3 steps to a viral marketing campaign
January 11, 2008 by ShannonCherry
Filed under Business
Lately, in my business, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about viral marketing – and how someone can use it to build buzz.
The key to a successful one (just like any other marketing tactic) is planning.
There are three core components to any viral campaign:
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 and people are much more eager to share “advertainment” and 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.
Shannon,
What I want to market is my blog on sales coaching:
Coaching Sales Champions
http://karlgoldfield.blogspot.com
How would I find seed sites to promote?
as admittedly-so, is much the same as a non-Viral marketing plan right?
my mind thinks:
virality: what makes someone want to pass this to their friend, you don’t send a flyer to your friend, so it’s beyond creative, it must create an urge to show
seeding: prob a must, but it should really be just 1-time seeding, not trying to flog a dead horse over and over and over…
tracking: a truly successful campaign wil be so explosive, it cannot possibly be tracked. track anyway, so you know why its still trackable
Spend tons of time on the creative aspects; I’d suggest that there is something about it tied to your message, image, or story.
Seeding is done a little at a time to determine whether the seeding is right or the message is right. You can be doing great seeding, but the viral is just not good enough to pass along.
Tracking, everything can be tracked, set up alerts on search engines, technorati, and others you will see if your viral is getting traction.
However, remember Viral does not = leads and $ to your company. It doesn’t period end of story. There is no equation, other than coincidence that says x number of viral pass alongs = $ in new revenue. If there is, that certainly can’t be projected. This is the reason why most businesses that participate in viral e.g. Coca Cola view it as part of a branding strategy and not “leads.”
So to the sales coach trying to figure out where April’s revenue is coming from, viral will not replace networking, and other sources of new business, unless you are selling a product at a low price point on the web.