Getting a Better ROI on Your Marketing Dollar - Online Viral Marketing Techniques
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The viral marketing business model was first described by Tim Draper and popularized in 1997 to describe Hotmail’s practice of adding advertising to the outgoing mail of their users. Viral marketing had been around for ages. So, it is word-of-mouth marketing.
It is in the nature of a person’s tendency to “tell their friends”. The reference or terminology is the only thing that has changed. Surveys tell us that the average individual online has at least six close friends they communicate with on a regular basis. If they have a good experience with a product or a service provider, they will tell those six people about it.
When an internet user finds something valuable, informative, hilarious, interesting or free online, they will share it with up to 12 friends. The internet is the platform for the most successful viral marketing business models out there.
Great marketers often remark that in order to sell anything in large numbers, you should consider giving away a free item. I recently downloaded a free e-book with great dieting tips. It made perfect sense. It was designed by the head of a supplement company. He suggested that you share the book with all of your friends. His main motivation was to sell supplements.
He may have sold the book. It contained just as much information as some of the diet books out on the market, but he realized the value of giving something away, what he would get in return would be far greater. Not only do people love free stuff, they have a tendency to “trust” people or companies that give them something with no strings attached, especially when that something has value.
There are numerous software programs online that offer a free version and a “platinum” version. This is another example of a viral marketing business model. If a person sees any free software program, they usually share it with up to 12 people they know would like to try it as well.
Social networking is becoming increasingly popular. People on MySpace and Facebook literally have hundreds of online friends and they “share” things with them on a daily basis. If you can provide something that they want to share, then you may have a viral campaign waiting to happen.
There are other elements of a successful viral marketing business model. Coming up with something free that allows individuals to share it with others is the most important.