Trust, Spread & Focus – The Recipe Of Viral Marketing

Viral marketing derives its wonderful results primarily from the fact that it originates from a source you trust. There are two other very noticeable features about this kind of marketing it spreads rapidly in an exponential manner and it generally moves from an interested person to another interested person.

All three are great attributes. If they are understood well, then you can really make your advertising strategy work. Let us look at each a little more closely.

Trust

If a person you know well tells you of a certain product and how well it works, you will be more likely to believe him. Even if you do not know a person individually, you will still believe him if you are convinced that he is going through similar circumstances as you are. That is why people in a hospital will believe a fellow sufferer when they talk of a certain cure or a great surgeon. A certain element of celebrity endorsement also fits here, but not an obvious commercial endorsement. I know of a world famous cricketer who is a diabetic. When he endorses a blood sugar meter, I have no trouble believing him.

Spread

The spread of viral marketing is another virtue. One day two people talk of a product and if they are impressed enough, by the evening, they have discussed it with eight others. Before you know, more people than you can handle, know of the product. The key aspect is that your product must be worth talking about, mere price differential is not enough. Secondly, your users must include someone who is good at social networking. It is not easy to find such people, but when you do find them, if you can persuade them to try your product, you have it made.

Focus

In traditional advertising you spread your message far and wide, hoping that some of your target audience will see it. Agreed you may try and speak to a select audience by selecting your TV channel or time or the type of websites or Adsense keywords, but it cant go more granular than that. In viral marketing, the focus of the advertising is as sharp as a needle. If I am crazy about cars and I know something really great about a new car, I wont talk of it to a friend who is mad about computers. But I will talk about it to friends and coworkers who are as car crazy as I am.

These attributes of viral marketing make it a great medium. Whether you are producing for local consumption or the globe is your market, a dash of viral marketing will always add an exotic flavor to your bottom line.

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