viral marketing

“They tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends.”

This is the basic premise of viral marketing. Online marketing campaigns or promotions that go “viral” when they mimic the behavior of a common cold virus. This means that they exploit the natural, interactive behavior of their hosts to spread.

The interconnected nature of online communities enables a similar spreading of marketing messages through the Internet. If your marketing message informs, entertains, provokes, or otherwise attracts attention online, its recipients can easily forward it to their friends. This amplification of your promotions can happen quickly and inexpensively leading to massive attention and website traffic for the sponsoring company or website.

To take advantage of this “word of mouth on steroids” potential of online marketing, your promotion needs to offer incentives to its targeted recipients. The incentives should be geared to encouraging them to take the action that you and your products most desire. Usually, this means offering your audience a chance to look smart, well-informed, or clever by forwarding your marketing messages to their friends and colleagues.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “viral marketing”

• Elf Yourself Returns for 2009 With Easy Twitter and Facebook Sharing

  
  Mashable! — Authority: 884
  Way back in 2006, OfficeMax introduced Elf Yourself to the world, and it’s been a viral hit ever since. Last year alone, 35 million of virtual greeting cards were sent out. The site, which lets you affix your head (or even your boss’s head) to a dancing elf body is back again, and this year, in addition to ...
  1 day ago

• Viral Marketing Webinar for MLSP Members and Guests

  
  Colin Klinkert Dot Com — Authority: 106
  Today I’m glad to announce that I will be participating in this week’s MLM Lead System Pro Webinar. I will be joining top internet marketers Brian Fanale, Norbert Orlewicz, Todd Schlomer and the rest of their team for what I’m sure will be a great occasion for you to learn more about viral marketing as well as ...
  1 day ago

• Viral Video Marketing, Why Is It So Effective? Part 1

  
  Learn Free Internet Marketing Learn Free Internet Marketing Strategies using Video, Articles, Social Networking, Social Media, Web 2.0, Blogs, Affiliate Marketing — Authority: 459
  www.themanicmarketer.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The majority of online marketers have used viral video marketing to get where they are today. You name the guru, they’ve done it, by creating a significant amount of hype about a product, using YouTube marketing, or some of the other free video ...
  1 day ago

• Say Cheese, Ottawa! Social Media Hits the Capital!

  
  The Daily Breakthrough — Authority: 116
  Call me a geek, but it truly warms my heart to see people using social media in unique ways to generate mass awareness. It warms my heart even more to know its being embraced by our very own city hall! The City of Ottawa is running their first major social media campaign/contest called: Picture it downtown . ...
  1 day ago

• Online elf craze is back, with added social networking goodness (Revolution)

  
  Stompernet SEO Course — Authority: 163
  LONDON - US retailer OfficeMax is reviving its much-loved Elf Yourself Christmas viral marketing game, this time with added social networking functions letting users share their creations on Twitter and Facebook.
  1 day ago

• Holiday Search Marketing? Youd Better Be!

  
  The NMS Blog — Authority: 145
  Tips for using PPC, retargeting, e-mail marketing, and viral marketing to help boost holiday sales. …Source:Holiday Search Marketing? Youd Better Be!Holiday Search Marketing? Youd Better Be!Share and Enjoy: Holiday Search Marketing? Youd Better Be!
  1 day ago

• 18 VIDEOS: Idiots Guide To Internet Marketing With, SEO, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, RSS Feeds and More….

  
  Nick's Traffic Tricks — Authority: 121
  Introduction Below are 18 short videos taken from a seminar where Jeff Johnson spoke. In these videos he gives some incredible content. After watching the videos I had a couple pages of notes on how to get more traffic to my websites. I hope you enjoy the videos as much as I did! Part 1 WPvideo 1.10 ...
  1 day ago

• The Mad Hatter Needs Your Help, Follow Him for Treasure!

