

campaign.These tools are regular features of the Internet long before

viralmarketing arrived. With the increasing popularity of viral marketing,the

free viral tools are being reinvented for launching shoestringadvertising

campaigns.

Viral Marketing 100 Success Secrets | 152

The good thing about viral marketing is that it can be launchedeven on a small

budget. In fact, viral marketing has become a favoriteof small companies

because they can introduce their brand to themarket without spending much

for advertising. This is a kind of marketing initiative that can be done by a small

do-it-yourself team. Adding allure to the viral marketing craze is the wealth of

toolsthat can be used to propel an ad. There are literally thousands of free viral

marketing tools that can be used for any particular campaign.These tools are

regular features of the Internet long before viralmarketing arrived. With the

increasing popularity of viral marketing,the free viral tools are being

reinvented for launching shoestringadvertising campaigns

The most high-impact free viral marketing tools are blogs and vlogs. Creating

excellent copy and compelling video content are theprimary tools that can be

used to spark viral interest. The blogospherehas long been a favorite in

generating massive discussions on a topic.By using it as a viral tool, the impact

and influence that a copy can takeis almost unlimited. Video logs are recent

additions to the viral marketer tools.There are lots of video sharing sites that

can serve as powerful vehiclefor advertising. In fact, this tool can match the

power of blogs increating buzz. The uniqueness of video materials uploaded on

videosites and the general ease for sharing these materials make them very

powerful in delivering a message.

p. 154 Second, Internet advertising is very cost-efficient. You do nothave to

waste money on materials such as posters or bulletin boardsthat need

replacements every now and then all you need is a coupleof dollars and that

will already buy you a big banner ad or two which somany people will get to

notice people all over the world.Third, information dissemination is at a

much wider scale, because your clientele is actually the world market and not

just thepeople who live in your area. This indeed is a very great way for you

todo internet advertising and come up with really cool profits you cantruly

enjoy.

p. 162

First, a viral marketing campaign should be down to earth.Bragging and over-

hype materials could only generate contempt fromthe online public. One of

the most important points to remember in viral marketing is that hard selling

will only produce a negative impact.So, to become viral, the advertising

material should be humble enoughto attract sympathy and empathy from its

audience.

Second, viral marketing should not violate the private space of consumers. The

limited success of pop up advertising is a case in point.People will normally be

annoyed if their private space on the web will be intruded by pop up ads. An

advertising material cannot become viral if it intrudes and distracts people

from their activity.

The last rule in viral marketing is to keep the interest of the customers the

primary concern of the campaign. In this way, the brand will be loved by

people and they will surely share it with other people.

p. 177 The object of mobile marketing is to create wide and sweepingimpact

that will catch the attention and hopefully the interest of consumers. Once,

interest has been generated for a brand or event, word of mouth will soon

follow thus sparking a viral process of spreading it. This type of offline viral

marketing techniques has been very successful in creating buzz and

establishing a brand.

p. 179 The basic principle of Seth Godin viral marketing techniquescan be

summarized in a very simple concept. According to Godin, anidea can only

become viral if it is being sent and received. If someone issending an idea then

there is pretty good chance that it can be received by another. If the recipient

finds the idea interesting, it would be sentagain to someone and an unending

cycle starts. This is viral marketingat its most basic.

p. 184 Viral marketing harnesses the power of the Internet. Actually,the

concept of viral marketing relies primarily on buzz created by wordof mouth.

And this is essentially the nature of the Internet. When lotsof people talk

about a movie on different social media on the Internet,the popularity of the

topic will snowball resulting to millions of otherpeople getting aware of the

movie. The ease by which online links can be exchanged and the super fast

nature of communication exchange onthe Internet are surely very favorable

for a movie.

p. 191 This kind of great viral marketing boo-boo is a result of lack of

understanding of current events and situations. It is very important fora viral

marketer to understand the moods and sensibilities of the targetaudience.

Misreading of these valuable cues could end in a disastrous viral marketing

campaign.

p. 192

Viral Marketing 100 Success Secrets | 192

A really great viral marketing campaign should not step on thecurrent

sensibilities of people. There is a cultural aspect that needs to be considered

when launching a viral campaign or any otheradvertising campaign. A negative

campaign could attract attention butit can also attract disdain and contempt

for the brand. In the end thecampaign and the brand that it carries will suffer.

As much as possible, viral marketers should create campaignsthat hinges on

positive values. Even mysterious campaigns that need to be investigated by

consumers should have positive redeeming values asit unfolds. In this way,

buzz will be created positively and will certainly be passed on to other people.

p. 194 The advantages of online Internet marketing however faroutweigh the

handicaps. Internet marketing is far more cost efficientthan traditional

marketing. This is probably one of the most importantadvantages of Internet

marketing. In fact, a resourceful marketingteam can launch an ad campaign on

the Internet on a very small budget. They just need to implement effective

techniques that will work favorably for online ad content. Aside from the cost,

the speed in delivering marketing contenton the Internet is faster. This makes

the Internet a powerful vehicle forquick product branding. This is especially

true nowadays with theproliferation of different social media that can transmit

marketingmaterials to millions of people with a single click of the mouse.

p. 204 It is easy to start a viral marketing campaign. The difficult partis how to

enable the material for it to become viral. There is no sure way of success in

viral marketing and there are no guaranteed methodsof how to make other

people pick up a topic and unleash it on theInternet.

p. 206 Another important factor that every viral marketing specialistneeds to

consider is popular culture. An idea cannot get muchattention or it cannot

elicit enthusiastic response if it is outside thepopular experience of its

recipient. Current experiences, concepts, andideas should be the building

blocks of new ideas. In this way, the new idea can be easily understood and

comprehended by lots of people.Remember, in viral marketing the culture of

the average person is the bench mark in creating a new concept. They are the

most numerousand they are responsible in creating buzz. That is why the

experience of an average person should become the basis of new marketing

ideas.