Viral Marketing
Marketing is always evolving. Back in the days, people used to create buzz through newspaper ads and public entertainment displays that would garner the much needed attention for the marketers. Today, marketing activities have become more refined with various new domains that make marketers work far easier and effective. One such domain of marketing is viral marketing. The big question that comes to most people’s mind is why is there a need for various marketing domains and techniques? And why do the old methods don’t work anymore? Well, as the world is descending into a more digitalized age, old ways are becoming obsolete. Marketers are coming up with new ways to attract and target audience in order to make sure that the marketing efforts bring forth the right results. Before we get into the reasons that make viral marketing crucial for your business, let’s just first look into the definition of viral marketing.
Viral marketing as the dissemination of company’s product and services data through internet networks from one user to another.
In simple words, viral marketing is a technique through which company spreads the word about its products and services to the mass market through the utilization of one or two social media platforms. The purpose of viral marketing is to increase brand awareness and reach out to as many people as possible to ensure potential sales. The following infographic shows how you can make any content viral to increase awareness of your brand and ultimately find more customers.
Now you know how you can make any content go viral, but how would know that what kind of content can actually has the potential to go viral. Not everything can turn into a viral internet sensation. The following infographic shows what makes content go viral on social media.
Viral marketing is one of the most famous and easy to implement marketing strategies, which is why more and more companies are adopting the concept to not only increase their global recognition, but also achieve sales in the long run. If you don’t have viral marketing in your business plan, it is about time that you should. We have gathered a list of 5 major reasons why you need to have viral marketing in your business strategy. Peruse below:
It doesn’t cost a thing
Marketing activities, regardless of their nature, cost a fortune. Every business has a specified budget that is utilized for the various promotional campaigns. Viral marketing, however, does not cost a thing. This is probably the biggest advantage of VM, as it gives marketers the freedom to choose content and its distribution without worrying about the costs. You can simply place a video, blog content, or images on any of the social media channels where your target audience concentration is the highest to disseminate interesting information that helps you garner ample attention.
It creates sudden brand recognition
Research shows that people are more likely to remember a brand if it is associated with a video, image, or game that has already gained ample popularity among the masses. Viral marketing is famous for one main reason: it helps brands create and immediate brand recognition that is not possible to achieve otherwise. With the right viral content, you tap the market of your interest and put your brand on display. When you see celebrities doing ice bucket challenge or company’s sharing funny videos, what do you think they are doing? They are not putting out that content for no reason. That content is out there to increase awareness regarding their brands.
It creates product Buzz without a hassle
Back in the day when social media was not that hot, companies would spend thousands and even hundreds of dollars on various forms of advertisements and promotional campaigns. These campaigns would include celebrity endorsements that would encourage public to try out company products. Today, however, it is a whole different game. Viral marketing has allowed businesses to create a buzz about their new products and services without having to go through the hassle of complex promotional campaigns.
It builds credibility for your brand
People believe what they see. Every marketer knows that target audience is only going to buy something that they are aware of. The amazing thing about viral marketing is that it keeps spreading from one person to another. Videos that are circulated on social media are quickly shared across platforms that create a unique promotional campaign. This promotion, from one person to another, creates credibility. The more the people talk about your brand, the more strengthened its identity becomes in the long run. Here it is important to mention that you cannot take the quality of the material for granted. When you decide to put something out there that will ultimately become your slogan of recognition, you cannot afford to take things easy. So, be super careful about the viral content that you decide to put out there.
It puts your brand on the map, globally
For those who are not aware, more than 1 billion people around the world use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. So, the viral content that you share on these social media platforms reaches out to all those who utilize these platforms for social networking. This gives you a massive opportunity to scale up your brand’s identity to a global level. When you reach out to more people, you substantially increase your chances to attract customers and ultimately garner more revenue in the long run.
Viral marketing is an inexpensive form of marketing that can help you increase your brand awareness, strengthen your brand’s identity, create credibility for your business, and increase your chances of success. However, it may not be as simple as it may sound. The content, the material of your viral campaign needs to be according to your company’s goals and objectives. In addition, it should violate any rules that may subject your company’s image to potential defamation. Therefore, before creating viral campaign, do your homework and research the viral content’s subject matter thoroughly to avoid any pitfalls.
