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The main distinguishing features of viral advertising are the naturalness of the message, which contains information regarding the product/service, as well as a unique and extraordinary idea that is sure to attract the attention of the audience. This type of advertising received its name “viral” due to the fact that it is transmitted from person to person.
How and by whom is viral advertising used?
Today, viral campaigns are actively used by large and medium-sized companies. It is especially relevant for global corporations, whose products are known almost all over the world. These enterprises have already achieved a high level of skill in conducting such advertising campaigns.
The main forms used in viral advertising: audio recordings, videos, photographic materials, original news feeds and the launch of rumors, short informative texts and news, holding flash mobs. Content is composed in such a way as to evoke emotions in the audience. Preferably positive.
Pros and cons of viral advertising on the Internet
First, let's look at the advantages of viral marketing:
If we talk about the advantages for advertising customers, we can note the absence of any restrictions, there is not even any special censorship. This even opens up opportunities for promoting special categories of goods, for example, products for adults/alcohol/tobacco products and so on. And again, it is worth emphasizing the duration of the life cycle, which ranges from three years and above.
The disadvantages include the following:
- It is not easy to plan and forecast a campaign. Today it is almost impossible to determine whether the campaign will be successful and whether the “virus” will spread; it is impossible to calculate even the approximate speed of its spread. This is due to the fact that the main role in distribution is played by a live audience, users. It is quite difficult to predict their behavior.
- The cost of a good idea and preparation of a viral product can be high. It’s not enough to come up with a great idea, you also need to implement it well, otherwise the whole effect will be lost and will not make sense.
- Audience limitation. Unfortunately, viral advertising on the Internet only reaches Internet users. If you are promoting products/companies/services that are more aimed at users who are rarely online, it is better to abandon viral marketing.
Examples of viral advertising
- Such advertising is aimed at a male network user; he will obviously be interested in such a “motorcycle” and will pass it on to his friends.
- Here's another good example. The pizza is so hot that even the cat lay down on it to warm up. Well, how can you not be touched and send it to a friend?
- And here is an interesting Hugo Boss banner. It is clear that this is editing. However, many take it at face value and share it with friends.
- Speaking of video content, Android's "Friends Furever" video is a must-watch. It was shared 6,432,921 times in 2015 alone, when it first appeared. This speaks of a colossal success.
How to run viral advertising
- First you need to analyze the target audience, on which Internet resources they spend most of their time. Perhaps these are social networks or video hosting, etc. Then a viral marketing strategy is drawn up, since the matter is not limited to the publication of one material. In this case, you need to take into account all the characteristics of potential clients.
- Content development. This is the most difficult stage: you need to work out the material in detail and create a high-quality advertising product that can boast high potential.
- Spreading. After the advertising message is ready, it is necessary to distribute it online. If the ad is really interesting, it will be viewed by thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of users of the World Wide Web. Advertising of this type allows you not only to attract new customers, but also to force existing customers to place a new order.
- Monitoring. As you know, we do not control what we do not consider. It is necessary to constantly monitor the process and monitor for feedback. You need to get statistics on the prevalence of the virus to see the picture and draw conclusions about the effectiveness.
- Grade. It is necessary to calculate such indicators as demographic data, number of unique views, peaks of activity, tone of feedback, volume of comments.
It will be useful to use the principles of creating viral advertising. This tool is designed to attract the attention of the audience and transfer it to the product/product.
You can do this through:
- Scandals. Incredibly, fights and scandals spread on the Internet at breakneck speed.
- Shock. The public needs to be shocked, break existing rules, and do crazy things.
- Laughter and humor. Advertising messages with a touch of humor spread much faster, since we all love to laugh and want to make the people we know smile more often.
- "Cutness." These are our beloved kittens, puppies, little children. All this cannot but evoke tenderness, along with a desire to share.
, product or service. The technology is based on the desire of people to share information, as a result of which a marketing message, like a virus, is transmitted from one person to another, taking advantage of every opportunity.
History of origin
The term “viral marketing” was first used in 1996 by Harvard Business School professor Jeffrey Rayport in his article The Virus ofmarketing (“Virus in marketing”). In it, he outlined six rules for creating and developing viral marketing, thereby laying the foundations for a new direction.
