Viral Marketing
Viral marketing and viral advertising are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of virus or computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips.
The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high Social Networking Potential (SNP) and create viral messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being taken by another competitor. The term "viral marketing" has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of AstroTurf on-line combined with under market advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.
Viral marketing services (VMS) include full service marketing, advertising, and media brokerage. There are outsourced companies hired for these services. Like other professional niches, (i.e. lawyer, accountant, IT), companies are now being sought for their professional insight and expertise in Guerilla marketing strategies and advanced Internet and mobility technology in the hopes of providing more leads, sales, and profits than traditional marketing service providers. A VMS company will typically create impressions for a very specific market or audience as defined by a client. The more impressions created for a client, the greater the chance of increasing prospective customer awareness of the client’s products or services. A VMS company’s basis of success is based on the ability to successfully leverage many forms of media to create a large market presence for the client. A VMS company is not responsible for searching out leads. Rather, they are responsible for creating leads through brand recognition by means of market branding and innovative advertising services.
