What Is Viral Marketing?

Viral promotion or viral marketing is one of the advertising technologies that involves representatives of the target audience as distributors of commercial information about a service or product. This approach uses the word of mouth effect, and the message itself is aimed at creating a resonance, scandal, provocation in society. The main criterion for viral advertising and marketing is that the message must "catch" the audience. Accordingly, people who see such a banner on the street or on the Internet react to the original advertisement, rush to capture it and share it with friends on social networks or tell it when they meet.

Often, viral marketing works on the verge of a foul, and the advertising message encourages a person to consciously or unconsciously disseminate information. In this technology, both positive emotions (WoW effect and others) and negative reactions of the target audience go to the general treasury of involvement. In any case, the main goal is achieved - information is quickly spread in offline and online space.

We will consider the dangers of viral marketing further, but the main disadvantages are the possibility of falling under the ban of the Federal Law "On Advertising", negative public outcry and boycott of products, and a decrease in the company's image. The technology should be applied carefully, because you can lose your reputation in a few days of outrageous advertising, and it will take years to restore the trust of the target audience.

Types of Viral Marketing

The carriers of viral advertising are videos, text materials, posts in social networks, pictures or graphics, audio recordings, e-books, programs and games. Anything that involves mass attention of the target audience is used by marketers to create a catchy message.

Viral marketing online and offline is divided into several types:

1. Word of mouth radio. Only mastodon corporations can hire 50-100 thousand people to spread information about a product or service. However, this figure is nothing compared to the number of users who are willing to share information themselves. You just need to hook the target audience and millions of free "advertising carriers" will "spread" the news about your product or company in a short time.
2. Gossip. Viral marketing uses such an ancient tool of heating up the excitement among the public as rumors. The goal is to evoke emotions, interest around a product, service or event. In 90% of cases, rumor is distorted and emotionally heated information, so you should use this tool in commercial tasks carefully and carefully. Having released the rumor "to the will" then it will be very difficult to correct it. For example, Hollywood loves to talk about the personal lives of stars. As the saying goes, "people hawala", the dream conveyor works. One "but" - this whole viral campaign is usually launched before the release of a new blockbuster with the participation of "illuminated" actors.
3. Monitoring of opinions. Buyers of goods, users of services during discussions come to a certain opinion about the product. Often, public or consumer opinion is supported by the majority of the target audience and the rest of the buyers are guided by it. Marketers regularly monitor audience preferences.
4. Provocation, scandal. Such viral marketing technologies are often used in the media and social networks. Marketers know that any scandal or provocation causes a strong reaction from users and target audience. Even if people realize they are being baited, most find it difficult to resist polemics. People get involved in a scandal or provocation and spread the message across the network.
5. Distribution reward. Large companies "recruit" agents from among ordinary users / buyers who are paid a certain amount of money to spread information or perform a targeted action. Such communication is called WOM (Word Of Mouth) - verbal advertising communication. Even business giants do not disdain this way of promotion. For example, in 2005, Procter & Gamble recruited about 10,000 young mothers throughout the United States to praise the company's products in any communication with the target audience (the same mothers). Sales of diapers and other baby products have grown markedly.

Viral marketing is not limited to only five types - there are many more. With the advent of the Internet, the possibilities of influencing users have increased many times over. However, the technology is based on a simple principle - to make the product recognizable among the target audience.

Ideas, goals and methods of viral marketing

Marketers know that a satisfied and loyal customer is ready to share information about a product or company with 3-4 people - acquaintances, colleagues, relatives. However, he is ready to share negative emotions from contact with a brand or ordering low-quality services with 8-10 people. These features of the consumer's psyche are used by viral marketing on the Internet and offline.

The main goal of marketers is to set the focus of influence on people with high social significance. These can be well-known bloggers, media personalities, opinion leaders and others. A virus message is formed under them. The success of the campaign depends on how much they are imbued with information.

Depending on the goals, viral marketing can be:

In any of these types, you should “cunningly” show a product or service so that the target audience does not mistake the message for an advertisement. However, viral marketing is a tool for business development, so the brand symbolism of the company must be used to remind you of yourself.

