First of all, I realize that anything with "viral" in the
name doesn't conjure up images of something you want close
by, but there is a new type of Internet marketing known as
"viral marketing" is worth investigating. Despite its
unflattering appellation, it is an effective Internet
collaboration marketing tool, and one that is important to
understand if you want to expand your business.
What is Viral Marketing?
Viral marketing is a strategy that encourages your business
to carry a marketing message via e-mail, and to partner
with other businesses, which will attach your marketing
message to their emails. This is ultimately another form
of collaborative marketing for your company, but one that
lends credibility because your message is passed on through
other companies. The name viral marketing was chosen to
indicate the way a virus can rapidly multiply within a
cell, and ultimately taking over the cell, bending the cell
to the whims of the virus. This aggressive expansion and
growth is the target of a viral marketing platform.
The strategy ultimately uses a network of relationships
that you have developed, as well as the relationships and
resources of the companies with whom you are collaborating,
which are attaching your message to their emails. This can
work both for your own business, as well as a collaborative
marketing partnership with other companies.
You can include a marketing message in the emails that your
company sends to its clients and customers, and you can
contract to have your marketing message sent by other
companies, via their emails. By creating collaborative
relationships with secondary companies to pass along your
email advertisement, you will be able to reach out to a
whole new client base that, perhaps otherwise, you would
not have been able to target.
This may sound a little confusing at first: am I sending
marketing messages along with my companies emails, or are
other companies sending my advertisement along with their
emails? The answer is either, or both—both are good
ways to get a marketing message broadcasted. Using an
outside company often involves a fee, but may be a
worthwhile investment due to the sheer volume of people
you'll be able to reach, as well as the range of customers
you'll be able to target, because it differs from your
typical client base.
A Few Examples
You have undoubtedly been exposed to viral marketing, yet
have not realized it or registered the fact. One of the
most classic examples of viral marketing is used by the
free email website, Hotmail.com. If I have a hotmail
account, automatically attached to each email message I
send is an accompanying by a message from Hotmail.com,
encouraging the recipient to sign up for an account. In
this way, Hotmail is advertising its own business through
the emails that each of its existing clients sends.
Another clear example is that of e-greeting cards. Each
greeting card that is sent carries the company's marketing
message, encouraging the recipient to send a card using
this service. If I receive an electronic greeting card
from a friend, I will automatically be prompted to send a
card using the site from which I've just received mail.
Viral marketing is a newer Internet marketing strategy that
was more recently developed and is quickly becoming
popular. It is a strategic way to advertise your business
and services, as well as to partner with other companies to
help you form a broader collaborative marketing platform.
----------------------------------------------------
Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A strategic
Collaboration Marketing consulting firm. He empowers
business owners to discover and implement Integration,
Alliance, and Joint Venture marketing tactics to solve
specific business challenges. He demonstrates how to create
your own Collaboration Marketing Strategy to increase your
sales, conversation rates, and repeat business.
Contact: christian@christianfea.com
http://www.christianfea.com
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