Viral marketing is one of those things that a lot of people talk about but very few actually understand how to do it. Essentially going viral just means that you have created a piece of content that people want to talk about and share with their friends/visitors/readers. But what are the main points to consider when creating this kind of content?
It's important to be different when hoping to go viral as the internet really has no time for ideas that have been done before. That doesn't mean you have to complexly re-invent the wheel, some of the most successful viral campaigns have been a new slant on an old concept. Mostly you will have to experiment to until you find the right formula.
A mistake that people often make when they create some kind of viral content is "overselling it". For example if you create a great info-graphic but your corporate branding is too prominent it's going to put people off. We don't mind being sold to but do it under the radar.
Even though the whole point of viral marketing is that other people spread your content for you, you still have to get the ball rolling before things start to snowball. At the start of any campaign you need to contact influential bloggers and webmasters in the web-sphere who can spread the message, even the best marketing campaigns start manually.
It's really important to measure your success with any kind of campaign. Unless you only plan to do one campaign (not advisable) how will you know what works/what doesn't unless you measure how many extra visitors/sales you get? It's not always easy to measure how successful your viral marketing efforts are but anything is better than nothing, knowledge is power when it comes to statistics.
It's not easy trying to create something that 1000s of people will automatically want to send to their friends. It is possible to do though, even if the hardest part is coming up with the initial idea.
It's important to be different when hoping to go viral as the internet really has no time for ideas that have been done before. That doesn't mean you have to complexly re-invent the wheel, some of the most successful viral campaigns have been a new slant on an old concept. Mostly you will have to experiment to until you find the right formula.
A mistake that people often make when they create some kind of viral content is "overselling it". For example if you create a great info-graphic but your corporate branding is too prominent it's going to put people off. We don't mind being sold to but do it under the radar.
Even though the whole point of viral marketing is that other people spread your content for you, you still have to get the ball rolling before things start to snowball. At the start of any campaign you need to contact influential bloggers and webmasters in the web-sphere who can spread the message, even the best marketing campaigns start manually.
It's really important to measure your success with any kind of campaign. Unless you only plan to do one campaign (not advisable) how will you know what works/what doesn't unless you measure how many extra visitors/sales you get? It's not always easy to measure how successful your viral marketing efforts are but anything is better than nothing, knowledge is power when it comes to statistics.
It's not easy trying to create something that 1000s of people will automatically want to send to their friends. It is possible to do though, even if the hardest part is coming up with the initial idea.
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If you're interested in learning more about Viral marketing then check out my marketing blog for more info. I have lots of ideas there on how you can attract more visitors.