Rayport predicted that this innovation would soon become widespread. And already in 1999, this idea was first implemented on the Internet: on the Hotmail mail service, each user’s letter was automatically accompanied by an invitation from the company to open a mailbox on Hotmail.
A significant contribution to the popularization and development of viral marketing was made by a certain category of office employees, who are also known as “office plankton”.
The category of low-level office employees, who always have time during the working day to exchange entertaining or funny information with each other, have become a priority target audience for viral marketers.
Especially if we consider that these consumers of viral advertising are also a fairly solvent audience, this served as a compelling reason for the introduction of this type of advertising into the Internet community.
Types of viral content
Various communities can act as conductors of viral marketing, for example, trendsetters (from English to set trend “to establish, introduce a trend”) - specially trained and hired agents, as well as people with high purchasing power or a predisposition to purchase certain goods, which are often may be regular customers or discount card holders.
Viral marketing is especially effective if it is carried out on frequently visited pages on social networks, Internet pages with real bloggers who have a certain audience, history and authority on various resources (in this case, cooperation can also be carried out on a paid basis).
Stages of a viral campaign
A viral campaign consists of four key and equally significant stages:
Like any type of marketing communication, viral marketing has its advantages and disadvantages that must be taken into account when working with it. The advantages include:
- Minimum Costs.
- Information is transmitted from a “trusted” source, and is not imposed by mass advertising.
The disadvantages are the following:
- It is difficult to organize control.
- Information is often greatly distorted.
Conditions for a successful viral marketing campaign
In order for a viral message in a veiled form to be freely distributed among the maximum number of Internet users, you should take care of some preparatory nuances.
1) Suitable sites.
In order for a viral message to be seen and appreciated by its first users, you should choose a high-quality, highly visited website, popular online communities on social networks, thematic forums and other popular sites for posting it.
2) The speed and ease of spread of the virus.
Convenient conditions should be created for the exchange and dissemination of information between users:
- no registrations or access restrictions,
- access to the necessary information in a minimum of clicks.
- good usability of the site-platform.
3) The novelty of the viral idea.
You shouldn’t even try to copy someone else’s successful viral strategies or borrow other people’s ideas. In viral marketing, innovation and uniqueness are valued above all else.
4) A clear understanding of the target audience that the viral strategy will be aimed at.
Areas of application of viral marketing
According to the channels of influence and the methods used, viral marketing can be classified as follows:
Viral Marketing Offline
1) Buzz - the deliberate and planned spread of rumors for commercial purposes. Moreover, it is quite beneficial for advertisers if, as a result, information from the original source is distorted and overgrown with fictitious additional information. Such a marketing move requires extreme caution, because the vector of events can get out of control and then the “marketer’s weapon” can turn into a boomerang.
2) WOM - advertising by word of mouth. This is an extraordinary verbal advertising communication, the essence of which is that the distributors of information in WOM understand what they are doing, why and what material benefit they will have in the end.
In practice, the use of this technology looks something like this: specially hired people live their lives, work, go about their business, but in the process of communicating with other people do not forget to mention, on occasion, the name of a brand, brand or product and tell something about it in a positive way key.
3) Opinion Leaders - opinion leaders. Famous people (stars, actors, influential people) who have their own circle of fans or whose opinion is considered indisputable. Through these persons it is quite possible to influence the inclinations of consumers.
For each industry, market, region, opinion leaders are different, but in any case, the words of opinion leaders are believed more than advertising, because the opinion of a well-established person is more interesting for buyers than advertising.
Naturally, leaders voice their opinions, recommendations and thoughts about the promoted product or service not for free, but their words are heard by a wider circle of people, which means it is advisable to pay advertisers for this service.
4) Friend – communication that has many types of impact, but is based on the “refer a friend” mechanism and receive a discount, prize, bonus or other benefit for this.
Viral Marketing Online
1) Viral Video – viral video. The essence is this: an entertaining, funny, exciting video with any plot that may be interesting is uploaded to a popular portal. Not necessarily about the advertised products. It’s even possible without censorship or from the “only for adults” category. In the context of the video, subtitles are launched with the website address or company name. And you can count on an impressive number of visitors.
