October 5, 2012

“Viral marketing” might sound as an increasingly complex and technical term at first sight. But when you gain an understanding of it, you realize that it is probably the simplest, yet most effective marketing technique for any business. The name “viral” stems from how, much as the microorganism, such a marketing campaign proliferates rapidly, and goes on to become the one thing everyone’s talking about. We’ve all had a taste of this, whether in the form of an amateur YouTube video that was strangely compelling, or a television ad that we couldn’t help talking about wherever we went. In other words, a viral campaign is one that relies on word of mouth.

Social media networks have made it simpler than ever for businesses to launch viral marketing campaigns, whether by sharing interesting content with their users, or by using the ever-powerful reviews as a means to attract new customers. Nothing can work more effectively than a positive review by a family member, friend, or even acquaintance, for a product or service. The fact that such a review is sure to be unbiased is what makes it stand out from the most elaborate advertising gimmick, and it is on this reliability, that viral marketing thrives.
The following viral marketing techniques have been proven for their efficacy, and if you haven’t yet applied them for your business, now is the time to get started-

  • Upload videos- Video-sharing sites like YouTube and Metacafe are a god-sent for internet marketers. Take some time to decide a theme of your video, ensuring that you keep it relevant to your business, while still managing to capture the interest of your target audience.
  • Social media marketing- SMM is emerging as a whole new profession in itself and works as a powerful boost to viral marketing campaigns. Make the most of social media networks like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Just having a profile is not enough. You need to make a constant effort to keep your users engaged through your online presence on these networks.
  • Share widgets- Make sure that the content on every page of your website is accompanied with share widgets for top video sharing and social media sites. This is a great way to generate quality back links for your website.
  • Content, content, content– At the end of the day, viral marketing is all about the content that you send out on to the web. This could be in the form of articles, blogs, e-books, newsletters, etc. Choose topics and themes carefully, and ensure that you make no compromise on the quality of content.

We at Centex Technologies provide Internet Marketing solutions to our clients in Austin, Dallas and Killeen areas in Central Texas. For more information, call us at (800) 236-1497