Viral Marketing

By Mark Sceats

Viral marketing was a big buzz phrase a couple of years ago. Essentially it refers to marketing communications that, once released by the marketer, rapidly spread amongst the online community in the same way email jokes and software viruses spread (hence the term, viral marketing). Fortunately that is where the analogy to viruses ends.

Probably the best known example of viral marketing, and maybe the most successful, was Microsoft’s free web-based email service, Hotmail.

By adding a simple message to the footer of every email sent out by Hotmail users (see below) Hotmail rapidly gained widespread brand awareness amongst Internet users. This viral marketing was a key factor in Hotmail becoming the market leader despite significant expenditure on conventional marketing methods by rival services.

Hotmail's outstanding success demonstrates the power of viral marketing and so many marketers have attempted to emulate Hotmail's success.

Marketers have tried all sorts of incentives to motivate people to pass on their marketing messages. Examples include free "e-merchandise" such as screen savers, desk top wallpaper, games, electronic postcards and e-books. All of these have been used by marketers trying to identifying triggers that motivate customers to pass along marketing messages to friends or colleagues.

Generally most of this marketing gimmickry featuring "free give-aways" has failed to work adequately. As a result cash and prize offerings have also been tried as incentives for consumers to spread the marketing message.

A potential problem with using paid incentives can be one of control, or more specifically, loss of control.

Marketers can quickly lose control over their company's marketing message and brand as eager consumers motivated by cash rewards indiscriminately become spammers of the marketing message. The danger is that these spamming actions by others can undermine your brand.

All viral marketing initiatives share the goal of turning customers into a sales and marketing channel. The tricky bit of course is finding appropriate triggers that ensure customers function as advocates for the brand, rather than becoming spammers.

So if free stuff doesn't work that well and paid incentives have potential problems, what viral marketing can you use?