The Importance of Viral Marketing in Launching a New Product

Successful viral campaigns depend on word-of-mouth marketing.

Viral marketing is a method of publicity that relies on people passing on a particular marketing message to others, so that awareness of a product or event expands and recreates by itself--just like a virus. Such a method can have many positive effects when launching a product.

Creating a Buzz

It's important to create a buzz, or a sense of anticipation, within your market about the product. Viral marketing campaigns, if successful, are one way of doing this. The bigger the buzz, the more the campaign will spread. It helps if the campaign is eye-catching, innovative and easy to share.

Online and Offline

Viral marketing campaigns work online and offline. Hotmail is often credited with being one of the first successful viral marketing campaigns. The company added a simple line of text advertising its free email accounts at the bottom of every email sent by its users. As Hotmail users sent more emails, more people saw the advertisement. As for offline, film companies have promoted cult films through viral marketing. The film "Cloverfield" was advertised on television with just its release date. This created a word-of-mouth reaction crucial to a viral marketing campaign.

Sharing

Viral marketing campaigns must be easy to share. This can as simple as talking to other people or sharing a link online. Mediums like video are easily embedded into websites, blogs and social media sites.

References

• Web Marketing Today: The Six Principles Of Viral Marketing
• Blogstorm: The Top 10 Viral Marketing Campaigns Of All Times
• Marketing Terms: Definition Of Viral Marketing