What is Viral Marketing?

Viral Marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions.

Off the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as "word-of-mouth," "creating a buzz," "leveraging the media," "network marketing." But on the Internet, for better or worse, it's called "viral marketing."

The strategy may also include video clips, interactive forums, newsletters, ebooks and images accompanied by dedicated test messages.


Elements of a Viral Marketing Strategy

A viral marketing strategy including 6 elements, but the more elements it embraces, the more powerful the results are likely to be. An effective viral mareting strategy:

1. Gives away products or services
2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
3. Scales easily from small to very large
4. Exploits common motivations and behaviors

5. Utilizes existing communication networks
6. Takes advantages of others' resources

Sources:

The Six Simple Principle of Viral Marketing by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant
http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm