What Works & What is not in Viral Marketing
Stop with the enforced e-mail forwards already! The attempt to force or bribe people to your information, a family or friends to the front to be rewarded or win looks in today's ultra-permission-based world skanky. Especially when you tell visitors nothing about their friend or family's privacy in the room next to the e-mail form.
A true viral campaign will be forwarded because consumers are compelled to do so by the glory of the content, not because you bribed them with points or something else.
What does not work perfectly:
Suggesting that e-mail recipient of your message direct to their friends and family will not work. Add a line at the bottom of your e-mail that "Please do not hesitate to forward this message to a friend" is more likely to read deleted it, as passed.
What absolutely will work:
Divide with something worth as a valuable discount, vital information or offering an incentive for sharing like additional entries into a sweepstakes or does an additional discount or premium service.
Could encourage relevant or timely information, research or studies that are included in your e-mail recipients to share with their families and friends. Interactive content like a quiz or test, especially if it's fun, will inspire forwarding.
Jokes and cartoons are almost always forwarded to everybody the recipient knows. Why? Because they are entertaining and entertainment is to be divided.
A really cool multimedia experience is always a lot of pass-along to achieve. Rich media is new and the novelty and tech factors alone are often enough to the e-mail recipient eager to share it.
Oops! Almost forgot one really important thing …. You can e-mail to a brilliant all the rules of trade, but if a consumer visits your site and has an experience less that what was promised, you'll viral marketing to reach alright … the bad kind so sure that your product or service is ready and as advertised.
Related posts:
- B2B Marketers Do It, Too
- Viral Marketing Goes Mobile
- “Folksonomies” – a New Viral Marketing Tool
- 6 Ideas for Viral Marketing
- Keyword Research That Works