  
  FirstShowing.net — Authority: 695
  Im really digging the social/viral marketing Disney is doing for Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland . When the first trailer debuted in July , they used Facebook to build lots of early buzz. Now theyre using Facebook again to debut another new series of posters (as far as we know). The Mad Hatter has posted a ...
  1 day ago

• More Website Traffic from a Smile

  
  YourTrafficStarterBlog.com — Authority: 121
  I thought just about anyone would enjoy this… Watch this video and see how your smile will get you more website traffic (this video is GREAT! – You Are Great!).. Thanks to Tellman Knudson for pointing out this video to me. Though this is a dramatization, the effect you have on your customers by presenting ...
  1 day ago

• The Authentic Jobs “no retweet necessary” contest

  
  Wisdump — Authority: 114
  There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with using social media like Twitter and Facebook to get people to participate in contests, but Cameron Moll’s nickname for the recent Authentic Jobs contest does raise an interesting point. You won’t win through frivolous activities such as retweeting, posting a ...
  1 day ago

• Strategy First, Then Tactics

  
  Word of Mouth Marketing | Viral, Search, Blog, and Social Media Marketing — Authority: 98
  (The following is an excerpt from the Introduction of the upcoming book Marketing From the Navel: How to Become a Company Worth Talking About and Arm Customers to Spread the Word ) I have a favorite saying by the famed war strategist, Sun Tzu, that says, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. ...
  1 day ago

• Glitch Turned Into Powerful Marketing

  
  Internet Marketing Strategies - slymarketing — Authority: 122
  It’s time to bring to the surface, once again, a wonderful marketing story. It’s a story with two sides. One is true, the other is not. I still don’t know which one is true. Either way, it ended up as really powerful marketing. Let me first tell you the story, how it has been told to me, and what most people ...
  1 day ago

• Search Marketing Is Easier Than You Think

  
  Search Engine Optimization — Authority: 145
  by Mike MoranImage by cbcastro via FlickrNot long ago, I spoke to a group of local chemical manufacturers on Internet marketing. (You can download my slides on “How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules.”) After the talk, I sat next to an veteran business owner at dinner, someone who clearly appreciated the talk ...
  1 day ago

• THE SUBSERVIENT CHICKEN

  
  MoneyBlog — Authority: 145
  Created for Miami Advertising Agency Crispin Porter as well as Bogusky by The Barbarian Group, a Subservient Chicken is a viral selling graduation of Burger King’s line of duck sandwiches. The debate is formed on a web site which facilities a chairman in a duck costume. The actress performs a far-reaching operation ...
  2 days ago

• B2B Marketers Do It, Too

  
  Internet Marketing Hints And Tips — Authority: 122
  They employ viral marketing by e-mail as a marketing tool… what did you think I meant? Viral marketing can work well for B2B providers, as long as the following is true: 1.    The product or service delivers value for the sender, in addition to, the receiver. 2.    The offer has to be deliverable. You do not ...
  2 days ago

• Kane + Lynch + Dog + Asian Restaurant = Viral

  
  PlayStation LifeStyle — Authority: 598
  Ready for another round of carnage? Kane and Lynch: Dead Men was released back in 2007 to moderate reception. Publisher Eidos believes the series has enough merit to warrant a sequel, Kane & Lynch: Dog Days. A video recently surfaced that appears to be a weird viral, and is almost beyond description. ...
  2 days ago

• Viral Marketing for Affiliates Posted By : kirksmith888

  
  BFX Media — Authority: 156
  Is Viral Marketing Relevant for all Affiliates? Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliates marketing efforts. One of the best examples of this is http://live247support.com/affiliate.php . ...
  2 days ago

• Solve Your Traffic Issues Once And For All!

  
  Hot Traffic Secrets — Authority: 149
   Powered by Max Banner Ads The real secret to making money online has little to do with your site or the product you sell……Fact!What really makes the difference as to whether you make money or go bust is much more dependant on how many people see your site each day. You can tweak landing pages and [...]
  2 days ago

• Viral Marketing: Cheap But Effective

  
  Cyber Flopping! — Authority: 146
  Entering the 21st century, humans now live in a wired world.Everyone is now connected because of the Internet and the technological advances that go with it.  One can work from home via telecommute, check investments with a few clicks, purchase goods from online stores, and even apply for fast loans with no paper ...
  2 days ago

• Bill McIntosh’s $10,000 Contest: Viral Marketing WordPress Plugin: Twitter, FaceBook & More!

  
  Learn Free Internet Marketing Learn Free Internet Marketing Strategies using Video, Articles, Social Networking, Social Media, Web 2.0, Blogs, Affiliate Marketing — Authority: 459
  www.contestburner.com I so can’t wait to use the New Contest Burner to build traffic. This is awesome Bill. check it out at www.contestburner.com —– Contest Burner has now officially launched with this amazing 000 contest. Get your own copy of ContestBurner, a free eBook & more training videos. Learn online ...
  2 days ago

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