The story of how Hotmail moved from zero to a couple of million subscribers in a few months is one that is often told in many sites all over net. However it is a story that many do not quite understand. If they understood it, we would be seeing many more online success stories and fewer online failures. Because word has also been over-used by hype peddlers, many times people associate word viral with spamming and other online activities bordering on illegal.

Viral growth and marketing has always been with us

They fail to realize that viral growth and marketing is not something new to human race. In fact it has been there since beginning of time. The human race began with two people, Adam and Eve. Today human race has filled virtually every corner of this huge planet. Many religions of world started with a single person but were quickly “virally marketed” to reach millions.

Even now World Wide Web started off as a few computers, mainly used by researchers, linked together. But as they continuously enjoyed their experience and as new software and technology was made available for more people to join this small “web of linked computers” it suddenly started growing. The growth within a very short time has been explosive and it has all been viral. So let us be clear that viral marketing was not invented or created by net, net in fact used it to grow to what it is today.

Viral marketing will only work with something useful

As many MLM and network marketing people have discovered, viral marketing will not work with products that people do not find useful. Some marketing experts have always turned to viral marketing in form of MLM or network marketing to push and clear stocks of a product that has totally failed in market. Where they think they have succeeded, they have only ruined their credibility and that of their businesses as folks have ended up with massive stocks of some useless item stored in their garage because they believed somebody who told them they would make a lot of money. This is chief reason why Multi-level Marketing (which is pure viral marketing) has such a bad name with many people.

The internet is a natural for viral marketing

Viral marketing strategies can effectively generate traffic to your website by creating buzz-building campaigns that excite and energize your customer base. However, in order to most effectively execute a successful viral marketing project, it is important to build a significant understanding of your target audience to tap into their social and psychological network.

By creating articles or newsletters, for example, that resonate with your audience, you will encourage loyal customers to share useful information or unique advice with their family and friends. Indeed, viral marketing is one of most powerful forms of product support as it consists of unbiased recommendations from trusted sources.

Initiating a viral marketing campaign begins with development of unique and attractive content for your most loyal customers. While articles that pertain to product or service you are selling will help draw visitors to your site, creating resources that speak to your audience in a strategic fashion.

Once your marketing theme or ideas have been thoroughly cultivated, you can begin to build a viral marketing campaign around your most critical ideas. For example, post your articles on message boards or deliver special content directly to consumers. At end of each article, add a link to your website and encourage your readers to send along information to their friends. Your article, if delivered appropriately, will begin to make its way throughout web passing from friend to friend and deliver a core business message that brings dramatic business returns.