How to Create (Healthy) Viral Marketing

Online Marketing Goes Viral

Viral marketing is one of the most interesting phenomena on the Internet. Who hasn’t seen the Mentos exploding in the Coca-cola video? Or the dancing baby? (That one’s really old!) And, not everything viral is video, either. It could be a photo. A web application of some kind. Even a special Internet coupon offer. There are many possibilities.

Much of what is most viral, though, does not include a marketing message. It is just cute, amazing, or weird. Generally, to make a marketing message go viral on the Internet, the message must include three components:
1. Something that is emotionally or intellectually charged. You need to get a reaction of some kind from your message. A “Wow!” An “I can’t believe that!” or “I didn’t know that.” Or even “That inspired me!” from the reader/viewer. Humor often works, if you can get a laugh without denigrating your own product/service.
2. Something that could be passed along as a favor to another person. No one wants to abuse their friends or business colleagues with something that isn’t “cool” at the very least. At best, it should be something that the recipients would consider a “public service” to receive.
3. Finally, there needs to be something to cause a web surfer to recommend your viral message to others. Often it is enough to simply add a “Recommend to a Friend” link or a “Share” button to your web page. But, there are other ways. For example, your viral message might have a holiday theme that causes its timeliness to be a trigger for viral sharing.

There is one other key to creating successful viral marketing. Your viral element, whether a video, audio, photo, web application, white paper, coupon or something else, needs to become a part of as many social media sites as possible. Few people will see it if it exists only on your website. More will see it, and potentially pass it along, if it is on a Facebook page, a blog, Twitter, Digg, De.li.cious, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Flickr or a forum for industry experts. These online media are designed for viral messaging.

So, put your creative marketing hat on! Think about what your potential customers would find interesting, amazing, new and different, funny, or valuable. Make sure it appropriately represents your brand. And then let people share it across the Web and across the world!