Drastically reducing your marketing budget during a recession is not necessarily the best strategy, although exploring more cost-effective ways to spread your message is worthwhile. The internet provides many marketing opportunities – some of which cost very little to implement, such as viral marketing.

Viral marketing relies on individuals to pass along your message for you. Once a viral campaign takes hold, the word can spread quickly – and at very little cost to the message beneficiary. How can you get viral marketing working for you?<!–more–>

When Marketing Goes Viral
Although the benefits of a successful viral marketing campaign are self-evident, the possible drawbacks should also be considered. Perhaps the greatest potential pitfall is the inability to control how the message is shared once the viral activity begins.

When preparing a viral campaign, consider how the message may be perceived, taking care not to compromise the brand. That said, you may be of the view that no publicity is bad publicity.

It’s All About the Idea
The main cost involved in sending a marketing message virally is in the creativity to originate the initial ideas. Ask yourself:

1. What motivates your customers? What do they like to talk about? What are they passionate about?
2. What will make your campaign original?
3. What makes it worth passing along?

The following viral marketing campaign ideas might help get your creative juices flowing:

• Be funny
• Be thought-provoking, even provocative
• Provide a resource
• Offer a freebie
• Get behind a good cause

Each type of campaign has its pros and cons, so take time to think through your ideas and try to anticipate how to best prepare for the resulting activity.

Getting Started
Once you have a plan in place, the next step is to start spreading the word. Ideally, this should happen naturally as a result of an original, attractive message and subsequently publishing it to the right people in the right places.

As you may have experienced yourself, online video is a superb medium for viral marketing. Other successful methods might include:

• An email newsletter broadcast – emails are very easily passed on
• The use of Search Engine research to identify the best places to publish your viral message
• Appropriate blogs on which to participate
• The publication of your message (not spamming) on various Web 2.0 social networking websites
• SMS text messaging

The aim should be to have a catchy title so you can gain the attention of your target audience and then make it easy to share by adding a ‘forward to a friend’ capability, for instance. Utilising existing relationships with related businesses is another good way to get the ball rolling.

Viral marketing can be challenging to get off the ground. However, once the ball starts rolling, the resulting customer activity is well worth the effort. If you would like help preparing a viral marketing campaign, please call us on 01484 690430.