Tag Archives: Viral Marketing

Viral Marketing Crash Course – lesson four

April 18, 2009 – 5:40 am

I hope you are learning a lot from the Viral Marketing Crash
Course.

Today let’s talk about using ebooks to really go viral!

An ebook that includes your marketing message and a link to
your website is a proven technique in viral marketing. This method
uses the multiplication effect to “explode” the distribution of your
message by willing participants.

This is the same basic principle that was used by Hotmail to get
established and grow into a house hold name. When the two
founders set up their free email system, all the messages that
were sent by subscribers had a text message at the bottom which
identified Hotmail as the origin. People who sent emails to their
friends advertised the free email site.

One of the best reasons for using viral ebooks as a marketing
method is because is cheap. It doesn’t take long to set up and it’s
even quicker if you use rebrandable ebooks that have been written
by others.

Finding ready to go viral ebooks is pretty easy. Just use your
favorite search engine and do a search. You will find more than
enough rebrandable ebooks that are available on whatever
subject you are interested in and that apply to your e-business.
One method of distributing the ebook is to offer it to visitors in
exchange for subscribing to your newsletter. If they pass it on to
their friends and family it will promote your business for you.

Ebooks are capable of reaching a large audience and are limited
only by the enthusiasm of the participants.

Ebooks are fairly easy to create. It’s possible to produce your
own ebooks by combining articles that you have written or have
gotten from public domain sources, such as directories.

A common approach is to use material that has private label
rights, including articles and reports that have been written
specifically for that purpose, for that niche. Using a portion of a
larger work that you have prepared such as the first three chapters
of a large ebook could also be used as a viral ebook.

Using ebooks as a part of your viral marketing campaign is one
of many techniques that will have a cumulative effect on your
business, by attracting more customers, subscribers and targeted
visitors to your website. Start using them and you will soon find out
that this is an excellent way to increase sales and awareness too!

Look for another lesson soon! We will be talking about how you
can use online forums as a part of your viral marketing
campaign.

We’d love to hear from you! Please let us know what you think.

By admin | Posted in Internet Marketing, Viral Marketing | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Viral Marketing Crash Course – lesson three

April 17, 2009 – 9:25 pm

Today let’s talk about…….Getting a “Buzz” On

No not the one you get after a couple of cocktails! I’m talking about
a viral buzz.

I’m not sure if you have noticed or not but viral marketing has
matured quite a bit over the past few years. There seems to have
been a shift to the web not just being seen by agencies and
brands as another tick box for any ad campaign, which is
significant enough, but now being the medium where a campaign
is launched to create a buzz before a new product even hits the
market.

Have you ever noticed that before a movie is released you will see
clips and trailers which are used to generate excitement and
activity before the movie hits the theaters? That’s buzz.

Plain and simple buzz works! Just like it works for movies and big
businesses, it can work for small and start-up businesses, as well.
The planning stage of a viral campaign will set out objectives and
develop the viral theme for a buzz. There are three core
components to any viral campaign and businesses of any size can
use them.

They are:

1. The creative material: the viral agent that embodies the
message you want to spread in a digital format (image, video,
text, etc). The trick is to put together material that people will be
eager to share with their family and friends. Keep in mind when
you are creating your content that people are much more eager to
share something that is either fun, entertaining or informative
rather
than an advertisement.

2. Seeding: distributing and placing the agent online in places
that provide the greatest potential spread. Direct viral material
downloads or links on specialist viral third-party web sites in order
to create awareness and spread before users get to the
campaign destination site.

3. Tracking: Measuring the spread of the campaign to provide
accountability and prove success. It is absolutely vital that you
know what is or is not working. The only way to get that information
is to track the results of your seeding.

Lessons have been learned, trends have been developed and
there is definitely some science involved in creating a buzz
successfully. The buzz technique is here to stay and, if used
strategically, it can make a difference to the success of your
business.

Just take some time and create a solid viral marketing plan using
the steps above and it won’t be long before you get your buzz on!

Look for another lesson soon! We will be talking about using
ebooks to really go viral.

By admin | Posted in Internet Marketing, Viral Marketing | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Viral Marketing Crash Course – lesson two

April 16, 2009 – 7:51 pm

It’s time for your second lesson. I hope you found lesson one
informative.

In this lesson we will be talking about using email to achieve your
viral marketing objectives.

During this lesson I want you to keep in mind that the main
objective of an e-mail campaign is branding, in order to achieve
greater branding success and maximum exposure for your offer
you should do your best to craft your email message in a way that
it encourages your readers to pass it along to others.

Producing a message with a quality offer or an incentive for
passing it along is what viral marketing is all about.

Just suggesting that e-mail recipients forward your message to
their friends and relatives is not viral marketing. A message at the
bottom of your e-mail that reads “Feel free to forward this
message to a friend” is nowhere close to viral marketing at its
best.

On the other hand, if something worthy of sharing, such as a
valuable discount, vital information, additional entries into a
sweepstakes, an added discount or premium service, a
joke/cartoon, or a hilarious video, is included in the e-mail, viral
marketing happens naturally and quite successfully.

The bottom line is that your message must be perceived as having
value. Relevant or timely information, research, or studies are all
good examples of content that might be viewed as potential pass-
along material. Interactive content like a quiz or text can inspire
forwarding, especially if it is fun. Personality tests, fitness quizzes,
or compatibility questionnaires are all things that have been
passed on by many people many times.

Why? Because they are entertaining and entertainment has value.

A good video is always going to achieve some pass-along value.
After all online video is hot! It is a bit more of a time and money
investment but the messages have a great appeal and rich media
has the advantage of being new. The tech factor alone is often
enough for the message to be perceived as valuable.

Email is the ultimate “word of mouth” marketing tool. If your email
message is “viral” in nature, your customer can quickly and easily
forward it to friends and family, spreading your message to an
ever growing list of potential customers.

Look for another lesson soon! We will be talking about getting
your buzz going!

Again, I appreciate your time for visiting and reading this post.

Jim – siteforsell.com

By admin | Posted in Internet Marketing, Viral Marketing | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)