What Is Viral Marketing?

As its name suggests, viral marketing works similarly to a traditional virus. Therefore, explaining how it works requires an analogy to something like a flu epidemic or another virus. This is the simplest way of making the concept abundantly clear on a basic level; once the concept is clearer, learning how to make it work is that much easier.

So, how is viral marketing similar to a virus? A virus starts out humbly, living quietly and unnoticed in his hosts. Similarly, a successful viral marketing campaign generally has humble roots; it is initially dreamed up by a handful of people (typically) and is then gradually introduced into small pockets of the Internet. For example, the very people who first come up with a viral marketing concept might begin sending out links about the product or service to people they are already friends with on popular social networking sites.

The stealthy nature of a virus is similar to how a viral marketing campaign begins, as well. No one wants to have advertisements shoved in their face; one of the tricks behind viral marketing is interjecting its message in an unobtrusive fashion. A company might, for instance, create a game or a type of software that does not identify them at first. People begin using the product without even knowing or suspecting that a business is behind it all - with the ultimate goal of marketing their products or services.

Once the initial seeds are planted - when a couple of friends on a social networking site have been informed of this cool new blog, site, software or other product - viral marketing continues mimicking a virus. It does this because that first handful of people - impressed by the link they were sent to - use the very same networking to let their friends know about it. Those friends inform their friends, and the message takes flight.

A traditional virus really "explodes" once it begins infecting whole communities of people; similarly, a successful viral marketing campaign "explodes" once its initial message moves on beyond the boundaries of whichever social networking site was initially selected. This occurs when, somewhere along the line, a person who received the link on Facebook (for example) opts to email it to a friend who doesn't use that networking site. This friend may prefer Twitter; he or she then "tweets" the link to followers, and the explosion commences.

Viral Marketing Techniques

In the analogy outlined above, a viral marketing campaign was compared with a traditional virus that infects human hosts. Now that the broad, overarching qualities shared by viral marketing campaigns are hopefully understood, it is necessary to examine the types of viral marketing techniques that are typically used. Essentially, these techniques are guidelines for being successful in a viral marketing campaign.

Subtlety is a key viral marketing technique. Unlike television or radio advertising - loud, in-your-face, attention grabbing - viral marketing relies on a very subtle message that doesn't scare people away. Rather, this unobtrusive message piques the interest of the recipient, making them feel comfortable in sending it along to a friend, family member or coworker. No one wants to be the person who sends advertisements to their friends; with viral marketing, people shouldn't even realize they are doing just that.

Another important viral marketing technique is ease of transfer. In other words, the product, software, ebook or other application carrying the advertising message must be easily passed along from person to person. A message that can be passed along using a short, simple link is far preferable to one that requires a download right off the bat; people feel safe about sending links, but are understandably wary of sending file attachments to friends.

Using other peoples' resources is another key technique in viral marketing. This doesn't mean hacking into someone's computer network; it means encouraging users to host a video, software or other product on their social networking site or blog. When this occurs, the product spreads much more quickly; people are far likelier to use it themselves when they see it on a friend's site. Therefore, the product must be of a reasonable size and shouldn't suck up too much bandwidth.

There are many other viral marketing techniques which come into play in a successful campaign. However, each one is - by necessity - unique and different. At its core, a viral marketing campaign must offer users something new and exciting in order to be successful. Creativity and experimentation are critical in coming up with a fruitful viral marketing campaign.