2) Viral Game – a game with a viral mechanism. The bottom line is that the advertiser entertains his potential buyers. As a rule, it is impossible to do without exciting competitions, public events and valuable prizes. Naturally, this type of viral game marketing can only be afforded by large corporations that are preparing to promote a rather exclusive product to the market.
3) Blogging – influence by exploiting the interests of readers and visitors.
When did the viral marketing epidemic begin? This happened more than 20 years ago, in 1994, when American media scholar and writer Douglas Rushkoff wrote a book about advertising called Media Virus. It tells about easily suggestible people who not only become infected with the desired idea, but also spread it among their friends, relatives and acquaintances. Then in 1996, Jeffrey Rayport published an article, The Virus of marketing, whose title translates as “The Virus of Marketing.” This term, having undergone a slight transformation, has become commonly used. This is how the foundation of viral marketing was laid.
What is viral marketing?
Viral marketing is the use of “flying ideas” to push them to the masses. This is a controlled rumor, a kind of material that by its nature attracts attention, provokes discussion, and thereby helps a business in sales. The basis of such marketing is the need of people to communicate and exchange information. And if the marketing message is truly worthwhile, interesting and unusual, then it, like a virus, will quickly spread among the desired audience through it itself (without the involvement of outside resources such as the media).
Basic elements of viral marketing according to Jonah Berger
He described the basics of viral marketing in his book “Contagious. Psychology of word of mouth. How Products and Ideas Become Popular" by Professor Jonah Berger of the Wharton School of Business. In his book, he formulated the main elements and methods of viral marketing:
social currency. The public loves to share information that shows its desire for development, education, and new knowledge. Such links to useful articles on a social network, blog or website improve the image of the resource owner in the eyes of the target audience;
emotions. Users love to share information that evokes strong emotions. A significant part of viral content appeals to human emotions such as anxiety, anger, and delight. But the sadness caused by the content is unlikely to contribute to its further promotion;
publicity. If users see that someone they know has already performed an action, it becomes easier for them to repeat it;
practical value. As noted above, the practical benefits of an advertising message have significant viral potential. Such content spreads quickly, since it not only helps solve life problems, but also increases the importance of the person spreading it;
stories. People love good stories, they like to retell and pass them on to each other. Tell your audience an interesting tale with your product in the leading role, intrigue the audience, make them wait for the continuation of the story.
Four Reasons to Use Viral Marketing Techniques for Online Advertising
How to create a viral marketing campaign?
There is no magic way to make an ad go viral. Marketers do not have an arsenal of proven technologies, and never will, because disseminating information is too unpredictable a process. But the successful experience of viral marketing in Russia shows that there are several conditions that increase the likelihood that content will go viral.
Eight viral social media marketing tools + examples
1. Images.
These are photoshoppers, demotivators, memes. You can create your own viral image based on the product or adapt popular memes. Also, humor, children and cats continue to be viral topics in marketing.
More than 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Only 1 million videos get 1 million views, and only 50 - 100 million views. So not every video goes viral. But if people want to share the video, it quickly spreads beyond the social network.
3. Applications.
The most famous example of a viral application is Instagram. The application appeared in the App Store on October 6, 2010, and six months later it was downloaded by 70 million users. To date, the number of registered users exceeds 1 billion.
Here are more successful examples of viral marketing in apps:
4. Infographics.
It should contain valuable information that is visualized and therefore easily remembered. Instructions and life hacks work great here.
5. Articles.
On social networks, marketers recommend writing stories in the storytelling genre. These can be incriminating articles, heartbreaking stories about the fate of a person, the destruction of common truths and texts, after reading which you want to say: “He literally expressed my thoughts!” Viral articles should either provide unique information that is not found anywhere else, or speculate on hot trending news. Relevant and useful content in the spirit of “The most complete instructions on stroke.”
To create a viral article on social media. network, use topics that have a high potential for controversy. The identified issue should be easy to discuss. People prefer to discuss sensitive topics. Moreover, social networks are more willing to display posts with a large number of comments in the feed. It should be borne in mind that the willingness to start discussions that hurt feelings depends on the specifics of the brand. For example, you can discuss female driving in auto-themed groups, feeding animals vegetarian food in a vegetarian group, etc.
