19 Viral Marketing Techniques by Portia David
With the onslaught of marketing campaigns geared towards Internet users, viral
marketing has paved the way and has become one of the top methods used in
advertising.
The principle behind the success of viral marketing is the number of users
reached through the campaign. There are several viral marketing techniques that
can be applied for an advertising campaign to succeed. Take a look at the
following:
1. Creating viral marketing awards.
Creating viral marketing awards help both the companies and users by creating
even more users. Awards in viral marketing help innovate the industry more and
bring out more effective marketing techniques. 2. Distributing free software.
Anything useful and free gets an instant "fan base" on the Internet. Provide
online users with any software that they need for free - even for a limited
time - and they will surely grab it.
When using a free software, you can run the program to suit any application,
check the flow of the program to learn how it works, make improvisations and
have the right to distribute the software for free.
3. Providing free email account.
This is what Microsoft did to initially launch Hotmail. They put in a "teaser"
at the end of the free e-mail messages that they send out providing a link for
users to sign-up for a free and private e-mail account.
The word "free" has sparked the interest of online users, as well as the fact
that this is something that online users really need. Soon, almost all
Microsoft users signed up for a free Hotmail account. This started the viral
marketing fever. 4. Providing free web space.
Personal web logs have become all the buzz on the Internet.
There are companies now who are competing like crazy just to offer customers
the lowest cost on directory listing and have the biggest space allotments.
This competition will benefit the users in such a way that they get their pick
from a host of web space providers and have the greatest deal.
5. Creating top 100 site.
Online users often need a list of web sites relating to the topic that they
need. Creating a top 100 list is one way to build your list and increase your
customer base.
6. Offering free e-cards.
Egreetings.com is one company which provide teasers for online users to send
electronic greetings cards. They are animated and personalized, so most users
take advantage of the offer.
7. Offering free graphics, banners, templates.
Just like the marketing of regular consumer products, anything that is free and
useful will catch the attention of a lot of people. Banners, graphics,
templates and other items that online users can use is a welcome addition to
their list of freebies and will infuse the viral marketing fever. 8. Offering
free consultation.
Most online users do not know exactly where to go for consultations about web
services or other services in various fields.
Free online consultation web sites require you to enter your name, e-mail
address and other pertinent information and this would help add up to your
subscribers and customer base.
9. Offering specialized link directory.
Specialized links directory help build a more specific clientele, as the users
who need this service can be classified. This technique yields more accurate
results.
10. Free newsletter with bonuses.
An online shopping company might use this viral marketing technique. Offering
catalogs with free online gift certificates will generate a huge customer base.
11. Free redirect service.
Redirect services gives out the new contact information of a web site that
changed hosts or servers, as well as re-directing users to a new or
personalized domain name. This is an alternative to the much longer and
complicated URL's offered by most web hosts.
12. Free screensavers.
You cannot browse through the Internet and not find popup advertisements about
free screensavers. This is one way of getting the user's e-mail address for a
company to start building a solid customer base.
Getting online users to take advantage of free screensavers, as well as
emoticons or other downloadables that they can use on their computers is one of
the most effective techniques used in viral marketing.
13. Free autoresponder service.
Autoresponder services add up to your company's sales by using follow-up e-mail
messages in marketing.
14. Free email course.
You cannot believe the wealth of information that you can gain from free e-mail
courses. Most publishers of free e-books want to share their knowledge to other
online users and this is a good way to entice users to your web site.
15. Writing articles and distributing them for reprint with resource box.
When writing articles for free download, make sure to have them reprinted with
the resource box.
A resource box is a box on one side of the web page where you got the article,
and it shows the complete contact information of the author of a particular
article.
16. Using forums and discussion boards which uses signatures.
The users of discussion boards and forums have the same interests. By getting
their signatures on message boards, you can have a very wide array of potential
buyers from a specific target market.
17. Starting your own affiliate program.
This is one of the best methods to generate traffic and sales to your site.
Here, a specialized link is provided for your affiliates so that users can be
veered towards your web site.
18. Providing free guestbook.
A guestbook makes a list of all your online visitors. After a user visits your
website, you would have their contact information for future marketing and
mailing purposes.
19. Providing free forums.
Online forums have a lot of participants which can be a very useful viral
marketing technique.
By applying these viral marketing techniques to promote your products and
services, you will surely generate traffic to your web site, build a huge and
solid customer base, add to your sales and contribute towards the success of
your company.
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR'S resource
box at the bottom of this article is included and all links must be
Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.
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