If you are expecting to read anything related to the latest medical solutions for killing viruses, you might want to go to Google.
The virus I’m referring to here is the power of a message that spreads quickly – like a virus. Good viral marketing can help a company gain attention, make an impression and ultimately generate buzz – with the audience spreading the word for the marketer. A viral marketing campaign grows like a snowball, growing even faster with today’s social media tools like Twitter and Facebook that allow a message to be passed on very easily – and very quickly!
Most of the time, a viral marketing campaign will cost less than mass media broadcasting, making it a great option for marketers looking for value and a strong return on investment.
Here are some practical suggestions for you to create your own viral marketing campaign, and a few tips to get it out there.
1. Find Your Niche
Pick an interesting part of your brand and tell a good story about it. Specifically, think about why you’re using viral marketing and what you want out of it. Remember: whatever you do has to be interesting enough for people to want to share on their own!
2. Think Big and Different
Don’t simply think about a “commercial” or that this is all about “advertising”. With the help of today’s social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) a viral marketing campaign is more about your own customers or fans being the messengers! We all know that people won’t like an ad unless it is very, very good, so think big and different. Humor, celebrities or fun and crazy things could be the angles to think about.
3. Buy some Ads
All right, here are the facts. There are about 35-40 hours of video being uploaded on YouTube every minute, and about 200 million tweets per day, so if you just think your “virus” will just be popular out there on its own while you sit back on the couch, you might not be able to reach the goal you want.
The truth is, in order to get people’s attention, a little bit of “stimulus” could help. Online advertising like Google AdWords usually won’t cost you a fortune. For best results, make sure your advertising is relevant to the content in your viral campaign.
4. Distribute far and wide
A distribution plan is definitely needed. Besides social media, also try other related discussion forums or the traditional media. You want to get as many people talking about your viral campaign as possible, so think far and wide!
Now what? Here is some couch-potato practice time. Go watch as much as YouTube videos as possible. Look up top viral marketing cases and videos that have achieved “virality”. By exploring good ideas, you can get an idea of how to build a successful viral marketing campaign.
Here are some examples:
