Viral Marketing

Marketing has renewed its strategies to adapt to technological innovations and cultural changes that occur daily. An example of this is that in a context where networks makers boast of reaching millions of consumers, virality increases. Thus people started speaking of Viral Marketing.

The most relevant features of this way of promoting brands and products are really tempting: low cost, exponential forwarding, database generation and excellent reception of the general public. However, the possibility of serious adverse impacts is directly proportional, if something goes wrong. If Viral Marketing campaigns neglect an element and go wrong, this will have a negative impact on the image of the brand or product.

Thus, it is essential to know properly the customer as in any other campaign. Understanding its culture and its values, its institutional profile, watching previous campaigns, knowing if it has a defined position in the market is very important. It is also necessary to segment the target and define what the aim is. Thus, viral strategies may be used satisfactorily, providing that they are the right ones for the each particular customer.

In general, these campaigns are based on the diffusion of controversial or funny videos, games and more creative content on the Internet.

It is usually used as a strategy of hidden marketing; in this case, it is essential for the brand to remain unknown. Otherwise it will be exposed not only to failure but to an immediate negative image.

The most common types of Viral Marketing are:

Mail Forwarding.

Mail Forwarding with incentive.

Hidden: never reveal its true sender.

Rumor: word of mouth.

User managed databases, such as Internet communities.

World Wide Web, its users, word of mouth, chats, text messages, and Bluetooth, among others, are the most used transmission method.

In all cases, it is important to consider the file size: it should always be small; the contents should be created in such a way that they can be opened on any computer. Moreover, when implementing any Viral Marketing campaign, it should be clear that attached files might be blocked by antivirus and antispam filters.