Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is a type of promotion that capitalizes on the power of social media by leveraging existing customers' networks to spread a company’s message quickly and widely. With viral marketing, companies leverage networks of existing customers who, through their own connections, are able to share a company’s message, product, or service with others. This is functionally similar to “word-of-mouth” advertising, however, with the benefit of digital technologies enabling connections with much wider networks of people.

The goal of viral marketing is to increase brand awareness and strengthen customer relationships by creating content that is so compelling and engaging that it encourages customers to share it with their peers. For example, a company could create a blog post, video, or other type of content that is of high enough value that customers actively want to share it with their peers, friends, or co-workers to provide them helpful information.

Viral marketing is beneficial because it is inexpensive, in terms of both time and money, and can quickly lead to widespread brand recognition. It also has the potential to bring in high quality, loyal customers who value the messages that the company is trying to share.

For example, if a company that produces protein powder were to create a blog post that provides helpful health-related advice, such as “4 Healthy Alternatives to Processed Protein Powders”, that post could be shared quickly and easily by existing customers to their friends and family. People can share the post through social media platforms, emails, and other digital means that reach far beyond the original customer’s network. This can lead to a rapid growth in brand awareness and potentially, a growth in sales.

In conclusion, viral marketing is a powerful promotional tool that leverages the power of existing customers to successfully spread a company’s message without the need for costly advertising campaigns. With a great piece of content and a strategy for capitalizing on existing networks, companies can easily reach more potential customers in an efficient manner.