Viral promotion methods:

1. Pass along - translated as the transfer or dissemination of information. An analogue of "word of mouth" only for the online environment. People exchange advertising messages on their own. A popular format is videos. These can be music videos, trailers for a new movie, videos with humor, and more. If unobtrusive advertising is “sewn” into such materials, the effect will exceed expectations. Text and graphic formats of advertising are also used. For example, a scandalous article exposing a media person or a provocative graphic. In any case, users must be willing to share information, then the virus will achieve its goal.
2. Incentivized viral - motivation and reward for the action performed. The method involves not just spontaneous product promotion, but long-term work to promote a product or service in the target environment. This includes all kinds of promotions, bonuses, drawings of the form: “bring a friend and get a 15% discount”, “Repost the message and take part in the prize draw”.
3. Undercover - the method uses people's curiosity about everything hidden. Marketers create content before the start of the project and massively pump up intrigue around it or create artificial restrictions. For example, they send personal invitations for registration, limit the number of participants at first, and more.
4. Buzz is everyone's favorite rumors, flash mobs, large-scale promotions. The target audience is attracted in absolutely any way. For example, people are hired who buy and praise the company's products. This method, if used incorrectly, can greatly harm the brand or media person. For example, the recent scandal on the show “Voice. Children".

Advantages and disadvantages of viral marketing

Let's see what advantages and disadvantages deserve attention when working with viral advertising. Let's start with the "pros":

1. Economic benefit. Viral marketing in 90% does not require large investments, a heavy budget for advertising. If a video on TV is waste, waste, and more waste, then viral content is almost free. And its promotion is completely free - people themselves distribute advertising, discuss details, recommend.
2. Audience loyalty. With the exception of inept provocations and scandalous stories, viral content arouses genuine user interest. Plus, the message comes from trusted sources - friends, famous bloggers, information resources. Such a move does not arouse suspicion and completely eliminates the effect of intrusive advertising.
3. There are practically no restrictions on the part of the law of the Russian Federation. Viral content often uses the themes of sex and scandal. Such advertising will not work on TV, plus restrictions on the promotion of alcohol and tobacco products. In the global network, it is often possible to play with taboo topics without any sanctions from the law. However, Yandex, Google and social networks have introduced a number of restrictions for advertisers.
4. A long-running project with no restrictions on time and duration of the show. Any advertising on TV, banners, ads in the media have a limited period of validity. It is difficult for marketers to time user activity in order to achieve a high ROI . Viral marketing is good because the transmission of information does not stop, so you do not need to worry about the broadcast time and other nuances. Experts say that viral content can "walk" on the network for 2-3 years and bring dividends.

Let's look at the disadvantages:

1. Viral marketing alone is not enough. No matter how good the tool is, it is impossible to use only it for effective business development. Realize the potential only in combination with other types of advertising. You also need to understand that even creative content will not help if the product or service does not meet the expectations of the audience.
2. It is necessary to warm up the activity. If you have kindled a hype around a product, event or service, then you will have to maintain the “fire” until the goal is achieved and a little longer. This is not always possible to do with high quality, because you regularly need “shock” or interesting material. Otherwise, users will quickly lose interest in the brand and feel cheated, which is even worse.
3. Viral content is difficult to manage. By running such an ad without thinking through all the nuances in advance, you can lose control over the “virus”. This can lead to negative consequences.
4. Dependent on luck. Viral marketing tries to systematize advertising campaigns, but it is often very difficult to predict the behavior of the target audience. You can plan all the actions, but not get the expected result. Therefore, it is recommended to use several promotion strategies and different types of marketing.

How to create a viral campaign

Viral marketing can be put into practice using the following means: social boom, triggers or PR slogans, attract the target audience with an emotional message, enlist public support, tell a scandalous story. Emphasis on popular media personalities, mass actions, flash mobs also work flawlessly.

7 Steps to Run Viral Ads

1. Determine the purpose of viral marketing.
2. Assign executors.
3. Develop a PR strategy.
4. Create original promotional content.
5. Launch a virus into the network, mass character is important.
6. Analyze the intermediate result, adjust actions (if possible).
7. Get campaign results.

Viral Marketing: Examples

Here are some examples of successful implementation of the strategy.

Old Spice - the company shoots bright, funny and memorable videos with a "skew" to the theme of male superiority. At the start, the company actively promoted advertising in social networks, websites, TV, and wherever possible. At what point did the videos go viral? Users began to make fun of funny videos, repost, discuss, shoot parodies. All this played into the hands of the brand.

KFC, a fast food chain, has been shocking people with an outdoor show for several years now. Playing obscene expressions on the verge of a foul, reinforcing them with thematic graphics, the company creates the image of a "tough guy". Their "arrogance" and unscrupulousness in the fight against the main competitor, McDonald's, is especially catchy.

WePay. Another example of viral marketing on a small budget. Vee-Pay's competitor, PayPal, regularly "frozen" user accounts and funds on them, which caused a storm of indignation among customers. WePay played on this event by placing a 60-foot block of ice in front of the entrance to the competitor's conference. So the young company showed that the advantages of a competitor are nothing.

Summary

We learned what viral marketing is. We studied its types, advantages and disadvantages. We looked at some examples of successful viral campaigns, and also found out the general algorithm for launching ads.