Viral Marketing

Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Viral Marketing shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Viral Marketing offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Viral Marketing at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Viral Marketing? Wrong! If the Viral Marketing is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Viral Marketing then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Viral Marketing? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Viral Marketing and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Viral Marketing wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Viral Marketing then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Viral Marketing site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Viral Marketing, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Viral Marketing, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating Viral phenomenon processes, analogous to the spread of virus and computer viruses. It can be word of mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. June 23, 2005, 2005 Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/viral_marketing/ Viral promotions may take the form of funny video clips, interactive Macromedia Flash games, advergames, images, or even Text message marketing.

It is claimed that a satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he/she likes, and eleven people about a product or service which he/she did not like. Viral marketing is based on this natural human behaviour.

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 passed along.

The term "viral marketing" is also sometimes used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns May 8, 2007--the use of varied kinds of astroturfing both online and offline December 14, 2005 to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.

History The term Viral Marketing was coined by a Harvard Business School professor, Jeffrey F. Rayport, in a December 1996 article for Fast Company The Virus of Marketing. The term was further popularized by Tim Draper and Steve Jurvetson of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson in 1997 to describe Hotmail's e-mail practice of appending advertising for itself in outgoing mail from their users.

BusinessWeek (2001) described web-based campaigns for Hotmail (1996) and The Blair Witch Project (1999) as striking examples of viral marketing, but warned of some dangers for imitation marketers.
Burger King's The Subservient Chicken campaign was cited in Wired as a striking example of viral or word-of-mouth marketing.
In 2000, Slate described TiVo's unpublicized gambit of giving free TiVo's to web-savvy enthusiasts to create "viral" word of mouth, pointing out that a viral campaign differs from a publicity stunt.
With the emergence of Web 2.0, mostly all web startups like facebook.com, youtube.com, collabotrade.com, myspace.com, and digg.com have made well use of Viral Marketing by merging it with the social networking.
VistaLogic (vistalogic.co.uk) is a prime example of a new breed of internet based marketing & advertisement companies that have emerged with Web 2.0 who make full use of viral marketing on social networking platforms

See also

Social Networking Potential
Viral video
Trailer (book)
Customer engagement
Word of mouth marketing
Alternate reality games
Direct marketing
Spamming and E-mail spam
Guerrilla marketing
Reputation management
Astroturfing
Stealth marketing

References

Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating Viral phenomenon processes, analogous to the spread of virus and computer viruses. It can be word of mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. June 23, 2005, 2005 Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/viral_marketing/ Viral promotions may take the form of funny video clips, interactive Macromedia Flash games, advergames, images, or even Text message marketing.

It is claimed that a satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he/she likes, and eleven people about a product or service which he/she did not like. Viral marketing is based on this natural human behaviour.

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 passed along.

The term "viral marketing" is also sometimes used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns May 8, 2007--the use of varied kinds of astroturfing both online and offline December 14, 2005 to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.

History The term Viral Marketing was coined by a Harvard Business School professor, Jeffrey F. Rayport, in a December 1996 article for Fast Company The Virus of Marketing. The term was further popularized by Tim Draper and Steve Jurvetson of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson in 1997 to describe Hotmail's e-mail practice of appending advertising for itself in outgoing mail from their users.

BusinessWeek (2001) described web-based campaigns for Hotmail (1996) and The Blair Witch Project (1999) as striking examples of viral marketing, but warned of some dangers for imitation marketers.
Burger King's The Subservient Chicken campaign was cited in Wired as a striking example of viral or word-of-mouth marketing.
In 2000, Slate described TiVo's unpublicized gambit of giving free TiVo's to web-savvy enthusiasts to create "viral" word of mouth, pointing out that a viral campaign differs from a publicity stunt.
With the emergence of Web 2.0, mostly all web startups like facebook.com, youtube.com, collabotrade.com, myspace.com, and digg.com have made well use of Viral Marketing by merging it with the social networking.
VistaLogic (vistalogic.co.uk) is a prime example of a new breed of internet based marketing & advertisement companies that have emerged with Web 2.0 who make full use of viral marketing on social networking platforms