6. Incentivized viral: promotions, competitions.
This is a method of viral marketing on the Internet, when users are promised a bonus for reposting or some other action. It helps not only to advertise the product, but also to increase loyalty of the target audience.
You can start a selfie contest on Instagram. For example, let’s take the fictional coffee shop “Kofeyok”, which is giving away a liter of cappuccino. What conditions? Take a photo of yourself against the background of the coffee shop sign, post the photo on your page, mention @kofeek, put the hashtag #coffeekdaritlitercapuccino and try your luck in the drawing.
7. A series of viruses in marketing.
How to get people talking about the product and waiting for the new release? Make a TV series about him, like the company Blendtec, which sells blenders, did. In every episode of Will It Blend? users were shown a new experiment in which they tried to grind a product using the device. In the end it came down to the iPad - it turned into powder.
A great viral marketing technique because it demonstrates the power of the blender. It’s immediately clear that he can definitely handle nuts and ice.
8. Interactive.
When developing viral marketing strategies, marketers take advantage of people's love for interaction. Invite users to take part in the campaign, as Sberbank did. First, he launched the “What kind of cat are you?” test, and then an online service for delivering cats for housewarming parties. Sberbank’s digital campaign quickly spread across the Internet and became one of the most popular in Russia in 2015.
The true reason for the success of a particular viral campaign is extremely difficult to determine. And it is even more difficult to repeat this success, even using the same methods.
But the basis of viral marketing remains content. Make it as cool as you can. Even if your content doesn't get a million views, it will win the love of the public. The more great content, the more loyal users you will get.
Use viral marketing techniques and you will see the effect!
Until recently, about viral marketing in
Internet advertisers responded unflatteringly. Some thought this method
promotions are ineffective, others are undignified, others are not at all
had an idea about the technology of production and spread of the virus.
By
in the opinion of the creator of the Antimult studio Natalia Ovchinnikova, today
ideas about viral marketing are changing qualitatively, and
the use of a bright and figurative virus becomes the only
an opportunity to stand out from the crowd of on-line advertising.
Just a few years ago, viral marketing (a method
promotion on the Internet, when information about a company or product
distributed by consumers themselves through personal recommendations - E.A.)
developed spontaneously, and its effectiveness could only be judged
intuitively. Today, specific distribution schemes have already been developed
virus, tools have been created to measure the effectiveness of the campaign,
therefore, viral marketing is becoming the same full-fledged method
promotions, like any other. Another interesting point: if earlier
Viral marketing was resorted to mainly by companies whose
products are aimed at a youth audience, now use
Even reputable companies do not shun viruses.
Cartoon format
Success Criteria
The second criterion for the success of viral marketing is small amount of virus. This is a formal requirement - short, laconic animated videos are better “digested” by users.
Distribution strategy
The scope of viral marketing is extremely wide: the launch of new brands and products,
increasing brand awareness and maintaining awareness of
product or service, increasing target audience loyalty,
sales promotion, Internet support for BTL and promotions. But what
Whatever the goal of viral marketing, it must meet a clear
organizational system. The structure of a viral campaign consists of
from the following stages:
- Choosing a Strategy. Any strategy follows
from tasks. Therefore, at the initial stage we need to decide what we
We want to achieve viral marketing: attract a large number of
visitors to the site or inform about the release of a new product? From
tasks will depend on which blogs to disseminate information on
which sections, for which audience, etc.
- Virus design. At this stage, we choose the form of virus propagation. What will it be: an animated video, a flash toy, or maybe a website?
According to our calculations, in order to ensure
good traffic to the site or links (say, 300 thousand unique
visitors per month), 7-10 active users are enough, who
will carry out viral marketing at the initial stage.
- Measuring and tracking the results of a viral campaign.
The last step in running a viral campaign is to evaluate it.
effectiveness. It's easy to calculate the statistics. If the virus is located on
website, we program the portal in such a way that it is possible
track who comes to the site and how: from what resources, how often and
etc. There is, for example, the SpyLock system, with which you can
record this data.
But the most important thing in viral marketing is to do
a bright, memorable thing. Only in this case can you build personal
emotional relationship with the consumer, achieve a high degree
involvement of the Internet audience in the distribution process (how
practice shows that more than 50% of users re-view
virus) and finally get the desired PR effect from the viral campaign.