What is Viral Marketing? “Viral marketing is word of mouth marketing on
web. In other words it is “e” term for word of mouth marketing.”
Viral marketing was born in 1996. Viral marketing messages receive 5 –15% click through rate. 57% say word of mouth or viral marketing-+ is their main source of information about new websites.
The Classic Example…
The classic example of viral marketing is Hotmail.com, one of first free Web-based e-mail services. E-mails sent using this service contain an advertisement for Hotmail at bottom of message.
Power of Viral Marketing…
This medium could be used to spread word about your business among target audience. The essence of it is that you empower visitors to your website to tell other people about your company and your site. You provide something that encourages people to spread word, and momentum builds. What’s great about viral marketing is that it is low effort and low expense.
Viral marketing is more powerful than third-party advertising and you can expect a good conversion rate because it conveys an implied endorsement from a friend. People who visit your website as a result of viral marketing will have good impression about your company or product because someone has recommended it to them.
Forms of Viral marketing…
We can identify two most common forms of viral marketing as service and incentive based models.
Service Based
In service based model consumer has to spread information about company or product to his / her friends in order to get service.
Netscape Instant messaging is an excellent example of a service-based model. Also some search engines and directories use this model to list websites. Some companies use this model to provide access white papers.
