So just what is Viral Marketing?

It’s really just a way to get your information out to a boatload of prospects by using the power of other people e.g. word of mouth. In other words the idea is to spread your message much like a real virus would spread.

Infection in this case is usually can be a fantastic thing; in this context it’s your audience becoming aware of you and your web site.

Now the actual message can be in many formats, ranging from email to videos and everything in between.  The idea is to convince potential prospects who already have your message to share it to people they know, multiplying your message spreading exponentially.

First, let me make it perfectly clear that I am not advocating spamming millions of people.

Apart from the legalities of doing this, sending spam is just dumb, because often not even seen due to smart spam filters, and even if is seen it’s clear that going to spread is it? After all if it makes it past the spam folders and actually makes it into someone’s Inbox, it’s just going to get deleted with haste when and if it is read.

Here we go with what seems the topical phrase of many articles relevant useful content is the key.  Giving value to prospects is absolutely vital.

So how do we get internet users to do your work for you?  How do you get them to do that? Spread your viral content that is.

First things first, it simply must be something relevant and useful.

In other words it has to have real value.  The visitor who has got your information has to fully believe it will give value to someone else otherwise they won’t spread it to anyone else.

One thing I have found in this industry is almighty power of joint ventures. It’s a lot easier to get your message out there if you have partners in the industry with large lists of their own.

Let’s say you have released a new Podcast. You currently have a mailing list of 2000 prospects who have expressed an interest or actually purchased something from you in the past.

Your info product would be of course in a related niche so you feel sure you can generate some interest in it from your readers so that is the first place to attack.

You will likely find that some of your prospects will send the offer to their friends if they think it’s worthy.

Ahhh the power of word of mouth advertising, Is there any more powerful force in marketing then getting your customers telling their friends how cool, hip and fantastic you and your products are?  This is a viral marketing campaign on steroids.

If you can get list members telling their family about your info and then once they get value out of it and then tell their friends well you can see that it will take very little time at all to have a dramatic response to your sales message.

You’ll be needing to buy more servers for your site because the old one has crashed with overwhelming web traffic you get.

Take the time to learn more about viral marketing.  I feel confident that you will greatly benefit from using these techniques in your internet marketing.

There are several strategies that you can use for viral video marketing.Your video will not go “viral” if you do not plan out your strategy well.No matter how great you think it is.To reach tens of thousands of viewers takes time and luck.Here are some tips you can use.

Keep it simple.  A 30 second clip is perfect.People have very short attention spans.If you have a long clip, shorten it.If you use the correct targeted keywords, parts will show up in the “related videos” area on YouTube. You don’t have to think twice about getting the entire story out.People will look at it, if they have interest in it.

Post all videos that you have together.  The more videos that you have out there, the more likely you are to get a click-thru to your website, which is of course the ultimate goal of viral video marketing.

Try to avoid making an obvious or outright advertisement.People will never share your videos with their friends if it looks like an advertisement.When you get their business, you can use e-mails to bring in friends of friends.Your first goal is to get viewers.

Once people see a thumbnail of your video, the important step is to get them to push the “play” button.You can do that by using a shocking or amusing headline, something that gets their attention.

Viral video marketing works best if “you” have a lot of friends.If you don’t have a Facebook profile and a My Space account, get one.Join chat rooms, clubs, groups and networks.Collect as many friends as you can.  Whenever you have new videos, you share it with all of them.You can include your real friends, you business acquaintances and your existing customers. 

Here’s why this is important. There are so many millions of people that have these types of accounts.Each one of them may have a few hundred close friends.When they come across an interesting or funny video, they will often share it with a large group of friends, who then share it with their entire list of friends.f you can get listed, you can literally reach hundreds of thousands of people in a day or two.

This all takes time and effort, that’s why there are companies that will do your viral video marketing for you.They have created a business out of enhancing your company.  Why not make it easy on yourself?