The reason why Hotmail was so successful so quickly is because net actually multiplies and speeds up viral effect. In real life you may forget name of movie you liked so much when you are telling a friend about it, or name of book you read last year.

On internet, forwarding an interesting article usually involves a few quick clicks and even if you forget title of book, a quick visit to your favorite search engine armed with few keywords or just name of author will yield book for you complete with current online specially offer price for it.

If you want to succeed online you can’t avoid thinking viral

Anybody who wants explosive growth and success in any online endeavour cannot avoid thinking “virally” in all their marketing plans. Failing to use this powerful marketing method, that has been successfully used since beginning of time, will be a very unfortunate thing indeed.

Not surprisingly, then, newsletters and ezines that own greatest popularity serve as most effective platforms on which viral marketing develops. Utilizing word of mouth recommendations, webmasters and small business owners can generate more subscribers when they include tips, tutorials, and relevant news clips that are quick and easy to read.

Indeed, making a successful viral marketing campaign successful relies on more than just quality articles. The articles must spur reader to act and send information unprompted to someone else. Therefore, online articles should serve as more than simple sales letters. They need to provide readers with something that is unique. Modern internet readers do not appreciate being used as business pawns and will quickly exit a site that wastes their time. By utilizing newsletters, then, to promote something more than just your business, online businesspeople can develop a better viral campaign.

Several high profile viral marketing programs can be used as a benchmark for ultimate marketing success. BMW, for example, generated a tremendous amount of attention via a series of short film clips they published online at BMW Films. More recently, Burger King developed a commercial featuring a fighting chicken that rode e-mail circuit through word of mouth.

Marketing experts believe that viral marketing is actually most powerful form of product attention available to consumers. Unlike television ads or other paid advertising, viral marketing can not be purchased. Instead it relies solely on recommendations of individuals. Yet, while a successful viral marketing campaign may be difficult to construct, benefits generated by unbiased attention will make your business strong and successful.

© John Doetsch 2006. Online reprint rights granted as long as article is published in its entirety, including links and resource box.